Throughout the offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers have stuck to President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman's core tenet that no wholesale change was coming. Instead, the Cavs invested in what they built, locking up Donovan Mitchell and signing Evan Mobley to lucrative extensions.
On the trade front, Cleveland was also sent offers for Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland. Sources tell ClutchPoints that the New Orleans Pelicans and Houston Rockets checked in on Allen's availability. But although there's interest, conversations didn't go far. Meanwhile, a separate source shared that any inquiries for Garland didn't go anywhere, with the Cavs declining most offers. However, according to Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer, the San Antonio Spurs pushed hard to acquire Garland.
“San Antonio called various teams around the league exploring veteran guards who have still yet to enter their primes,” said Fischer. “Cavaliers All-Star guard Darius Garland was another talented ball-handler the Spurs called about, sources said, although Cleveland has rebuffed any inbound trade interest for Garland to date.”
Although San Antonio tried their damndest to acquire Garland, eventually, the Spurs moved on to pair Chris Paul with Victor Wembanyama. From a pure trade perspective, San Antonio would never offer Cleveland Wembanyama or even Devin Vassell for Garland. That makes a possible trade a nonstarter since the Cavs would want a player who matches what Garland gives Cleveland. In reality, here's the likely offer the Spurs sent the Cavs to acquire Garland:
San Antonio receives: Darius Garland
Cleveland receives: Keldon Johnson, Zach Collins, Malaki Branham, three first-round selections
While the partnership between Garland and Wembanyama would've been must-see TV every night, Cleveland made the right call, turning down whatever San Antonio offered them for several reasons.
The Cavs turning down the Spurs was a great call
The draft picks would be nice for the Cavs, especially if they're unprotected first-rounders, but that's still a moot point. Unless Cleveland facilitates a trade involving those picks immediately to find star talent elsewhere, which is few and far between at this point in the offseason, then the Cavs would be taking a major step backward on the court with Garland no longer on the roster.
While that's not meant to disrespect the trio of Johnson, Collins, and Branham, it doesn't have the same impact Garland provides. None of the aforementioned trio are former All-Stars like Garland. They're also not the level of facilitator and three-point threat Garland is either. The more you break down the players' differences, the more it becomes clear that Cleveland is better off keeping Garland.
Overall, there realistically isn't a return the Cavs could get for Garland from the Spurs. Unless it contained a superstar, which wasn't happening for San Antonio, Cleveland made the right decision by declining their offer. Now, the Cavs must focus on Garland bouncing back after a disastrous 2023-24 campaign under new head coach Kenny Atkinson. If that happens, the decision not to trade Garland becomes even more obvious. Especially if it leads to a deeper playoff run than last season.
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