3 areas Cavs’ Darius Garland has shown growth this season

Growth Area No. 2: Finetuning playmaking, and cutting turnovers down

This season, Garland has once again been setting up his teammates very well, and has finetuned his playmaking. His chemistry with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley has only gotten better in two-man games and/or pick-and-roll situations, and he’s shown improvement when it comes to hitting perimeter shooters.

On the season, Garland has had 7.9 assists per game, which is a bit down from last season, but that’s partly because of the trade arrival of Mitchell, and while he had a slow start to the year, Garland has regained his rhythm, and it’s paid off as a playmaker. Both on interior feeds and dishes to the perimeter, his placement has typically been on-point, enabling receivers to either catch feeds in-stride or right in the shooting pocket, leading to quality looks.

Additionally, despite some inherent games with high turnover totals, for the most part, Garland has been able to trim his turnovers down game-to-game this season. On the year, he’s averaged 2.9 per contest, and he’s posted a career-best 12.2 percent turnover rate, which has placed in the 50th percentile, per Cleaning The Glass. With Garland as the primary engine for the Cavs offense, his turnover splits haven’t been high at all.

In his fourth season, the game has slowed down for Garland, leading to him turning it over less in transition, and in set offense, in instances where he’s kept a live dribble. Of course, the presence of Mitchell has likely helped Garland trim down his turnover splits, but by and large, DG’s made further strides with his own decision-making as the season has worn on.