Three potential third scoring options for the Cavs next season

Cleveland Cavaliers potential third scoring option #2: Darius Garland

When Darius Garland was drafted by the Cavaliers, one of the most fascinating pieces of his game was his scoring. Although he only played five games in his collegiate career at Vanderbilt, Garland displayed scoring tools that perfectly fit the modern NBA point guard mold. Garland was crafty in terms of scoring in the paint, but he also had a nice three-point shot.

While Garland did show flashes of scoring ability in his rookie season, his overall play was pretty lackluster. He was never consistent offensively and while he was reportedly affected by his prior meniscus injury in college, seemingly, him hitting only 40.1 percent of his shots was far from stellar.

Some nights he would light up the arena with his high arching jumper but then follow up that performance by looking unengaged throughout his next game, but hopefully him not affected by that prior injury this next season will bode well.

Moreover, while he may not have had the greatest rookie season in Cavs history, that does not mean that Garland cannot have a bounce back season in year two.

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Him hitting 39.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-pointers, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, was at least encouraging, though, and he did hit 105 three-point attempts in 59 games active. That was before the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus and ultimately what would be the end of 2019-20 for Cleveland.

Plenty of point guards throughout NBA history have struggled in their first season and then returned as a much better player in their second year.

The main reason for this is that playing point guard in the NBA is really hard, especially for someone who was in Garland’s position. He was 19 years old when he was drafted by the Cavs, and he had only played five college games before becoming a pro.

Garland had no meaningful college basketball experience. He was thrust into a starting point guard position on a bad Cleveland Cavaliers team with his last meaningful basketball coming during his senior year in high school.

Darius Garland was put in an awful position during his rookie year. But that does not mean he simply is a bad player. Garland has a good handle, he is a capable three-point shooter, and he’s still very young.

If Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is able to put Garland is a more solid position during his sophomore season, it is not crazy to suggest that he could become a far greater scorer. That’s even possibly as the third scoring option behind Sexton and Love this next season.