It’s paramount that Cavs’ Darius Garland gets some real time off-ball

Darius Garland looks to be an emerging star guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This season, he made an All-Star-leap alongside teammate Jarrett Allen for Team LeBron, with both then repping Cleveland in the 2022 All-Star Game.

Garland had 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per contest, and connected on 38.3 percent of his three-point attempts. It was a heck of a follow-up from Garland after he had a bounce-back second season when he had 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per contest, and from here, Garland, who will turn 23 next year, appears to have a very bright future.

His passing abilities, in tandem with his shot-making and improvements as a driver, make him so difficult to defend throughout stretches of games. Garland’s range, handle and IQ are all factored into that, and if he can stay mostly healthy, he could make plenty of All-Star games in years to come if the team keeps building on what they did this season.

That being said, it is apparent that for Garland and the Cavaliers’ outlook next season, and in general, Garland does need to have stretches, at least a bit throughout games, where he can play some off-ball. There were times where that played out this season, but with Collin Sexton mostly unavailable, and after Ricky Rubio was also lost for the season, it wasn’t as often, really, and the Cavaliers assuredly would attest to that.

It’s paramount that Garland does get at least some real time off the ball next season for the Cavs.

Clearly, Garland is going to be the primary facilitator for the Cavaliers moving forward.

He again had 8.6 assists per game this season, which was very impressive for a third-year guard, and he ranked in the 88th percentile among point guards this season in assist rate at 37.9 percent, per Cleaning The Glass’ metrics.

With both his passing and scoring abilities, Garland is going to spent the majority of the time being the primary initiator for Cleveland from here. We know that to be the case.

However, for both his own preservation and for team balance, it’s paramount that Garland gets some legit time off the ball next season. With Sexton’s absence, and Rubio’s in late December, there were stretches where the Cavaliers had difficulty getting things going, even in Garland minutes at times.

I thought Caris LeVert did provide some solid playmaking for stretches following his trade acquisition from the Indiana Pacers this season, and lifetime, he’s had 4.0 assists per outing.

As a secondary playmaker in stretches with Garland, he demonstrated some viability in that way, and I’d imagine at times next season, LeVert could fill in some as a primary playmaker as well, in non-Garland minutes. But objectively, LeVert could be a potential expiring trade candidate for Cleveland, and it’s tough to say whether he can fit in the scoring sense long term, so that might not play out, and injury concerns are there.

It’s apparent that Sexton should fill in in some stretches as a lead playmaker, or at least initiate offense at times, too. At times in minutes with Garland, I’d think Sexton can help Garland and/or others some good looks as well, for what it’s worth. So, provided Sexton recovers fully, and settles in in time from recovery from his meniscus tear, that can help.

Additionally, though, it’s understandable that the Cavaliers have been rumored to have free agency interest in reserve lead playmaking targets such as Tyus Jones, Delon Wright and Raul Neto. Those guys all could be viable primary playmakers in stretches where Garland gets a breather, I believe, and I do think, at least with Jones and Wright, they could play effectively in stretches with Garland.

Also, it’s not hard to get why the Cavs are reportedly interested in a potential Ricky Rubio reunion, with him seemingly as a mid-level exception target, more so in the sense of a non-taxpayer MLE, I’d assume. Rubio had what would’ve been tied for a career-best 13.1 points per contest in 34 games this season for Cleveland before his ACL tear, and he had 6.6 assists per outing in a bench supersub-type role primarily.

But, frankly, with Rubio’s ACL injury, of which was the second one he had in that left knee, and with him set to be in his age-32 season next year, I’d probably rather Cleveland seek help elsewhere for Garland and the team. It’s tough to forecast if Rubio, when he does come back, can be a guy they could count on upon his return from injury, which could end up being January, or even February, realistically.

In regards to next month’s draft, if he’s there, playmaking help could be part of the rationale for a TyTy Washington Jr. pick, Jalen Williams perhaps or Cleveland maybe considering a guy such as Dalen Terry or Alondes Williams in round two.

In any case, the gist is, for Garland, from both a workload and health/preservation standpoint, it’s paramount that DG does get some real off-ball time next season. He was dealing with a back injury that lingered for much of the season following the turn of the year, and while of course Sexton and Rubio’s injuries didn’t help, Garland not being able to play much off-ball didn’t exactly help Cleveland, particularly post-All-Star break, when they stumbled.

Hopefully, the Cavaliers have that sort of thing in mind, and they definitely do, it seems. At least for some time in games, some off-ball chances for Garland would make a real difference next season, I think, and getting him some more catch-and-shoot looks wouldn’t hurt.