Cavs: Extended offseason should pay off for Darius Garland in year 2

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t played in what’s felt like a decade, but Darius Garland should benefit from that for next season.

The last game action for the Cleveland Cavaliers was on March 10, in what was a close loss to the Chicago Bulls. Shortly thereafter, the NBA season went on a novel coronavirus-induced hiatus, and the Cavs weren’t a team that was invited to the season’s restart in Orlando.

So the Wine and Gold’s 2019-20 campaign ultimately ended out at 65 games, which was unfortunate for the squad, as they were seemingly gaining momentum.

Now, I know, folks. It was only an 11-game sample size post-All-Star break in what was the opening stretch of J.B. Bickerstaff taking over mid-season as Cleveland’s head coach leading into the hiatus and what would then be the end of the season for them.

But the Cavaliers were playing better, and were sixth in the league in assist rate, to go with 10th in effective field goal shooting in that span. While their overall record ended out at 19-46, post-All-Star, Cleveland was a more respectable 5-6.

And again, it’s been tough for the Cavs that they’ve been away from game action for now six-plus months. Furthermore, per a recent report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the next season for the NBA will not begin until at least Christmas Day (Dec. 25).

On a positive note for that, though, this could end up being a blessing for one Cavalier, in particular, honestly. And that’s Darius Garland.

This extended offseason for the Cleveland Cavaliers should pay off for Garland.

Of course, the focus for the Cavs, in terms of current players, with the next season not starting for at minimum three-plus more months, after what was a season pushback per Charania’s report, will be on furthering player development. That’s in relation to young pieces such as Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and Cedi Osman, most notably.

Dylan Windler, who did not appear in 2019-20 due to complications involving a stress reaction in his left leg, is in that realm, too. It’s a positive that Windler is currently participating in Cavs individual workouts being conducted currently, and will reportedly do so in the club’s upcoming downtown bubble team workouts starting next week, even more so.

Albeit to me, again, it’s clear as day that Garland will benefit perhaps as much as any Cavalier with having this extended offseason. Garland had his rough patches in year 1, and that’s fair to say.

Him hitting 40.1 percent of his shots was underwhelming, and early on, Garland mightily struggled, and he had his issues in the passing/decisio-making realm. Garland has a ways to go defensively, too, and that’s apparent.

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As his first season progressed, though, Garland did show plenty of positive signs. In the 2020 portion of the schedule, he had a better 5.1 assists per game, as compared to his overall 3.9 assists per outing, in what were his last 26 games active.

Garland did seem to get more comfortable as his rookie campaign wore on as a shooter, and him hitting 39.2 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data, was encouraging.

Although in year 2, he does need to be more aggressive as a scorer. Garland does need to show more as a pick-and-roll scorer, also, and really, more so when he gets bigs switched out on to him.

I firmly believe, swinging back, that this extended offseason should pay off for DG in year 2, though. Garland seemingly, albeit with social distancing/COVID-19 guidelines I’d imagine, has been able to work on his individual game plenty, which was not realistically the case last offseason.

DG was busy rehabbing from his meniscus tear in college at Vanderbilt, of which limited his collegiate career to just five games, and Garland reportedly had a minor foot issue that didn’t aid him early on in year 1.

Garland, though he did miss what would turn out to be Cleveland’s last five games of this now-past season, is fully healthy now and has been. As a result, I’d think he should be ready to roll at the outset of next season, and hopefully, Cleveland’s upcoming team workouts should be especially productive for him.

So while it is not ideal in terms of what will be a really long layoff, to me, this stretch before the next season I could foresee as paying off for Garland in what will be his second campaign with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I’d think, even more so if the Wine and Gold select a high quality defensive wing in the upcoming draft such as Auburn’s Isaac Okoro or Florida State’s Devin Vassell, which I see as a high possibility, that Garland should be poised for a bounce-back campaign. I agree with reporter Kelsey Russo of The Athletic in that regard, who seemingly predicted that will be the case for DG in year 2 (subscription required).

Moreover, this elongated offseason, as Russo touched on as well, I believe will pay dividends for Garland, from the health standpoint, and for him hopefully all-around. While I clearly can’t say it for certain, I’d expect we’ll see a much more confident DG in year 2.

And being able to work much more on his game as compared to last offseason during this extended offseason for the Cavaliers should play right into that for him, from my perspective.