Could Darius Garland injury open door to Celtics and Cavs trade?

Today was the first time I heard the phrase "great toe," but alas Cleveland Cavaliers' point guard Darius Garland just had surgery on it and is expected to miss the beginning of the 2025-26 NBA season because of it. There had been rumors that the Cavs were open to trading their All-Star point guard prior to this report, so while one would think the injury makes it less likely Garland is dealt to most of the rumored teams, could he be more of a green target to the Celtics now?

Reporters have speculated the Celtics as a potential landing spot for Garland which would be tough considering not only do top seeded teams rarely make blockbuster trades amongst each other, but due to Boston's very limited trade flexibility since they are a 2nd apron team.

If the Celtics were to choose the most drastic pivot this offseason in their quest to get below the 2nd apron and have the most competitive team they could have for the 2026-27 season when Jayson Tatum will be hopefully back to 100%, trading for the 25 year old Garland could make some sense if the cost was temporarily down due to the aforementioned early elimination and injury.

Here comes the hard part, because most Celtics fans will be like, "Let's trade them Porzingis and Holiday for Garland" when of course the Cavs will want either Jaylen Brown or Derrick White. White has a lot of trade value, but the Cavs undoubtedly want something more if they are going to move on from Darius.

Cleveland is also facing it's own potential 2nd apron reckoning, so they aren't going to take back more salary unless they are getting the best player in the deal. So a White plus Holiday for Garland trade wouldn't make sense for Cleveland.

It's extremely difficult for the Celtics to add another player on a huge contract when they already have Tatum and Brown on super max deals. So if the Celtics and Cavs actually decided to talk a Garland deal, Jaylen Brown would likely have to be included in a swap with either him going to a third team and some of those pieces being rerouted to Cleveland or him going to Cleveland with something substantial being added in addition to Garland coming Boston's way.

Darius Garland stats via basketball-reference

Cleveland isn't trading Mobley, so not really sure how they would be able to add a piece enticing enough for Stevens to part with Jaylen. Cleveland would likely have to trade center Jarrett Allen to yet another team which has a high pick in this draft or is expected to have some in future drafts. Cleveland would then be a favorite to win the East this coming year with a Mobley, Brown, and Donovan Mitchell big 3, while Boston would take another step back, but with eyes on 2026-27.

When all the dust settled, Tatum's supporting cast would be a loaded backcourt of Garland, White, and Pritchard, with a top draft pick and potentially still Kristaps Porzingis in the front court. While this seems like a downgrade to the championship team of the past year, reality is it's already a done deal, that team as we know it has played their last game together.

At least one of Brown, Holiday, White, and Porzingis won't be on this coming Fall's Celtics roster. And once Tatum is ready the next season, Al Horford will either be retired or more of an end of the bench player.

When comparing potential future rosters, Stevens can't compare them to the championship team, because that is no longer an option due to the 2nd Apron. Do I think Garland is the guy I'd go after if I was Stevens and was willing to part with Jaylen and his super max deal? No he wouldn't be the guy, but if good enough draft assets were coming back along with Garland, I could see Stevens talking me into it after the fact.

Most fans are against every trade of the players they like on their team when it first happened. Fans threatened to riot in the street if Marcus Smart and Robert Williams were ever traded and both were. The same fans eventually got over it.

Brown is a much better player than Smart and Williams so one would expect a much better return. While Cleveland isn't going to sweat Garland missing some games at the beginning of next season, the Celtics could use that injury to their benefit if they wanted to have him sit out games or shut him down at some point next season with eyes on the draft lottery.

Also, the Garland surgery news might scare off some other suitors, which would lower the Cavs asking price to a level that makes sense for Stevens. Again the card Stevens would have to play with the Cavs is how badly do you want a Mitchell, Brown, Mobley big 3. If you want it bad enough you will make the necessary additional moves to add something very enticing to your Garland package.

The odds Garland is wearing Celtics green this coming Fall is still extremely low, but the "great toe" surgery didn't close the door on those slim odds. If anything it might have opened the door a bit more.


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