NBA star Darius Garland is moving on with his career with the Los Angeles Clippers. The Cleveland Cavaliers traded Garland to the Clippers on Tuesday in exchange for seasoned standout James Harden. Having joined the squad in 2019, the two-time All-Star contributed to the team’s incredible triumph the previous season.
Unfortunately for Garland, his time with the Cavaliers was numbered. He will now join a Clippers team that has an outstanding group of veteran players like Kawhi Leonard, Brook Lopez and Ivica Zubac. On Wednesday’s episode of “Game Over,” a podcast hosted by NBA agent Rich Paul and analyst Max Kellerman, Paul revealed something he told the star guard before the start of the season.
Paul, who represents Darius Garland, hinted to the NBA star that the 2025-26 season would be his final year with the Cavaliers.
“I sat Darius down, and I explained to him, I was like, ‘This is going to be your last year on the Cavs,’” Paul said. “I said, ‘That’s just the way it’s going to be for a number of reasons that (will) take to get into, but that’s just my foresight.’
Rich Paul told Darius Garland before the season it would be his last year on the Cavs 😳
(Via Game Over) pic.twitter.com/t0hXL1vMEB
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) February 4, 2026
Paul also said that he talked to the Cavaliers president about it.
“I also had the conversation with Koby Altman, who runs the Cavs. I said, ‘Koby, listen. This is what it’s going to be, I understand it. The hope is they go out and play a great year and they try to contend, and anything short of a championship run, you know there has to be a change.’”
Why did the Cavaliers trade Darius Garland?
Despite Darius Garland’s rise to prominence in the league, the Cavaliers have seen significant setbacks. According to Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, Cleveland was “frustrated” with Garland’s inconsistent availability.
The team felt as if the star guard wasn’t doing enough to prevent himself from getting injured. According to O’Connor, it wasn’t just the front office that had that feeling about Garland. Even the players and the coaches felt the same way about the star.
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