Darius Garland plans to make his Clippers debut Monday against the Warriors, nearly a month after the Cavaliers traded him to Los Angeles for superstar guard James Harden.
Garland’s planned return, which was reported by NBA insider Chris Haynes, comes as he’s dealt with injuries all season. He missed Cleveland’s first seven games of the year while recovering from offseason toe surgery and has been sidelined since Jan. 14 while nursing a toe sprain.
Following Los Angeles and Cleveland’s All-Star guard swap, Garland admitted that he knew his time with the Cavs was bound to end, but he’s hopeful of what the future can bring with the Clippers playing alongside Kawhi Leonard.
“It was going to happen regardless, either at the [trade] deadline or this summer. [My agent] Rich [Paul] had that conversation with me last summer,” Garland said in an interview with Andscape’s Marc Spears on Feb. 20. “But yeah, the toe definitely had a factor in it. They didn’t know if I was going to be healthy for this season, which I will be. But they thought that James had something that I didn’t, I believe. He has experience in playoffs and All-Star numbers still to this day, even though he wasn’t an All-Star this year. But yeah, they want to win right now. They have a group, too. And I guess I really wasn’t part of the plan.
“But now, I’m over here in a really good situation. I have the ball in my hand a lot more where I could do me a little bit more. I have another superstar [in Leonard] next to me. I can go get it as well.”
In 26 games with the Cavs this season, Garland averaged 18.0 points and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 36% from three-point range. He made his second All-Star appearance last season as he averaged 20.6 points per game and shot 40.1% from deep.
The Clippers are 27–31 and 10th place in the Western Conference. L.A. is 5 1/2 games in front of the Grizzlies who are the first team out of the West’s play-in tournament range. The Clippers have lost three games in a row since a thrilling win over the Nuggets in L.A.’s first game after the All-Star break.
Despite the likely play-in appearance this season, the Clippers firmly pressed the rebuild button at the Feb. 5 trade deadline dealing two of their best three players. In addition to Harden, L.A. sent star center Ivica Zubac to the Pacers for a package highlighted by Bennedict Mathurin and a pair of first-round picks.
Amid the chaos, Leonard has averaged a career-high 28 points per game this season and will soon get to play next to the franchise’s point guard of the future. The Clippers will play Sunday against the Pelicans before Garland plans to make his debut with the team Monday against Golden State.