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Darius Garland Rumors
Sources say Young's side has actually been resigned for some time to the prospect of seeing out the final guaranteed year on his current contract rather than securing an extension, like his current contract, worth in excess of $200 million. He'd then have to make a decision about his $49 million player option for 2026-27. There was a time, sources say, when Young's camp viewed him as an optimal potential playmaking partner for Victor Wembanyama. He has since moved to CAA but was repped at the time by Rich Paul, who appeared determined to place one of the All-Star guards then on the Klutch Sports roster — Young, Fox or Darius Garland — alongside Wembanyama.
Chris Fedor: Kenny Atkinson was with the team in Las Vegas. He spent some time with Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter out in Los Angeles. He spent some time with Darius Garland going through the whole um recovery plan with the doctors and stuff like that. Um he went out to see Sam Merrill. He went out to see Donovan Mitchell. He has more freedom to do and he has more of an opportunity to do just based on the the other stuff that that's part of his schedule. He even told me he has watched the rewatched the Indiana series so many different times trying to study that and learn from that.
Darius Garland not expected to be ready by training camp?
Chris Fedor: I also talked to Kenny Atkinson. That story is going to come out on Cleveland.com this week. And I asked him, I said, "You know, as a coach, you lost Ty Jerome and Darius Garland is obviously recovering from toe surgery. Are you anticipating Darius being ready for training?" And he said, "No, I don't decide these things. It's going to be up to Darius and the training staff led by Steve Spiro." But he said, "I don't expect him to, and I want him to take his time with this, and we're not going to push it. We're not going to rush it."
Darius Garland on injury: I felt like I was playing with nine toes
Darius Garland wouldn’t reveal the type of surgery he had. It’s been described as a surgery intended to relieve pressure, realign the toe and improve function. “It’s basically like a brand new toe really,” Garland told cleveland.com. “I got my 10th toe back. I had no big toe at the end of last season. I had like nine toes. I felt like I was playing with nine toes. That’s how I would describe it. “Any type of movement was tough. Putting on a shoe was tough. Walking. Running. It was difficult. I said it last year to you guys: Nobody really understands what any athlete goes through. At least, injury-wise.”
The Cavs said in a statement released at that time that they expect Garland to “make a full recovery and resume basketball activities by the start of training camp” in October. “I wasn’t myself,” Garland told cleveland.com when asked about the decision to have surgery. “It was difficult. I was hoping to avoid it for the long run, but it got to the point where I had to get surgery. That’s just what it was. An easy decision that was going to get me back healthy.”
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Garland, who hosted his inaugural celebrity softball game at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake on Saturday afternoon, said he feels “great,” and the lengthy recovery process is “going well.” A couple weeks ago, he was able to “move around a little bit” on the court and conduct a light workout. “I’m ramping up every week,” Garland said. “It’s getting better every day. Just taking my time with it. I’m not really putting a date on it right now. Trying to get back to 100 percent and be ready for June, when it really matters.”
Darius Garland on injury recovery: I feel great
“I feel great. The recovery process is going well. But I’m here for my foundation,” Darius Garland said. “I’m here to spread some positivity around the city of Cleveland and trying to have a good time. I always loved baseball, so I tried to make it a little bit competitive and kind of friendly as well. “It’s my first one, so I’m kind of nervous, but I hope it’s going to be really cool and everybody really enjoys themselves.”
In many ways, Nance returning to Cleveland was quite possibly the league’s worst-kept secret. Even during his time in New Orleans, Atlanta and Portland — the places he went after a first Cleveland stint that lasted a little more than three years — Nance remained part of the Cavaliers’ family. He was involved in the team’s high-stakes fantasy football league. He kept strong relationships with various members of the organization, including Altman and general manager Mike Gansey. He proudly watched the All-Star-level growth of old teammate Darius Garland. He cheered on his brother, Pete. Spent summers here. Stayed embedded in the community.
LeBron wants to be on a contender, he wants to play meaningful games — and meaningful playoff games — and be in the heart of the conversation. Additionally, LeBron has consistently sought to maximize his revenue. LeBron opted and will get paid. That means if he asks for a trade, his new team would have to match LeBron’s salary. For example, a lot of fans tried to link him to a return to Cleveland (league sources told NBC Sports the Cavaliers are not that interested, but let’s use them as a hypothetical): With a third team, a deal can be made if it’s LeBron for Darius Garland and Max Strus Why would the Cavs do that, giving up young players and getting 15 years older (and arguably worse) in the short term to rent LeBron for a year or two. And trading LeBron to Cleveland is a lot less complicated than most other destinations.
Yossi Gozlan: Seeing many trades on the timeline sending LeBron James to Cleveland. Cavaliers would need to do a 100% salary match and stay under the second apron due to aggregation. Example: Darius Garland, DeAndre Hunter, & Jarrett Allen works and leaves room for the $5.7 million MLE.
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Donovan Mitchell: We're not the LeBron James, Kyrie Irving version of the Cavaliers, we do it differently
Donovan Mitchell: "No, because like I'm not brown like you know when there's being like I said it goes back to being comfortable who you were like I'm I'm not going to do it the same way that he did it. You know what I mean? And who knows maybe we get there sit what do you do six times in a row? Maybe we do that sit for the next six years. Maybe we don't like you know what I mean? But my goal is to find ways to you know we're not the LeBron James Kyrie Irving Cavaliers. We do it differently. We do it with Evan. We do it with myself. We do it with DG. We do it with Max. we do with Jay, all the guys on the roster, and it's just different."
Windhorst: Suns reached out to Cleveland about Darius Garland trade
In “5 Good Minutes with Windy”, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said that Phoenix was the one to reach out to Cleveland about acquiring Darius Garland, not the other way around. “The Suns were the ones to reach out that had interest in Garland”, Windhorst said. “It was not the Cavs that wanted to trade Garland.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly tried to make a big splash to bring another star onto the roster. Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor said on his podcast on Monday that he "heard" the Cavs offered Darius Garland in a trade package for Kevin Durant before the 15-time All-Star was traded to the Houston Rockets on Sunday (41-minute mark). "When exploring a KD deal, they've at least shown a willingness to think big and go for a big star player," O'Connor said. "So maybe they would."
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