Examining Viral Darius Garland Trade Idea to Help Anthony Edwards

NBA beat writer Floats a fascinating trade idea that lands Darius Garland alongside Anthony Edwards after the Wolves' playoff exit.

Examining Viral Darius Garland Trade Idea to Help Anthony Edwards

Darius Garland, Anthony Edwards (Firstsportz image)

The OKC Thunder advanced to their first NBA Finals in 13 seasons after a 124-94 win on Wednesday. They held three of the five Minnesota Timberwolves starters to single digits, blowing the game open in the first quarter. Minnesota finished the quarter with a paltry nine points. They went into the locker room with just 35 points on the board at halftime. Anthony Edwards finished with just 19 points on 7 of 18 shooting.

The Wolves’ young star was expected to be able to put up more of a fight ahead of this series. After all, Edwards is a big talker. He’s coming off the back of sending LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler out of the NBA playoffs. The Wolves were on a high, having only lost two playoff games in two series. OKC, meanwhile, struggled mightily in a seven-game series against Nikola Jokic and co.

The Wolves entered the series with a rest advantage of four days. However, the only point when they were ahead in the series was the first half of Game 1. The Thunder proceeded to put the clamps on them for most of the rest of the series. They held the Thunder to 40 points in the second half of game 1. In Game 5, their suffocating first-half defense showed a new low to Wolves fans with 35 points.

The Wolves are quite thin in guard talent around Anthony Edwards. They have relied on Mike Conley thus far, who has a veteran presence with 18 years of experience. However, Conley is incapable of being a starter on a championship team at this stage of his career. He does not have the athletic burst on either end to contend with more detailed schemes anymore. The Wolves will need a point guard for the future.

One option for them could be Darius Garland. At least, NBA beat writer Tony Jones thinks so. He floated the idea of the Timberwolves compromising on their perimeter defense by trading Jaden McDaniels away after their blowout loss last night. The trade package involves the Wolves’ 2025 first round pick going to Cleveland to sweeten the deal.

Does the Darius Garland trade idea for Jaden McDaniels help both Anthony Edwards and Donovan Mitchell?

Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland have both flattered to deceive as a backcourt pairing. They have won a playoff series each in 2024 and 2025, but gotten schemed against in the second round. While we can point to injuries as a difference-maker, the fact remains that two small guards together make for a very leaky backcourt. The Pacers found the mantra to beat the Cavs by relentlessly attacking both of them.

However, Jaden McDaniels would be more of a superfluous addition to their already defensively spectacular frontcourt. The Cavs would prefer a player who specializes more in guard defense, as well as a more reliable shooter. While McDaniels was great in the first two rounds against the Lakers and Warriors, he did not have the juice as a shooter for most of the Conference Finals.

McDaniels was also generally too lightweight to defend Luka Doncic last year, and too slow to defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this year. He also went 0-6 to start the first quarter last night, finishing 2-13 for five points. For this deal to be of good value for both teams, McDaniels’ offense needs to be more consistent. Nonetheless, this trade could be made feasible with a few more adjustments from both teams.