Cavs: Ranking the 5 best 3-point shooters on the roster

Cavs: Ranking the 5 best 3-point shooters on the roster – Darius Garland

Darius Garland is the player in this young core who is supposed to be the best shooter. Coming out of Vanderbilt after a season mostly lost to injury, shooting was his primary calling card. In five games in college he hit 47.8 percent of his 3-pointers. Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer compared him to Damian Lillard in his draft guide.

Garland had an overall shaky start to his career as he finished recovering from the torn meniscus that prematurely ended his college career. He played in 59 games and hit a decent, but not great, 35.5 percent from deep. Once his NBA legs were under him he took a major step forward as a sophomore, boosting his scoring average by 5.1 points per game and hitting 39.5 percent of his long-range shots.

Playing many of his minutes alongside another ball-dominant player in Collin Sexton, Garland was able to shoot many of his 3-pointers off-the-catch. To compare him again to Damian Lillard, only 39.3 percent of his 3-pointers were assisted, while Garland had 70.5 percent of his assisted. The next step for Garland will be improving in his ability to shoot off-the-dribble, allowing him to better lead out in units without another ball-handler.

Collin Sexton has been a more prolific player to this point, but Garland has more upside as a shooter and will likely pass Sexton as early as this season in that regard. Another small step forward and he will be the best shooter in the backcourt, with versatility in his shot to make that a true weapon.