Cavs: Darius Garland promoted to Team USA for upcoming exhibitions

Darius Garland had a heck of a bounce-back season for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020-21, and that likely led to him recently invited/eventually set to play with the Team USA Select Team.

Garland has been playing with the Select Team in Las Vegas, which has involved some scrimmaging against the Team USA Olympic squad, which is set to play in Tokyo later this month.

Before then though, the Olympic Team will play some exhibition games, and for the next upcoming ones, Garland it seems could get some playing time.

That’s per a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium; Charania stated how the US team is promoting three Select Team members in Keldon Johnson, Garland and Saddiq Bey. He did report how a few others will at least “be with” the squad, too, though.

While he won’t play in Tokyo, Garland will play with Team USA for its exhibitions. As an aside, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton will join Team USA after the Finals, as Charania’s report noted.

This is a big deal for the Cavs youngster, and is just more experience for him.

Darius Garland has shown steady improvement throughout his first two years in the NBA and his handle and steady shooting likely earned him a spot on the Select Team. Garland is also a solid passer who will have the opportunity to distribute the ball to some of the NBA’s best players in these exhibitions.

DG will look to keep building on his progression from this past season where he posted 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per outing. This now-past season, he also shot nearly 40 percent from three.

The point guard will join Kevin Love as a member of the Olympic team in these exhibitions. In fact, this is the first time the Cleveland Cavaliers have had multiple members on Team USA, surprisingly.

Garland has come a long way from his rookie year where expectations were high and he, quite honestly, came short of those. A subpar rookie year turned into a much-improved sophomore season and now he has gained the respect of the league and will play amongst its best players.

A benefit coming of this for the Cavaliers is all of the learning that Garland will have. Playing and picking up on the habits of All-NBA caliber players will only help Garland’s habits and mindset in an evolving league.

Garland will likely become one of Cleveland’s sole leaders next season as its point guard and operator of the offense. DG will be playing with established leaders like Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard and Draymond Green in these exhibitions.

Garland will likely have an opportunity to play key minutes off the bench as the main distributor in the offense. This means he will be calling out plays and setting up All-Stars, which is a pretty big deal for the 21-year-old.

Darius Garland has picked up praise from all around the league, and per a report from Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, though on the first day with the Select he had a “very minor” knee-to-knee ailment, he’s looked “really good” in scrimmages, to that point.

Additionally, while Garland initially did decline the invitation to play in the exhibition games, per Fedor, he reportedly ended up changing his mind and will do so.

One couldn’t fault Garland for doing so, given the opportunity.

Moreover, this honor is a big deal for Darius Garland as well as the Cavaliers.