2019-20 predictions for Garland: 14.1 PPG on 53.7% true shooting, 3.6 APG, 28.8 MPG and 72 games active
Garland, in my opinion, is the player the Cleveland Cavaliers probably believe has the potential to be their franchise star, and general manager Koby Altman and the organization, along with Beilein, seemed thrilled to have landed him in the 2019 NBA Draft fifth overall.
Garland, despite the miniscule sample size in his collegiate career at Vanderbilt (just five games, per Sports Reference), due to a reported meniscus tear, is a player who has deep three-point shooting range that will likely translate to the NBA level, according to NBA draft pundits.
One could see that a bit at Vandy, as he had 16.2 points per game on 63.9% effective field goal shooting (which included a 47.8% clip from three-point land, per Sports Reference), and his off-the-bounce marksmanship is clearly what is the reason for many believing he has such a high ceiling as a primary playmaker/lead guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Again, though, Garland did only barely play in college, and with the Cavs having a bunch of guards currently, Garland’s minutes-share, even though I believe he’ll initially start, will be cut into for a decent while by Clarkson, and/or Delly/Knight to a degree, and it could take some time for Garland to have the game slow down for him, if you will.
With more offensive weapons around him than Sexton had that can make things happen for themselves in his rookie campaign, I see Garland putting up 14.1 points per game (which is close to Marling’s prediction for the 19-year-old) on a solid for a rookie 53.7% true shooting clip (mainly thanks to his range and volume from deep).
Due to precaution and perhaps some of an injury possibility with Garland, though, I could see him missing 10 games.
So that’s it for my statistics predictions for guards currently on the Cleveland roster.
What are yours for the current guards, Cavs fans?
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