When Collin Sexton went down with a knee injury in early November of last year, it seemed like any hope for the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ 2021-2022 season quickly vanished. However, while Sexton’s injury is nothing to be happy about in any way whatsoever, it did help the Cavaliers discover just how good Darius Garland is, with him as the obvious catalyst for the team.
The former Vanderbilt Commodore averaged over 20 points per game last season, while also dishing out over 8.5 assists per game. On top of that Garland was selected to his first All-Star game, and could definitely be primed for another All-Star campaign to come in 2022-23. With all that being said, we can look back fondly on Garland’s 2021-2022 season, but it’s time to take a look at what we should be expecting from the third-year guard this coming season.
When Garland took over for Sexton as the team’s primary ball-handler, instantly he looked like a great fit. With his good attitude, and never-ending motor, he’s a great player to build a team around. He also connected on nearly 39% of his three-point attempts this past season. But, the biggest area of improvement for the young guard was in the playmaking department. After averaging only five assists per game in his first two seasons for the Cavaliers, this past year he upped that total to 8.6.
Cleveland made huge strides this past season. Evan Mobley was a revelation on both ends of the court, the move for Lauri Markkanen proved to be a good one, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff got his team to buy into his philosophy.
Now, though, more should be expected of Garland this season, so let’s take a look at two goals he should be looking to achieve in 2022-23.
Goal #1: Average 19+ points per game, and 10 assists
After such a great season, why not strive for something that only James Harden accomplished last year?
Garland has proven himself as a good scorer, especially during this past season. He has a great mid-range game, and separates from his defender very well. On top of that, his finishing around the rim should remind some Cavalier fans of a past point guard who wore the number two. But, the reason I think that his scoring average could continue to be noteworthy, along with his assist numbers is because as he gets older, he’s becoming more efficient. He has improved his field goal percentage every year since his rookie season.
The only player to average 10 assists per game last season was James Harden. At the end of last season, Garland’s playmaking ability was really on display after Jarrett Allen went down with an injury. In the 18 games at the end of the regular season without Allen, Garland had at least 10 assists in 11 out of 18 games. Even more impressive is that in the games where he had at least 10 assists, he averaged 12.2.
It’s very possible that with the help of a more improved offense from Evan Mobley, post-play from Jarrett Allen, and some kind of three-point scoring out of first-round pick Ochai Agbaji, that Garland could quite easily eclipse the 10+ assist threshold. He’s undoubtedly the primary engine for the Cavaliers on offense.
The backup point guard situation is one that is a bit worrisome to me. However, the team re-signed Ricky Rubio to fill that role, when at least for when he’s back, in that sense. Raul Neto could help Cleveland to some extent until then.
Overall Garland had a fantastic season this past year, and I expect a lot more from him this season, as should most fans. While 10 assists per game might seem like a lot, just consider this: Garland went from averaging 3.9 assists per game during his rookie season, to 6.1 assists per game in his second season, finishing with 8.6 this past season.
That means he’s improving his assist total 2.4 assists per game over his three seasons in the league. I’d say that’s pretty impressive, and reason to believe Garland won’t have a problem eclipsing that double-digit assist average.
Goal #2: Make an All-NBA team
When you start to take a look at Garland’s career path thus far, it’s kind of similar to the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young, who was drafted a year before DG in 2018. Young had a huge second-year leap after his rookie year. During his sophomore campaign in the NBA he bumped his scoring average from 19.1 points per game, to 29.6 points per game in 2019-2020. While Garland didn’t make that big of a leap, he became a the clear focal point of the Cavaliers offense after a big third-year leap.
To solidify yourself as one of the best 15 players in the league, you have to be selected to an All-NBA team, and based on this past year, while it’d be lofty to reach that, I do believe Garland could make that happen. With an improved Evan Mobley, defensive rim-protector Jarrett Allen, and the three-point shooting of Kevin Love, Lauri Markkanen, and perhaps Agbaji, the Cavs can be a threat in the Eastern Conference very soon.
Trae Young was selected to his first All-NBA team this past season, being a member of the Third Team All-NBA. Like I said Garland’s career arc has kind of followed Young’s. You could argue that the young talent around Garland is better than the Hawks had, before trading for Dejounte Murray this offseason. With a new boost of confidence, Darius Garland should be in the running for an All-NBA team, however, if he doesn’t make one, he could still be a top-15 player in the league in the near future.
Setting two lofty goals for Garland’s 2022-2023 season, should only help him become a better player. With Evan Mobley improving his offensive game this summer hopefully, and the addition of Ochai Agbaji, the Cavs will have plenty of scorers, but, it’s going to need Garland to get the engine going.
So even though it took Trae Young four seasons to make an All-NBA team, with Garland’s playmaking ability, finishing at the rim, and overall game, it’s very possible Garland could be one of those prestigious 15 players this year.