Cleveland Cavaliers: Predicting their closing lineup for 2019-20
Darius Garland
Head coach John Beilein has gone with a veteran presence to start games in the preseason next to Collin Sexton as Brandon Knight and Matthew Dellavedova have been selected instead of Garland.
That should tell you one of two things. Coach Beilein is going with the veterans in the preseason
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out of respect for those guys and Garland will start once the season starts, or, he will continue to start a veteran over Garland once the season rolls around.
No matter which way he decides to go, Garland should be on the floor during crunch time. He continually showed in the preseason that he could get his own bucket and showed a natural point guard ability. The contrast in the tempo he plays with compared to Sexton is interesting to see. Garland probes the defense and doesn’t play at break-neck speed as Sexton does.
Neither style is wrong, it’s a nice change of pace with Garland and Sexton. Garland had stretches in his three preseason games where he looked like the best player on the floor and he will only get better as the season progresses.
He showed that he can be a very effective player in the pick-and-roll because of his ball-handling and feel for a defense. Garland and Kevin Love should form a solid duo in the pick-and-roll game this season.
In three preseason games, according to NBA.com, Garland had per-game averages of 16.8 minutes, 9.0 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.7 turnovers. He also shot 55% from the floor and 42% from three.