A year after being named as the worst player in the NBA during his rookie 2019-20 season, Darius Garland became the first for the Cleveland Cavaliers to be named an NBA All-Star since LeBron James in 2018. Garland showed a determination to learn from his mistakes, something that has served his career and team well ever since he joined Cleveland’s roster.
Garland’s leap to stardom developed alongside Evan Mobley’s historic rookie season. Together, the tandem developed into a lethal pick-and-roll duo. The former Vanderbilt guard has grown into a pass-first point guard, distributing selflessly across the court to any and every scorer.
In his rookie year, he only averaged 12.3 points and 3.9 assists. Last season, DG the PG had his best 3-point shooting season, connecting on 41 percent of his six attempts from beyond the arc. Additionally, he averaged 21.6 points and 7.8 assists.
Cleveland’s franchise point guard is a student of the game. He continues to learn and improve year by year, starring next to another lethal guard in Donovan Mitchell. Garland happily shared the backcourt with another star, serving as a leader both on and off the court.
While Garland has overcome the doubt and vitriol, he is far from reaching his prime as an NBA talent. As he continues to study the league’s past and present legends, Garland has the opportunity to mold his game into the best possible guard he can be.
As the 2023-24 regular season approaches, these three NBA legends are perfect examples for Darius Garland to study and learn from in order to capitalize on his skill set and talent for the modern NBA.
Studying Kyrie Irving’s offensive game is a perfect choice for Darius Garland
If Garland is looking to study one of the best undersized scoring point guards of the past decades, former Cleveland Cavalier Kyrie Irving is the perfect candidate. Remembered best in Cleveland for “The Shot” in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals, Irving’s basketball legacy is that of an unstoppable force from anywhere on the court.
One of Garland’s biggest remaining downfalls is his lack of confidence offensively. NBA.com stat tracking suggests that Garland’s efficiency drastically faulters in clutch moments, shooting only 33.9 percent from the field and 23.8 percent from 3-point range in clutch games last season.
This partly could be due to the constant shift in his offensive role since entering the league. At first, Collin Sexton was Cleveland’s primary scoring option, but in the 2021-22 season, a torn meniscus ended Sexton’s season after only 11 games. Suddenly, Garland was thrust into Cleveland’s leading role as a scorer and orchestrator.
The next season, Garland was placed back into a secondary scoring role with Donovan Mitchell, the best teammate Garland has had thus far. Continually changing his role is not an easy task, but Garland has managed it with poise and a team-first mentality.
Sometimes, though, Garland’s selflessness is his biggest weakness.
In the 2023 NBA Playoffs, Garland’s confidence waned and played a role in Cleveland’s swift five-game exit against the New York Knicks. For Garland, developing his mental fortitude is the next best step forward for future playoff success.
To learn that killer instinct, no point guard better models this than Irving. Throughout his career, Kyrie Irving has displayed a vast collection of clutch moments.
For Garland to take the next step forward in his offense, he will need to recognize sooner the moments in which he needs to take control of the game. At times, Garland hesitates before seizing control. When he decides to score, he can, but that decision is often too cautious.
Studying Kyrie Irving changes that.
Irving, a 6-foot-2 point guard, can seemingly score at will against any opponent of any size. Garland’s shifty movements and clever ball handling talent has broken down numerous defenders, and mimicking Irving’s move set would elevate Garland’s lethality even further.
Nothing scares Irving away from the basket, both inside and outside. Over Irving’s career, he has achieved a 39.1 percent hit rate from three and has averaged 23.4 points per game. Irving has maintained offensive greatness alongside various other All-NBA talents such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, and more.
Irving’s mentality is what has given him his eight All-Star selections, three All-NBA accolades, and NBA Championship. Becoming a similarly brave, unwavering guard should be high on Darius Garland’s priority list this offseason.
Along with a killer instinct, Garland should look back in time to one of the best point guards ever to play in the Central Division.
Learning from Isiah Thomas’ defense would help Darius Garland
No all-time point guard list is complete without Michael Jordan’s longtime nemesis, Isiah Thomas, of the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons. Throughout the late 80’s and early 90’s, Thomas and Jordan battled time and time again in the NBA Playoffs.
In four playoff series’ between 1988-1991, Thomas had a 12-10 record against the Chicago legend. Thomas’ legacy was built around his tough defense and fearless competitive nature. Thomas’ career defensive rating was 107. Trying to score with Thomas on your hip was a near impossibility during his tenure in the Association.
Throughout his 13-year career, Thomas was named to the All-Star team 12 times, league MVP twice, won two NBA Finals, and was named the NBA Finals MVP in the 1990 title run.
For every player, winning the NBA Finals is the ultimate goal. Many great players have never achieved this feat, and winning twice along with a Finals MVP is a career-defining moment.
Once again, much of Thomas’ dominance is due to his willingness to face the toughest battles without fear. Isiah Thomas has become Detroit’s greatest point guard in history by taking the hardest matchups every night out.
Although Darius Garland’s offense continues to grow, his defense falls behind. He has improved since his first year, but Garland struggles against the league’s best guards. For a team defined by defense such as the Cavaliers, Darius Garland should work to have a critical role in Cleveland’s schemes.
Thomas averaged a near-20-point, 10-assist double-double throughout his career, and pairing his offense and defense together molded him into the perfect leader for the Pistons in his era. Garland already has the scoring and court vision. With a more attuned defensive game, Garland can create an even greater name for himself in Cleveland folklore.
Finally, Garland can maximize his value as a teammate that makes those around him better.
Darius Garland could be the next Steve Nash
Steve Nash was one of the most prolific point guards of the early 21st century. A two-time NBA MVP, Captain Canada brought the Phoenix Suns to prominence in his prime. He spent 10 total seasons with the Suns, six with the Dallas Mavericks, and two with the Los Angeles Lakers at the end of his career.
Putting Nash into the modern NBA would look nearly identical in playstyle to Darius Garland. Nash played best alongside a dominant big. In Dallas, Nash played with a young Dirk Nowitzki, and together the duo rose to stardom as two Hall of Fame talents.
In Phoenix, Steve Nash helped Amar’e Stoudamire build himself into a six-time All-Star. Stoudamire’s interior scoring talent and defense fit perfectly next to Nash’s ability to dissect any defense with his crafty ball handling and genius playmaking.
The duo made a name for themselves as a dynamic two-man threat. Nash’s innate inside-out scoring forced defenders to gravitate toward him as Stoudamire rolled to the basket. The two could make any defensive scheme look foolish, and Nash could make any of his teammates better in Phoenix’s system.
Darius Garland and Evan Mobley can build upon what Nash and Stoudamire founded. They have already developed a lethal pick-and-roll game with each other, and taking a page out of the Suns’ playbook can unlock the next level to their greatness in Cleveland.
If Garland can learn from Nash with Mobley, then both players could have an astronomically successful career together with the Cavaliers, building an unforgettable legacy in the NBA.
Nash made everybody around him better, becoming a true floor general. Garland, similarly, shines best when he makes other people shine. It is no coincidence that adding an athletic running mate such as Mobley played a crucial role in Garland’s growth.
Players such as Nash and Garland are one in the same. They perform best by leading their teammates by selfless action on the court.
In his 18-year career, Nash averaged 14.3 points and 8.5 assists. Nash only shot an average of 10.6 field goal attempts per contest and only 3.2 3-point attempts.
Steve Nash was not only a terrific passer. He could score at will, but he was selfless to a fault. His scoring was incredibly efficient, but he passed first and with little thought for his own box score. Since then, Nash has suggested a bit of remorse for not utilizing his scoring and shooting talent more often.
Garland, on the other hand, is a willing scorer as well. By diving deeper into his current upside, Darius Garland as a modern Steve Nash can maximize his play in order to lead Evan Mobley and the Cleveland Cavaliers to their greatest possible heights.
Each of these NBA legends has something to teach Darius Garland, but Garland’s future is his own. He has already shown similarities to numerous great players, and his growth will shape his own legacy for the history books.