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Cleveland Cavaliers: Grading Darius Garland’s 2019-20 season thus far

By Robbie DiPaola

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland handles the ball. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland handles the ball. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland defends on-ball. (Photo by Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Looking at Garland’s defensive play thus far

At a listed 6-foot-1 and 192 pounds (though that weight almost seems inflated due to a rather slight build), Garland’s frame makes it easier for bigger, more physical guards to get around him and go through him with ease. Defense was never considered a strength for Garland, but he needs to become less of an on-ball liability on that end of the floor.

As of now, his defensive rating of 113.8 ranks above just 18 players who have played 40-plus games this season, as indicated by NBA.com.

Cleveland might have been able to hide Garland more on defense, but they currently have four players who rank below Garland in terms of defensive rating, and on the season, only the Washington Wizards have placed worse in defensive rating.

If Garland can become a passable on-ball defender and time up passing lanes to snag steals or generate deflections more, Cleveland would take that from their young guard. He has shown that ability from time to time, with 0.7 steals per outing, on the plus side, though, and hopefully he can build on that.

Nonetheless, even in today’s NBA, where scoring is king, and defense is not stressed as much, especially when it comes to point guards on-ball, Garland needs to work on just not being a liability on that end of the floor.