Darius Garland openly admits thoughts about leaving the Cavs

Darius Garland and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in spectacular form in the first half of the 2024-25 NBA season. However, Garland was considering leaving the team before the campaign even started.

Garland spoke with Draymond Green as a special guest on an episode of The Draymond Green Show that was uploaded to YouTube on Monday. He talked about his path to joining the NBA’s exclusive 50/40/90 club and his mindset about the “revenge season.” He mentioned that he gained 25 pounds, construction chemistry with Donovan Mitchelland why he thinks the Cavs deserve four All-Stars this year.

He also admitted that after the frustrating season they had last year, going 48-34 before losing in five games to the Boston Celtics in the East semifinals, he had thought to ask Cleveland in the offseason. However, his parents convinced him to persevere.

“It got in my head a little bit, especially a few times during the summer. Those were really my parents bro. They just kept to it. “We didn’t have a great season last year, with injuries and things like that,” said Garland at the 42:24 result.

“They said, ‘You and Don are just starting to get a good feel for each other, just stick with it for another year.’ Then when Kenny came, I didn’t know how it was going to be, I didn’t know how it was going to work. When we got to Sarasota for training camp, it was off and running after that.

How Darius Garland, the Cavs have performed this season

Darius Garland could be on pace for the second All-Star nomination of his NBA career after playing at a high level for the Cavaliers during the first half of the season.

Garland is averaging 21.2 points, 6.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals on 49.9% shooting from the field and 42.4% from the field. He has four double-doubles and counting, having scored 20 or more points 24 times as the second option in Cleveland’s offense.

The Cavaliers control first place in the Eastern Conference with the league’s best record at 35-6, holding a slight lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder at 35-7. On pace for what could be their best regular season in franchise history, Cleveland will be looking for success it hasn’t been done since their stint with star LeBron James.

After Monday’s matchup with the Phoenix Suns, the Cavaliers will be on a two-game road trip with the Houston Rockets on Wednesday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.