Cavs’ Darius Garland should have more help in late-clock situations

Darius Garland was one of the big reasons for the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ turnaround last season, and he made his first All-Star Game last year, in representing the then-hometown team in the Cavaliers along with Jarrett Allen.

Garland had 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per contest, and followed up what was a promising second season with a breakout campaign. Garland looks to be one of the Cavaliers’ cornerstones looking onward, and he should only get better from here as both a playmaker and multi-faceted scorer.

This upcoming season, Cleveland should seemingly have more help for him as well, and fingers crossed, the team seems to more insurance this go-round. Last season, injuries eventually caught up with the Cavaliers, as Collin Sexton was lost for most of the year, and Ricky Rubio was unavailable after not quite half of the season.

Cleveland did acquire Caris LeVert via trade from the Indiana Pacers, but he wasn’t able to get into a rhythm nearly enough, as LeVert was dealing with injury for a stretch coming out of the All-Star break, also.

Needless to say, down the closing stretch of last season, in particular, Garland had a huge workload and while he was great in that time, the team wasn’t the same as pre-All-Star, somewhat due to injury.

This season ahead, Cleveland should have more help for Garland, as if Sexton is back, that’d make a big difference seemingly, LeVert should be far more acclimated, Raul Neto and later on, Rubio should be added playmaking depth. Evan Mobley should be set for a Year 2 offensive leap, Lauri Markkanen should be ready to roll and Kevin Love, and/or feasibly Ochai Agbaji will be valuable bench shooters.

In any case, what should play out as well is when needed, I would imagine Garland should have more help in late-clock situations.

Garland should have more assistance, when needed, from other Cavs this season in late-clock situations.

Garland is a player that has established himself as Cleveland’s most versatile scoring option, and is likely the No. 1 option this season, from my perspective. So, while he’s the primary table setter for the team, albeit with hopefully more help in that area for stretches this season, and he should some more off-ball opportunities, he is always going to be one of the key late-clock options when needed.

At times there are naturally going to be instances when possessions bog down, leading to guys having to just make some plays. LeVert this go-round, provided he can be healthier, could aid Cleveland in that way, as he did show at times near the closing stretch of last season, for one.

And though it’ll have to be ironed out in time, Sexton, who is seemingly fully healthy now and reportedly looks “fast” and “explosive,” is another perimeter threat that can be a quality late-clock option for stretches. Now, Sexton is not a player that is currently with the Cavs, as he’s a restricted free agent, and the potential sign-and-trade rumors have been there.

Time will tell if he is possibly moved, plays next season via the qualifying offer or if the two sides can agree to terms on a long-term deal. If he’s around, perhaps at some point during the season, he could step back into a starting 2 role, and/or LeVert maybe could be an expiring trade piece.

If one and/or both LeVert and Sexton are back/stick around, anyway, their on-ball abilities, and Sexton as a catch-and-shoot presence coupled with that, should help as an additional meaningful late-clock option for Garland/others to look to.

From there, if the Mobley offensive growth pops, which I believe it will, given shot creation signs last season (when he averaged 15.0 points as a rookie), and a full offseason to work on his offense/shooting, he should be another key option in these situations.

The mid-range skill he has, paint touch and him being able to drive against forwards/bigs can possibly help the Cavs throughout games in these scenarios in Year 2.

If the Cavaliers can be healthier this upcoming season, there should be more options in late-clock situations than Garland in the closing stretch of last season.