Cavs: Darius Garland stresses how Team USA exposure will help him lead

Darius Garland‘s second season led many Cleveland Cavaliers fans to figuratively, and maybe literally, exhale. After a fairly underwhelming Year 1, he had a bounce-back 2020-21 campaign, averaging 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest.

Both Garland’s playmaking and all-around scoring abilities, of which were not seen as much in Year 1, because of seemingly a variety of factors, were regularly on display last season. He hit 39.5 percent of his three-point attempts as well.

Now, heading into his third season with the Cavaliers, one can’t help to expect Garland to take another step forward.

That’s even more so with how he gained invaluable experience this past summer, when he was invited to play for the Team USA’s Select squad, where he practiced against Team USA’s Men’s Basketball squad which took home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Garland didn’t appear with Team USA in Tokyo, but he did get a bit of playing time with them in exhibitions prior to that, which one shouldn’t discount.

So, taking that into account, and with how his last season went, Garland should be due for breakout year for the Cavs, or at least it seems many believe he is due for that, including reportedly 15 NBA executives.

Circling back to the Team USA experience for him, though, it was notable that Garland stressed how his time with them helped him learn how to lead for the Cavaliers. Here was more on that aspect from Monday media availability, via Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and the “Locked on Cavs” podcast.

Garland seems poised to take the next step as a key leader for the Cavs.

It’s clear that Ricky Rubio, who is set to be Garland’s primary backup, will be a crucial leadership presence for Cleveland, and even though he’ll likely be mostly a reserve, he’ll help in that way immensely. That’s both in the on and off-floor sense, with Rubio being a crafty veteran playmaker and defender, and it’s apparent that based on Darius Garland’s comments, he’s aided him and the team as a leader already.

With him heading into Year 3 with the Cavs and with seemingly many believing he’s due for a big year, though, as these comments show, Garland is likely primed to take on more of a leadership role, too.

But as those comments from him, via Dammarell, demonstrated, being around tons of stars on the US squad had to have resonated, and I’d hopefully, within the team, the aforementioned Rubio, both from an on and off-floor standpoint, aids him in that regard. I’d think that could be the case, at least to some extent, for Collin Sexton and others as well.

While the Cavs and Sexton/his camp didn’t come to a contract extension agreement before yesterday evening’s deadline, the Cavaliers and the team seem to be very bullish on Sexton, and I’d expect him to be eventually locked up long-term next offseason, anyway. And it’s well-documented that, from a work ethic perspective, that could seemingly play into him leading by example and has it appears.

With Garland, however, with him being Cleveland’s starting primary playmaker, having that Team USA experience this past summer and being arguably the club’s best all-around shooter, he’ll need to take on more of the leadership reigns from here as well. I’d imagine that relates to him being more vocal in-game and behind the scenes, and for a club’s primary option at the 1 heading into his third season, that’s imperative.

Fortunately, it seems that Garland, even with him not having a great preseason, is poised to be stepping up in that area. I don’t read that much into his preseason, anyhow, and he should be all squared away, so long as the confidence is there.

Now, he’s still only 21, but Garland’s Team USA experience had to have had a lasting impact for his mindset, and that I believe will pay dividends for his play and his impact as a more crucial leadership presence from here.