Next season and looking onward, Darius Garland looks to be one of the foundational players for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Garland had a bounce-back season in his second year, leading to him averaging 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per outing after a fairly underwhelming rookie campaign, and in Year 3, he had a breakout season. Garland had 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per game, was one of the crucial reasons for the Cavaliers’ turnaround, and he made his All-Star debut.
Garland’s playmaking feel, vision, combined with his on-ball scoring abilities, deep range and shiftiness make him a constant threat and such a difficult cover. Frankly, with his wide-ranging skill set and talent level, I think he could have the makings of a perennial All-Star, provided the Cavaliers can keep on the right path and Garland himself stays mostly healthy.
Now, it was unfortunate that the Cavaliers fell short of reaching the postseason in 2021-22, despite them doubling their win total to 44 wins from 2020-21, and that still stings a bit. But there plenty of positives from the season, and Garland still showed out down the stretch, on the subject of his play.
That being said, it was a bit odd how Garland’s catch-and-shoot play wasn’t quite as effective down the stretch of the season, when the opportunities came for him. That wasn’t anything of significant concern, really, it was just somewhat puzzling at times.
Next season, though, he should be able to rebound there.
Garland should be able to rebound, regarding catch-and-shoot play, early on next season for the Cavs after a tough post-All-Star stretch in that area.
To clarify, one would think going forward, that Garland is probably going to have more of his scoring production via self-creation from pick-and-roll situations, pull-ups and drives. In his third season, that was what transpired, and for most All-Star-caliber guards, and lead initiators at that, they’re going to get more scoring production, generally on-ball.
That said, next season, whether it’s from the likes of Collin Sexton (provided he’s back), Caris LeVert (if he sticks), or others handling key playmaking duties for stretches, Garland does need some legit off-ball play.
While the injury recovery and the time table does concern me, I do get the Ricky Rubio potential return rumors, along with the Cavaliers being linked to guys such as Tyus Jones and Delon Wright, when it comes to reserve playmakers. And the same applies to potential playmaking help, such as TyTy Washington Jr., Dyson Daniels and Dalen Terry, seemingly among others; Alondes Williams is a second-round target I’m a big fan of for the Cavs, too.
The gist here is, to help preserve Garland, and to ease his workload in games, Cleveland has to get him some more off-ball opportunities next season.
Of course, the injuries to Sexton and Rubio, and later on, LeVert didn’t help, for what it’s worth. But if the Cavaliers can replenish their primary playmaking depth heading into next season, which is a priority it definitely seems, they should be able to assist Garland (I guess pun intended?) in that realm.
Other guys, such as Evan Mobley, Kevin Love somewhat and a bit when it comes to Cedi Osman/Dean Wade can help as functional ball-movers, too, and Mobley is a player I believe the Cavs will run offense through more next season, from there.
Anyway, with Garland, while it wasn’t overly concerning and some of it might have had to do with the workload, it was odd that he hit just 29.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot three-point attempts post-All-Star, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data. The frequency on those wasn’t that high at 12.5 percent of his shots, and pre-All-Star, with more complementary playmaking, his hit rate on those looks was 37.7 percent on an 18.0 percent frequency.
However, the disparity there in catch-and-shoot play just highlighted to me it’s essential for Garland to have real off-ball stretches in games, which he didn’t have much of in the closing stretch of 2021-22. That can get him some relocation looks, spot-ups from ball-swings, and could help him be fresher as a playmaker as games progresses.
Garland is a capable movement shooter, and we saw that in his second season more it seemed, to that point.
So, again, Garland being off the mark post-All-Star on catch-and-shoots wasn’t a huge concern, and he shot 46.3 percent on pull-up threes then on a 19.7 percent frequency, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data. That was really impressive, too.
Overall, though, I would just like to see Garland get more off-ball/off movement opportunities next season, and I’m sure the Cavs fully understand that element. There were more of those for him before the Cavaliers were so hampered by injuries, but it’s evident that still has to be addressed.
As we know, Garland was dealing with a back injury throughout the second half of this now-past season, too.