NBA executive says Cavs should trade Darius Garland

An NBA executive believes the Cavaliers should move on from Darius Garland. Yes, really.

“I think they need to trade Darius,” the exec told Ashish Mathur of Roundtable. “That backcourt is too small with him and Donovan (Mitchell). I love the Lonzo (Ball) trade. If I were Kenny (Atkinson), I would start Lonzo, Donovan, De’Andre (Hunter), Evan (Mobley) and Jarrett (Allen) and trade Darius.

“Sacramento was interested in him before getting Dennis (Schroder) from Detroit. Maybe call them up and see if they want Darius for like Malik (Monk) and salary filler.”

Here’s the problem: Garland is coming off a career season when healthy, and Ball has played just 35 total games in the last three years. Banking on him to be the full-time starter is a massive gamble.

Garland underwent offseason surgery to repair a toe injury suffered during the 2025 playoffs and will miss the start of this season. But when he’s on the floor, he’s one of the best offensive point guards in the league.

A two-time All-Star, Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists in 75 games last year while shooting 47.2% from the field, 40.1% from three and 87.8% from the line.

The Cavs haven’t advanced past the second round with the Garland-Mitchell pairing, but moving a 24-year-old All-Star point guard for “Malik Monk and salary filler” isn’t exactly a solution. Like, far from it.