Three Cleveland Cavaliers players that will disappoint next season

One of three Cavs that will disappoint: Darius Garland

The first player that will disappoint next season is Darius Garland. Garland was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2019 NBA Draft from the University of Vanderbilt. Garland was the highest selection from Vanderbilt since Clyde Lee was selected third in the 1966 draft.

Despite being the fifth overall pick, Garland did not make the All-NBA Rookie First or Second team. This is rather disappointing as in his first year at least, he did not play to the value that he was drafted at. With him being on a rebuilding team that was more than happy to give him many shot attempts per game, making the second team should not have been difficult.

Garland did not finish his rookie season with a bad stat line, necessarily. He averaged 12.3 points and 3.9 assists per game. However, he left a lot to be desired, and him putting up only 3.9 assists per game was awful for a starting point guard and that’s something that needs to be improved on if the Cavaliers want to have team success in the near future.

Lastly, he was atrocious on defense. Garland was regularly driven by at will, and while it wasn’t necessarily all on him, Garland had a defensive plus-minus of minus-2.8.

There is a lot that Darius Garland needs to improve on this season to come close to living up to the expectations he will be held to as a fifth overall pick. He will have to begin to become a more efficient shooter as he shot 40.1 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from three-point range last year.

Garland will have to become more of a contributor on defense much more this season. Finally, he will have to become more generous with the ball and get his assist numbers up if he wants to remain even in the starting lineup.