What The Ringer got right and very wrong in ranking Cavaliers

Where did Darius Garland rank among the NBA’s best players?

After Mitchell, there’s a gap until the next Cavalier is listed. Surprisingly, Darius Garland is not found until rank 35, listed behind Draymond Green (34), Tyrese Haliburton (32), Karl-Anthony Towns (31), and former Cleveland player Lauri Markkanen (28).

This is the first controversial ranking for a Cleveland player. After earning his first All-Star appearance last season, Garland continued his phenomenal growth in his year four campaign. Written by Rob Mahoney, Garland’s top-tier playmaking and shooting is the main focus of his full analysis.

"This is just Garland’s fourth season, and already he’s one of the NBA’s best long-range shooters and one of the league’s most sophisticated playmakers. – Rob Mahoney"

Averaging 21.6 points and 7.8 assists with a three-point accuracy of 41 percent, it is hard to imagine Darius Garland hardly entering the conversation of being in the top 40 NBA players. With no disrespect aimed at those placed above him, eleven other point guards were ranked higher than DG. It is difficult to find flaws in Garland’s offensive game already, and he served as the secondary leader to the fourth-best team in the Eastern Conference.

In terms of active point guards, the conversation for Garland should be whether he’s top five or only top seven at worst. Naming nearly a dozen point guards before Darius Garland feels like quite an underrated view of the former Vanderbilt Commodore.