In May of last year, NBA insider Jake Fischer said that many teams around the league would have Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland ranked above Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young in trade talks that offseason.
Fast forward more than one year, and seemingly not much has changed in that regard. According to NBA insider Grant Afseth, the Sacramento Kings value Garland over Young, though it’s worth noting that opinion was formed before this week’s news came that Garland will be sidelined for several months following toe surgery.
“It’s believed that Sacramento values Garland over Young, though that stance was formed prior to news of Garland’s toe surgery,” Afseth wrote.
Afseth also noted that NBA teams have “often” valued Garland over Young in the past, which supports Fischer’s report from last year.
“In the past, teams seeking a point guard have often valued Garland over Young when evaluating potential options at the position,” Afseth wrote. “For example, that was the case when the San Antonio Spurs canvassed the point guard market last offseason, sources told RG. Cleveland ultimately chose not to move Garland at that time, and San Antonio addressed its point guard need before the midseason trade deadline by acquiring [De’Aaron] Fox from the Kings.”
Some folks might be confused as to why it’s a common belief among some teams in the league that Garland is more valuable than Young when comparing the two’s accomplishments. Garland is a two-time All-Star, while Young is a four-time All-Star with one assists title and one All-NBA selection to his name.
In addition, Young has the third-highest career assists average of any player in league history, as he’s dished out 9.8 assists per game for his pro career.
But Garland has a case as the more appealing trade target of the two players for multiple reasons. For one, he’s historically been a far more efficient scorer than Young at the highest level. Garland is a career 38.8 percent shooter from 3-point range, and he converted 40.1 percent of his 3s in the 2024-25 regular season.
Secondly, Garland has shown an ability to take a backseat on the offensive side of the ball for the betterment of his team. Garland was arguably Cleveland’s de facto offensive player for a short time before guard Donovan Mitchell was added to the fold, but he’s shown that he’s willing to defer to Mitchell.
Young may be capable of being effective in a secondary role as well, but he’s had to play a huge role with the Hawks for many years now.
Regardless of which of Garland or Young is more valued by opposing teams, there’s no denying that they are two of the more talented point guards in the league today, and it should be interesting to find out if either one of them changes teams in the offseason.
