Mid-range will again be effective counter for Cavs’ Darius Garland in Year 4

It’s a broken record to drive home that Darius Garland had a breakout season in 2021-22 for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a bounce-back campaign in 2020-21 with 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest, Garland followed that up in a big way, with 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per game in his third season. He was also a finalist for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, which went to Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Garland looks to be an emerging star for the Cavaliers looking onward, with his combination of playmaking abilities and vision and as a scorer, his handle, quickness, change-of-pace and range make him so difficult to account for. Garland followed up a nice season for him as a catch-and-shoot threat, in particular, in Year 2 by making noticeable strides as a shooter off-the-bounce from three-point range in Year 3.

Garland connected on 38.3 percent of his three-point attempts in 2021-22, and he had a 40.5 percent shooting clip on pull-up three-point attempts, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data. His on-ball prowess in conjunction with his playmaking feel/vision often has been able to set his teammates, or himself, up for success in both set offense and in transition.

Additionally, Garland made further strides as a finisher near the rim during this recently-concluded season for the Cavaliers, and while injuries to others did play some into it, Garland did eventually get to the free throw line more in Year 3.

That being said, even with threes, drives and his playmaking being the key points of emphasis for Garland, generally, on offense, I also believe he’ll still utilize the mid-range some. And next season, I believe that’ll again prove to be an effective counter for him, and he’ll still need to take those looks at times to help aid him as a deep threat and driver, but as a passer, too.

The mid-range will again be an effective counter for Garland in his fourth season to come with the Cavs.

As we touched on, Garland was very effective as a three-point shooter also in his third season, and that’ll always be a huge part of his game. I’m not disputing that, and no matter who is on the floor with him in varying lineups, we know what Garland provides in that realm for Cleveland.

The same goes for Garland as a driver, both to score for himself and as a passer for others as a lob/pocket pass distributor and ball-swing initiator in those instances. Garland had 2.4 assists on drives per contest this season, per Second Spectrum, which was tied for third in the NBA, only trailing Luka Doncic and Dejounte Murray.

But as we mentioned a bit, I’d still expect to see Garland utilize the mid-range as a quality counter in his fourth season, to mesh with his deep shooting, drives and playmaking. Garland demonstrated solid pull-up shooting capabilities in his first two seasons, and more so in Year 2, and last season, we saw more of that from him in Year 3.

As we expressed, Garland knocked down 40.5 percent of his pull-up three attempts this season, on a 22.1 percent frequency. That was impressive from him, and illustrated further growth as an on-ball scorer.

Coupled with that, however, Garland also connected on a robust 46.1 percent of his pull-up two-point attempts in 2021-22, on a 23.0 percent frequency. His hesitations, use of hang dribbles, in-n-outs and his quickness allowed him to generate plenty of space for those shots, which he knocked down regularly.

That was great to see from him, and also regarding the in-between game as a counter, we know how Garland’s floaters in pick-and-roll are always a constant threat, which pair well with the lob threats of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley. Diddo for Moses Brown even a bit near the ending stretch of the season, and Brown could seemingly have a case for being back next season/maybe longer on a team-friendly deal, we’ll have to see.

Anyway, while I’m not suggesting it’s the bread-and-butter for him, hopefully with other more on-ball threats this next season for Cleveland in the fold again, Garland’s mid-range game should again be an effective counter. He hit 49.7 percent of his shots from 10-16 feet and 45.6 percent from 16 feet to the three-point line in Year 3, and that was impressive.

The in-between game is not necessarily the primary focus for the games’ star point guards, but it’s one guys have to use at times still.

And in Year 4, that’ll still help Garland throughout games to get himself going if needed, I’d imagine.