Two Teams Tried to Trade For Cleveland Cavaliers' Darius Garland

Two Western Conference teams reportedly tried to trade for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland.

Apr 20, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) brings the ball up court in the second quarter against the Orlando Magic during game one of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. / David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers have opted to run it back with the same main core of players for the upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.

Darius Garland is back, despite a lot of trade rumors surrounding him heading into the offseason. Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen are also back with new contract extensions under their belt.

While the team has basically the same roster heading into the upcoming season, that wasn't due to no one having interest in making a big move with them.

According to a report from Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire, the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs both tried to acquire Garland from the Cavaliers.

"The New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs tried to trade for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland this offseason, an NBA source told Hoops Wire. The Cavaliers told the Pelicans and Spurs they weren't trading Garland, the source said."

Garland, who is just 24 years old, still has plenty of room to grow in Cleveland. The team clearly believes that he has big-time potential for the future and did not want to trade him too early before finding out exactly what he's capable of becoming.

During the 2023-24 NBA season with the Cavaliers, Garland ended up averaging 18.0 points, 6.5 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game. He was able to shoot 44.6 percent from the floor and knock down 37.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

Just looking at the numbers, the potential is through the roof for Garland. However, there is quite a bit of development still needed in order for him to become the dynamic back-court running mate for Mitchell that the team hopes he becomes.

All of that being said, Cleveland has gone all-in with Garland. Passing up on opportunities to make other big moves in order to keep was a very strong showing of their faith him.

It will be interesting to see how the 2024-25 unfolds for both the Cavaliers and Garland. Hopefully, he takes a big step forward in his development and can help be a big part of making Cleveland an even more serious Eastern Conference contender.