A Might report from The Athletic steered that if Donovan Mitchell have been to signal a contract extension this offseason, Darius Garland‘s agent Wealthy Paul was anticipated to have a dialog with the Cavaliers about presumably discovering a brand new dwelling for his consumer. Nevertheless, despite the fact that Mitchell signed his extension, Garland is tired of initiating that dialog, as he informed Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber hyperlink).
“I don’t need to be traded,” Garland stated. “These are simply rumors.”
Sources inform Fedor that Paul and Cavaliers head of basketball operations Koby Altman have spoken this offseason, however there was no indication that Garland’s camp is in search of a change of surroundings, and the workforce has made it clear it has no real interest in transferring the previous All-Star.
In line with Fedor, Garland was thrilled for Mitchell when his backcourt mate signed a profitable new take care of Cleveland and was excited concerning the workforce’s hiring of Kenny Atkinson as its new head coach.
Garland has been in Las Vegas taking part in some on-court exercises and assembly with Atkinson — throughout a dinner on Friday, the 2 males mentioned offensive schemes and units, in addition to the 24-year-old’s position, Fedor notes.
“It sounds actually good,” Garland stated. “A whole lot of spacing and a number of room for me and Don and the entire different guys to have the ability to thrive.”
Atkinson, who has spoken about Garland in glowing phrases since being employed in Cleveland, shares his level guard’s enthusiasm.
“I can’t wait to work with them,” Atkinson stated of the Cavs’ star guards. “I used to be a degree guard and that’s the quarterback. These guys are operating the present and it’s such an enormous place on this league. I identification with them. Large fan of Darius. All the time been a fan. Underrated. Underrated passer. I don’t suppose he will get sufficient credit score for the texture. Then, Donovan everyone knows, he’s the true deal. The good ones have a distinct sort of labor ethic. He’s wired a bit bit otherwise.”
Garland had a down yr in 2023/24, as his averages of 18.0 PPG and 6.5 APG and his .446/.371/.834 taking pictures line have been all beneath his profession charges. However that was much less about sharing the ball with Mitchell and extra about different a handful of different elements, together with a fractured jaw and the burden loss that resulted from ingesting out of a straw for over a month. Garland’s grandmother additionally handed away, in response to Fedor, which led to him leaving the workforce on off days a number of instances.
“It was loads,” Garland informed Fedor. “Generally you simply must undergo it. All the time bumps within the highway. This was a giant velocity bump. It was actually robust final yr. It was undoubtedly a studying expertise for me. Simply tried to remain mentally locked in and tried to maintain my head up and maintain a smile on my face. I simply needed to keep mentally robust whereas going by way of a troublesome time in my life and having to struggle adversity.”
