{"id":144170,"date":"2025-06-10T12:05:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=144170"},"modified":"2025-06-10T12:07:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T16:07:26","slug":"kings-identified-darius-garland-trade-target","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/06\/10\/kings-identified-darius-garland-trade-target\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings \u2018Have Identified\u2019 East All-Star As \u2018Trade Target\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As they search for a new starting point guard, the Sacramento Kings \u201chave identified<\/a>\u201d Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland<\/a> \u201cas a trade target,\u201d per RG\u2019s Grant Afseth.<\/p>\n

Garland is projected to be out for the next four to five months, potentially missing around the first 10 games<\/a> of the 2025-26 season, according to The Athletic\u2019s Joe Vardon.<\/p>\n

Kings \u2018Have Identified\u2019 Cavs\u2019 Darius Garland As \u2018Trade Target\u2019<\/h2>\n

Now a two-time All-Star, Garland\u2019s loss \u2014even if brief \u2014will definitely be felt by the Cavs. As a starter, he\u2019s 202-176, averaging 19.0 points and 6.7 assists per game in those contests. A relatively traditional point guard, the former fifth overall pick is an excellent ball-handler, jump shooter and facilitator. Without him, Cleveland\u2019s offense doesn\u2019t quite sputter, at least so long as they have players like Donovan Mitchell<\/a> or even Ty Jerome<\/a> available. Nevertheless, he undoubtedly raises their ceiling at that end.<\/p>\n

Because of his ability to be an event creator, playing somewhat like a defensive back in American football<\/a>, he\u2019s also an impactful team defender as well.<\/p>\n

Yet, the Cavs are still willing to take calls<\/a> about Garland\u2019s availability. This could be because his on-ball defense is so concerning that even Miami Heat wing Tyler Herro<\/a> pinpointed it as Cleveland\u2019s weak link<\/a> in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. It may be related to his injury history, as Garland\u2019s played fewer than 60 games in half of his pro seasons.<\/p>\n

However, with Garland\u2019s second consecutive substandard playoff run, they could also have concerns about his ability to get them to the promised land.<\/p>\n

Over the past two postseasons, Garland is shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 33.0 percent from 3. In fact, in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Garland shot a playoff career-low 28.6 percent from 3. In the 2024 NBA Playoffs, he averaged a playoff career-low 15.7 points per game. Both years, the Cavs were eliminated in the second round, losing that semifinal series 1-4.<\/p>\n

All of that being said, the Kings still need a point guard. Right now, they have a few players who can eat on offense but nobody to set the table. While Garland\u2019s game has warts, he\u2019s more than capable of that. The question for Sacramento is what would they be willing to give up for him.<\/p>\n

Hypothetical Trade Parameters<\/h3>\n

Hypothetically, the combination of Malik Monk<\/a>, Keegan Murray<\/a> and Isaac Jones<\/a> works from a financial standpoint.<\/p>\n

Notably, the Kings have been resistant to trading Murray, who\u2019s not only young but their best defender. However, with Murray having two underwhelming seasons in a row, Sacramento should be more willing to move him. The Kings having a new front office leader, Scott Perry, only lends credence to that notion.<\/p>\n

Keeping The Wheel Turning<\/h4>\n

Monk \u2014who averaged 17.2 points and 5.6 assists per game in 2024-25 \u2014arrives in Cleveland as a replacement for Jerome, a stud sixth man who\u2019ll be a free agent<\/a> this offseason. With that in mind, there wouldn\u2019t have been many minutes for Monk behind Garland and Zach LaVine<\/a>. The inclusion of Murray is what makes moving Garland worth it though.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Mar 19, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward\/center Evan Mobley (4) controls the ball against Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) and guard Malik Monk (0) during the fourth quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At this point, it\u2019s unclear whether Evan Mobley<\/a>\u2019s best position is power forward or center. If it\u2019s the latter, that could generate a need for a starting-caliber power forward. To be fair, Dean Wade<\/a> has shown himself to be capable of holding that role. However, he isn\u2019t particularly aggressive offensively, holding a career average of 5.2 points per game. Conversely, Murray averages 13.3 points per game for his career.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Wade will be on an expiring contract in 2025-26 and could leave as an unrestricted free agent next summer. Murray will also be on the final year of his deal. However, as it\u2019ll be his rookie contract, he\u2019ll be a restricted free agent, giving the Cavs the ability to match any offer for him.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As they search for a new starting point guard, the Sacramento Kings \u201chave identified\u201d Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland \u201cas a trade target,\u201d per RG\u2019s Grant Afseth. Garland is projected to be out for the next four to five months, potentially missing around the first 10 games of the 2025-26 season, according to The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":144175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1608,9,2,62,3,4721],"tags":[1937,1804,3966,4606,700,4774,1877],"class_list":["post-144170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-darius-garland","tag-dean-wade","tag-evan-mobley","tag-keegan-murray","tag-malik-monk","tag-rumors","tag-ty-jerome"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144170"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144178,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144170\/revisions\/144178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}