The Cavaliers reportedly have offered Darius Garland for Clippers star James Harden. The Clippers reportedly don’t want to throw in a draft pick, or a pick swap.
But one opposing NBA executive told Hoops Wire that he thinks, eventually, Los Angeles will cave.
“The Clippers can look all they want, but they won’t find a better offer for Harden than Garland,” the exec said. “You’re talking about a 26-year-old All-Star point guard. For a 36-year-old guy who can’t seem to stay happy anywhere? Yeah, good luck finding anything better.”
LA has been resisting the Cavs’ attempts to land a pick in a Garland-for-Harden swap, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.
The Timberwolves, Pelicans and a few others are reportedly also in the mix for Harden, who has made it clear he would like to part ways with the Clippers before Thursday’s trade deadline.
“But is anyone else going to give them a better offer than Garland? Come on,” the exec said. “Even the Clippers probably don’t believe that (such a) deal is out there.”
The executive went on to say he thinks the Clippers could shop Harden until the very last minute, specifically 3 p.m. EST on Thursday.
“After that, they’d better hope Cleveland is still interested,” he added.
“They’re doing the right thing by playing hardball with their picks. But once they look around, they’ll see that no one is offering anything better (than Garland). It doesn’t take an insider to know that much, man.”
A Garland-for-Harden swap also already checks all the financial boxes. Garland’s $39.45 million salary narrowly tops Harden’s $39.18 million, allowing a clean one-for-one swap despite the Cavs sitting above the second apron.
Harden does have an implied no-trade clause and a 15-percent trade kicker, and only $13.32 million of his $42.32 million salary next season is guaranteed.
Garland is under contract long term and has missed time this season with toe and ankle issues.
Rival teams have long questioned his fit next to Donovan Mitchell, particularly given Garland’s preference to operate as a primary ball-handler.
As for Harden, the production is still very real. He’s averaging 25.4 points, 8.1 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals across 44 games, logging heavy minutes and shooting nearly 91 percent from the line.
Garland, limited to 26 appearances because of injuries, is at 18.0 points and 6.9 assists in just over 30 minutes per night, with solid efficiency when available.
The Cavs are 13-13 with Garland this season, 17-8 without.
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