Cleveland Cavaliers: Best and worst-case scenario for Darius Garland
By Ryan Piers
Worst-case scenario
Garland never fully recovers, battles a bad meniscus throughout his Cavs career and busts. Maybe he plays off-and-on throughout his years with the Cleveland, but never long enough to develop significant continuity with his teammates.
When on the floor, he clashes with Sexton’s style as the two battle for the ball. Both become notorious bad-shot shooters, struggling to develop the chemistry of Lillard and CJ McCollum. Garland grows irritated with Sexton. During one particularly gruesome stretch, the two tussle at practice. Garland snaps Sexton’s nose with a right hook. He is shipped off for peanuts at the trade deadline and Cleveland cuts its losses.
In an equally disappointing scenario, Garland recovers completely from the meniscus surgery that prematurely ended his collegiate career, but he is nowhere near as good as scouts expected. It turns out his incredible high school career was a mirage.
Known as great passer entering the NBA, Garland turns out to be an isolation player, which would’ve been fine 10 years ago. But that was before the the Golden State Warriors and big guards broke the mold. Garland takes bad mid-range jump shots, regularly has one of the worst field goal percentages in the league and is an advanced stats nightmare. Not only is he bad, but his style of play stunts the growth of Cleveland’s other young talent like Cedi Osman.
Let’s hope Garland’s story doesn’t play out like this.