Cavs: 3 crucial keys to Darius Garland winning Most Improved in 2021-22

Cavs: 3 crucial keys to Darius Garland winning Most Improved – Increase scoring above 20 points per game

While player impact is so much more than simply scoring, it remains the most visible and therefore the most heavily weighted statistic when evaluating improvement in a player.

Last year Garland increased his minutes, volume and efficiency, which resulted in a 5.1 points per game increase from his rookie year. He will need to take a similar leap this year, which is absolutely possible if his efficiency takes a small step forward and his volume takes a moderate leap up as well.

Increasing his average by another five points will clear the 20 points per game threshold (22.5 or so), an important visual, and give a concrete number for voters to grasp onto. It’s more difficult to go from 17 to 22 than it is to increase by five points starting from a lower point as he did a year ago. Garland will have to be up to the task.

There is a major opportunity for Garland to not only increase personally but also increase his standing among his fellow young point guards. Ja Morant and Trae Young are almost post-leap, so if he can inhabit the space as the next up-and-comer that will give him plenty of buzz. The best way to do that is by increasing his scoring.