3 reasons why Cavs’ Darius Garland should repeat as All-Star next season
By Zane Harris
Darius Garland made a huge splash during the NBA’s 2022 All-Star Weekend. Over the All-Star break, Garland won the Skills Challenge along with Cleveland Cavaliers teammates Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Along with that, Garland also was a member of the All-Star game-winning Team LeBron, in what could the first of plenty of All-Star appearances for him.
In the All-Star Game, Garland scored 13 points, dished out three assists, pulled in one rebound, and also got two steals while shooting 41.7% from the field and 42.9% from three.
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen was a member of Team LeBron in the All-Star Game, too, and had a true breakout season. He ended the contest with 10 points, nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks. Allen also shot 83.3% from the field.
Both Garland and Allen put on a show for the hometown Cleveland fans, more than anything else. They both put their talents on full display and represented both themselves and the Cavs extremely well.
With this upcoming season looking to be a very promising one for Garland, there is no reason why he should not be making his second All-Star Game appearance in February. Garland has made enormous jumps from year to year every season so far in his career.
From his first to second season in the league, he improved by 5.1 points, 2.2 assists, half a rebound, and half a steal per game. There was a noticeable jump in Garland’s game from year one to year two, however, taking a deeper look at the numbers really highlights just how much he improved. From year two to three, he made yet another substantial jump.
He was in the running for the Most Improved Player of the Year last season, finishing third behind Dejounte Murray and Ja Morant. Garland improved by 4.3 points, 2.5 assists, nine-tenths of a rebound, and one-tenth of a steal. He also improved his field goal percentage by 1.1%.
While it is not likely that Garland will make the same jump from year three to year four, he will still show some form of progression or at the very least not begin to regress. There are three major reasons as to why Garland is poised to make yet another All-Star game in the 2023 season.
Garland will likely be the leader of the Cleveland Cavaliers offense in the 2022-2023 season. He has blossomed into one of the league’s premier shooters. Along with this, after the Cavs front office began to bring in veteran point guards like Ricky Rubio and Rajon Rondo, Garland’s playmaking and facilitating have greatly improved.
It is clear that he is a franchise player for Cleveland, and as long as the team continues to be successful, Garland will remain an All-Star. And to our previous point, here we’ll hit on three reasons why Garland should be an All-Star again next year.