Lonzo Ball recently invited Darius Garland on his podcast ‘Ball in the Family’ with his brother, LiAngelo Ball, where they reviewed the Cavaliers’ postseason performance after having traded away both of them in February this season.
“If you were trying to win a championship, I don’t think that was a path that you should have taken personally. You ask me, I think we would have went farther. But that’s just me. I’m always going to bet on myself.”
“But okay, I feel like we had a better team. I feel like even watching the last series, I’m like, ‘Y’all traded people that you’re not even using.’ And then you push Tyson to the bench when he was killing all year. Qwan didn’t see the light of day. He’s the energy guy.”
“It’s just like what I’ve seen throughout the year; I didn’t see it at all in the playoffs. And to me, it’s gonna be hard to win when you don’t have an identity,” Ball concluded.
Lonzo Ball averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists while shooting 30.1% from the field and 27.2% from beyond the arc during his short stay with the Cavaliers.
He was eventually traded to the Jazz as part of a trade that was simply a way to create roster space and dump his salary, as they got nothing in return. So I highly doubt that any team considers an injury-prone player like Ball as a significant addition to their roster anymore.
He may have been a better defender than James Harden was, but his offensive contributions would not be anywhere close, even if Harden did not perform well in the playoffs. So even if Harden was a defensive weakness, Ball would likely not have a better impact than Harden did as a starter.
But Ball rightly pointed out that the Cavaliers added players like Keon Ellis near the trade deadline, who barely saw any action in the playoffs. Darius Garland was then asked to also review the Cavaliers’ season.
“I’m with Zo, man. It was low-key tough to watch. I mean, I didn’t watch a lot. But when I did tune in, it was kind of tough. Especially like seeing how we were playing early on in the year, right? See, like it’s such a total, literally a 180, right? Like something totally different on the court, but it is what it is.”
Darius Garland has a different case than Lonzo Ball. The presence of Darius Garland on the Cavaliers’ roster may have been far more impactful than Lonzo Ball was.
During his time with the Cavaliers this season, he was averaging 18.0 points, 6.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds this season while shooting 45.1% from the field and 36.0% from beyond the arc.
But there were rumors about growing tensions between Garland and Mitchell in the backcourt, and even Garland’s own comments later suggested that he was not happy with being forced to play second fiddle to Donovan Mitchell.
“Man, it’s been great, bro. To come to a system where I can actually be me. I had a ball in my hand for the majority of the games and actually like having control and pace of the game, and just being like a second coach out there, literally,” said Garland while talking about the transition of playing for the Clippers.
“So it was really good. It was fun while I was out there playing for sure. I got my joy back,” said Garland, suggesting he lost his joy in Cleveland.
Lonzo Ball is currently a free agent, while Darius Garland has two more seasons left on his rookie-max contract. While the Clippers may have found a long-term cornerstone in Garland, Ball remains without a team.
I can agree to the point that the Cavaliers did play a disappointing brand of basketball in the Eastern Conference Finals, but I highly doubt that Lonzo Ball’s presence on their roster would have made a significant difference against the Knicks.
Moreover, I don’t see Garland doing much more than what James Harden did in the playoffs as well. So I don’t think they would have gone further if they were both still on the Cavaliers. Do you agree with Ball? Would the Cavaliers have a better chance with both these players on their roster? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
