Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland’s career timeline

Sophomore season – Year 2

In year two, Garland showed a lot of improvement. His efficiency was a lot better, the team was a bit better, but not by a lot, and he just looked a lot more comfortable on the court. Yes, the Cavs had a 22-50 record, but there was excitement for the future.

Even though Garland looked good, an All-Star selection in the near future wasn’t expected, or even looked feasible. He averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per night. He only averaged 2.0 turnovers per game, which was great to see. Garland really emerged as a solid playmaker this season.

As was previously mentioned, his efficiency was a lot better. He shot 45.1 percent from the field, 39.5 percent from distance, and 84.8 percent from the free throw line. Garland’s true shooting percentage of 49.8 as a rookie was poor, but he brought that up to 54.7 percent in his second season.

Garland only played in 54 games that season, but he still showed a lot of improvement and potential. The backcourt duo of Collin Sexton and Garland looked better. Sexton was the primary scorer, whereas Garland was the primary facilitator, and could create for himself, as well.

Going into that season, the Cavs had the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. That pick turned out to be Isaac Okoro, a small forward out of Auburn. The primary focal point of Okoro’s game was defense, and that’s still the case today. Since the Cavaliers had the third-worst team defensive of all time during the 2019-20 season at that point, adding help on the defensive side was a sound idea.