After his third season, which resulted in his first appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, it’s safe to say Darius Garland was no longer going to be surprising anybody with his play.
Garland had a breakout Year 3 in 2021-22, after he looked to have turned a corner in his second year, which was a bounce-back 2020-21 season in which he posted 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per game.
Heading into his fourth season with the Cavaliers, the expectations were higher for Garland to have solidify himself as one of the game’s best guards, and keep elevating his play for the Wine and Gold. He was locked up as a long-term foundational player via rookie max extension for potentially up to $231 million with escalators last offseason, so the spotlight got brighter.
Unfortunately for the Cavs rising star, he suffered an eye laceration in the season opener at the Toronto Raptors, would miss the ensuing six games, and it was seemingly an injury that was still bothering him for a period of time after those absences as well. He dealt with sickness later on following the eye issue, and something that’s been so frustrating has been how Garland has gotten hit in the head so often this season at various points.
He hasn’t gotten missed time as a result of that or anything, it’s just been so unlucky for Cleveland’s primary offensive engine. But, for the most part, Garland has looked to have been himself this season, and after a bit of a bumpy start, has responded incredibly well.
So, when looking at his play, in particular, how has Garland graded out in his fourth year with the Cavs?
In our next edition of KJG Cavs Grades, we’ll examine Garland’s play throughout this 2022-23 regular season, beginning with his offense.
Evaluating Garland’s offensive play
Garland had a bit of a difficult start to this season, but that was mostly related to injury. His eye ailment to start out the season didn’t help his cause, and he endured sickness some in the earlygoing as well.
Along with the injury bug, it was going to be an adjustment for Garland, similarly to others in the same breadth, to get acclimated to playing alongside Donovan Mitchell.
For the most part, though, Garland followed up his past breakout with a very effective campaign. To some degree, he’s actually been better than in 2021-22, too.
Garland had nearly identical scoring splits in this regular season, and his three-point percentage increased to 41.0 percent on a negligable decrease of 0.7 in volume. It was also meaningful that Garland’s free throw clip per game improved to 4.7, which demonstrates he’s growing in terms of manipulating defenders on-ball.
Along with the scoring element, Garland has exhibited more fine-tuning as a passer and engine of the Cavaliers offense. There’s still some stretches where he can be a bit out of sorts, and at times in the beginning of the season, he had trouble in closing stretches.
But, to Garland’s credit, he’s still had 7.8 assists per game this season, and he’s seemingly steadied his play more later in games and/or in clutch scenarios, to a large degree, at least.
Additionally, Garland has trimmed down on turnovers this year, game-to-game. Sure, some of it has had to do with Mitchell’s arrival, as an aside.
Even still, Garland has cut his turnovers to under three per outing, and his chemistry with players such as Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert has improved. And Garland and Mitchell have played off one another better as the season has worn on.
Garland was not named an All-Star this go-round, but he’s rebounded greatly after a bit of a slow start because of the injuries, and he’s been sharp for the vast majority of the regular season.
Garland’s 2022-23 offensive grade: A
Evaluating Garland’s defense
On the defensive end, Garland is not going to be a Jrue Holiday-type player in his career. He still gets beat on-ball a bit too often for anyone’s liking, and he can simply be compromised in some matchups.
Garland is going to be physically limited with his frame in some instances, and it can lead to the Cavaliers team defense taking unnecessary fouls, or conceding open corner triples from ball-swings off of penetration.
However, Garland is much better defensively for Cleveland than he was in first two seasons, and this season he took another step forward on that end with his play.
He’s forced 43 offensive fouls during the regular season, by far and away a career-best mark, and while the likes of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are going to help as rim deterrents, naturally, Garland’s pick-and-roll defense did show clear improvements this year. He placed in the 75th percentile in primary defense against PnR ball handlers this season, per Synergy Sports. With the volume having been 295 possessions, his success there was something that jumped out.
As for the team defensive aspect, Garland had a respectable 1.2 steals per contest, to go with 2.0 deflections per contest, per NBA.com’s hustle data. His anticipation and timing as an off-ball defender has been impressive throughout the year, and despite some on-ball limitations, his activity as a team defender has enabled the Cavs to generate more live-ball turnovers as the year has worn on.
Garland’s regularly made multiple-effort plays to help the Cavs as a rotator this season, as has Donovan Mitchell, and it’s been refreshing to see from Cleveland’s top two offensive weapons. In the playoffs, those two will need to continue displaying that sort of effort as helpers as well.
Garland’s 2022-23 defensive play: B
Garland’s overall play
Garland has been a steady performer for much of the 2022-23 regular season for the Cavaliers, and as we emphasized, his offensive scoring splits were nearly identical to last year, in his breakout season.
Garland had to realistically sacrifice a bit in his role with the arrival of Mitchell, and it took some growing pains. Still, he’s been very efficient, in the grand scheme, throughout his fourth season, and his unselfishness has helped Mobley in his offensive progression, and Garland has aided countless others in generating great looks for them.
As for the overall aspect, he’s been rock solid. On the season, Garland’s total plus-minus has been the seventh-best in the NBA, at plus-438, per NBA.com, which demonstrates how he effective he’s been as the primary engine of the Cavaliers offense, at still only 23.
Sure, there have been some hiccups here and there, but with him having to adjust to Mitchell being brought in, help the development of Mobley, and take another step as a leader, an A- grade seems reasonable. And this is factoring in how Garland showed improvement in drawing fouls and with his defense as well.