Garland averaged 18 points, 6.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game across 26 appearances in Cleveland this season, shooting 52.1% on 2-pointers, 36% on 3-point attempts and 86.1% from the free-throw line. While battling the toe injuries, Garland often seemed to lack the explosiveness, balance and shot-making prowess that made him a two-time All-Star in Cleveland, and a key cog in a Cavaliers attack that set offensive efficiency records last season. If his wheels are healthy, though, he could give Lue a potent weapon to wield as he tries to propel the Clips through the play-in tournament and into the postseason proper.

“He’s different from James and we can play different with a faster pace,” Lue told reporters last month. “We can play him off the ball more. It’s going to be exciting. I’ve known DG for a while and having a young point guard under my tutelage, I think it’s the first time I have had one since Kyrie [Irving].”

While it might take some time for player and coach to iron out the kinks and establish a working rhythm, Garland seems eager to seize the opportunity in front of him in L.A. In the short term, Garland gets to pair with an elite two-way wing in Leonard, who has produced at an All-NBA level this season, and see if the Clips can’t make some unexpected noise come springtime. And, looking forward Garland, who’s under contract through the 2027-28 season, has a chance to be a foundational figure for the next phase of the Clippers franchise, whatever that might look like.

“I’m good with the change,” Garland recently told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “When it first happened, I was kind of skeptical. But I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to play with another Hall of Famer [Leonard] and having a ball in my hands damn near 99 percent of the time. [...] I’m in another good situation over here in L.A., trying to do something, trying to rebuild this whole brand of the Clippers, and try to make it one of the biggest teams in L.A.”

That’s a tall task: Achieving it will require both the kind of regular-season success Garland experienced in Cleveland last season, and the brand of postseason success that neither he nor the Clips have achieved. Whether they’ll get there remains to be seen; after what must have felt like a very long month, though, the process will finally get started on Monday night.

“Whatever T-Lue wants me to be, whatever position he wants me to be in, I’m going to do that,” Garland told reporters after the trade. “I’m here to win games.”