Darius Garland Rumors

New Balance executive Chris Davis: If you look at the NBA, I’m pretty sure we have seven or eight All-Stars, starting with Kawhi (Leonard) to Zach LaVine, Tyrese Maxey, Jamal Murray, Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, and then enter Cooper Flagg. In this year’s draft, we have Caleb Wilson, who is a star freshman from North Carolina and will be a top-five pick. And then as a senior in high school, we have Jordan Smith Jr., who’s the top recruit in the country going into the NCAA; he’s committed to Arkansas. So that’s what the basketball landscape looks like.

New York Times

Ramona Shelburne: “30 did what 30 does. That was the 4th quarter.” Darius Garland on Stephen Curry and the Warriors.

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Ramona Shelburne: Darius Garland says he’s really focused on getting healthy this offseason. “I’m out there on nine toes.”

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Darius Garland: "Not the way we wanted to end this season. But I take my hat off to this group, for real. All 15 guys played their butts off."

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Farbod Esnaashari: Darius Garland on what he wanted to prove after getting traded to the Clippers: "I just wanted to really come out here and prove a point that I'm still one of those guys in this league... Just go on the drawing board this summer, get healthy, see what we can do with a full season."

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‪Lue is under contract through 2029. Garland is the Clippers’ new point guard of the future. They’re not going anywhere, a league source told The Athletic.

New York Times

Law Murray: After Tyronn Lue confirmed that he will not confirm starters, I asked him about working with Darius Garland now that Garland has been playing for 1.5 months

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He also has Darius Garland, a new, in-his-prime point guard to build with, not just manage. “Having a young point guard under my tutelage is the first time I’ve really had it since Kyrie (Irving),” Lue said. “It’s gonna be fun.” That distinction matters most with Garland. After Tyronn Lue was fired by the Cavaliers in 2018, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul introduced him to Garland, then just 19 and newly drafted. They crossed paths again months later at a Las Vegas comedy show during Garland’s first NBA Summer League. “We went to the Dave Chappelle show in Vegas, and we just hit it off right there,” Garland told The Athletic. “It just happened naturally, really.”

New York Times

Law Murray: The LA Clippers report that Kawhi Leonard will play on zero days rest Darius Garland is out on injury management, along with Isaiah Jackson The Oklahoma City Thunder has their full roster outside of Thomas Sorber (ACL)

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Joey Linn: Darius Garland left before the Clippers locker room was open to reporters. He’s left the last two games without speaking.

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Now that Garland is running pick-and-pops with Lopez, he can create more room to roam in the midrange. Coming from a Cavs team that specialized in crowded spacing to play over the top, Garland is enjoying the free range he has to roam. Playing alongside a player with Leonard’s resume and championship experience has been exciting, running inverted pick-and-rolls and just feasting off the double teams Leonard draws all the time. “It’s a lot easier to just play with him, play off of him,” Garland said. “Everybody is just playing freely. You don’t have somebody behind your back and somebody that’s over your back all the time. Just going out there, just playing the game.”

New York Times

There were some dark days in Cleveland, knowing his time there was numbered. But now he’s enjoying the sunshine of his next chapter in L.A. “God blessed me with another day. That’s all I can ask for,” Garland said. “I see the sun. I talk to my family. I’m good.”

New York Times

Since Garland’s Clippers debut on March 2, however, the team is 12-5, with the NBA’s fourth-best net rating in that span, per Cleaning the Glass. There have been a lot of clean wins against tanking teams, but there have also been impressive victories over the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors; two close losses to their potential first-round opponent, the San Antonio Spurs; and now a five-game winning streak. With Kawhi Leonard playing his best basketball in years, the Clippers look like they haven’t taken a step back while getting much younger. “The stuff he’s brought to this team, it’s extraordinary,” Clippers center Brook Lopez said. “Only he could do it. He’s made a huge change, a huge positive change for this group.”

New York Times

Once he arrived in L.A., he knew he was in the right place. It wasn’t just the sunshine, the ocean breeze, the excitement of driving down Rodeo Drive in the middle of winter, knowing he lived a stone’s throw away. He was in a place that was ready to embrace him. “It’s like a new breath of life, like a revamp,” Garland said. “Being around the guys makes it a lot easier because they’re so welcoming. Everybody’s super silly. Everybody’s talkative. My first day there, they were holding their arms out, for real, like, ‘Welcome.’ A lot of big brothers on this team.”

New York Times