NBA Executive Details Cleveland Cavaliers' Darius Garland's Trade Market

An NBA executive has spoken out about the details of Cleveland Cavaliers' guard Darius Garland's trade market.

May 5, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) celebrates after hitting a three point basket during the second half against the Orlando Magic in game seven of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

At the beginning of the NBA offseason, there were some rumors that the Cleveland Cavaliers could consider trading starting point guard Darius Garland.

While the rumors were there at the start of the offseason, they disappeared quickly. The Cavaliers ended up having no interest in trading Garland and decided to basically run it back with the same roster they had last year.

Garland's trade market also didn't end up being as strong as some expected. That could have played a part in the team's decision to keep him instead of entertaining trade offers.

Grant Afseth of NBA Analysis Network spoke to an NBA executive who detailed more about Garland's trade market and why it wasn't very strong this offseason.

“Darius Garland is talented, but I don’t see any obvious options right now. He’d help a lot of teams. It’s more about the mechanics of trades. Even teams that could—like a rebuilding team—probably doesn’t want to hurt their odds for the first pick. It’s a loaded draft this year and making a trade like this doesn’t make sense timing-wise. That makes a lot more sense to do next summer.”

All of that makes sense. Garland would more than likely have a stronger trade market next offseason.

During the 2023-24 NBA season with Cleveland, Garland ended up playing in 57 games, averaging 18.0 points per game to go along with 6.5 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. In addition to his averages, Garland shot 44.6 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from the three-point line.

At just 24 years old, the Cavaliers will be hoping to see a big leap in development from their starting guard. They need him to become a more consistent option alongside Donovan Mitchell. If he can take some defensive pressure away from Mitchell, that would be a massive help.

Next offseason, it seems likely that the trade rumors will pick back up if he doesn't take a big leap forward. Garland is a very valuable trade chip if Cleveland opts to use him that way.

With that being said, it will be interesting to see how Garland and the Cavaliers fare during the 2024-25 NBA season. If they don't show major improvement with their current roster, they could look to make some aggressive moves either before the trade deadline or next offseason.