Cleveland Cavaliers: Are Darius Garland and Collin Sexton a good duo?

The Cleveland Cavaliers are giving the duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton a ton of responsibility. Are the two living up to expectations?

The backcourt duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton is becoming the focal point of the Cleveland Cavaliers offense. Both have had individual moments of success but how are they performing as a whole?

Each player has their own saving grace. Sexton is leading the team in scoring while Garland has heated up towards the second half of the season. However, with the team record standing at 13-41, their success together has been extremely limited.

Ball movement is a clear issue for this team. The Cavaliers rank 29th in turnovers, 27th in points and 25th in assists. Much of these struggles have been blamed on the backcourt duo of Garland and Sexton.

However, this frustration may be misplaced. Garland and Sexton lead the team in potential assists and secondary assists (hockey assists). Garland passes the ball the second-most on the team while Sexton ranks fourth.

Despite being widely regarded as horrible playmakers, Sexton and Garland fall in the middle of the pack when compared to other starting guards across the league. They aren’t amazing passers but they are not as bad as their reputation indicates.

Individually, both have shown improvement as decision-makers. Garland has ramped his season assist numbers to nearly four a game while Sexton is averaging 4.2 assists across his last 13 games.

However, there is a reason to be concerned about the effectiveness of this duo. The two have played over 1,000 minutes together and have an Offensive Rating of 105.8, making them the 11th worst duo in the entire association (minimum 1,000 minutes played).

Things get even worse when looking at their defensive numbers. Sexton and Garland post a defensive rating of 117.3, the worst of any guard combination. Furthermore, their net rating sits at -11.5, only better than four other duos.

Neither Garland or Sexton are good individual defenders and their combined size makes them easy targets for opponents. Both listed at 6’1″, Garland and Sexton are the shortest starting backcourt in the NBA.

Combine their inefficiency on defense with their underwhelming playmaking abilities and it’s no wonder this duo has struggled together.

The advanced statistics aren’t promising but there are reasons for optimism with this young pair. It’s hard to deny their potential as offensive threats with the ball in their hands.

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Sexton has been on fire since the start of 2020. Young Bull is averaging 22.6 points on 47/46/92 shooting splits. He has been a relentless attacker and is forcing his way to the free throw line, attempting 3.6 foul shots a game. His strong sophomore season was enough to earn a spot on the NBA’s Rising Stars roster.

As for Garland, his crafty ball-handling has helped him average 13.9 points and 5.2 assists since late December. He is making strides as a facilitator and displayed inspiring fourth quarter heroics versus the Denver Nuggets by scoring six straight points down the stretch to secure a win on the road.

Garland is also the better shooter of the two. He leads all rookies in total 3-pointers with 96 this season and is likely to break the franchise rookie record (119) soon.

With the newly acquired Andre Drummond now holding down the paint, it’s possible we will see the Cleveland Cavaliers overall defense improve. Drummond is averaging 1.7 blocks this season and is easily the best rim protector on the roster.

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This will hopefully make up for some of Garland and Sexton’s poor defensive capabilities. However, this is just a minor coverup for a glaring issue.

Unless one of them magically become elite defenders, it’s hard to imagine Garland and Sexton will find longterm success playing alongside each other. Neither one compliments the other very well and it feels inevitable they will need to be separated at some point to avoid holding each other back.

This leaves the Cavaliers with a few options. For starters, it’s important to be patient. There is no use in rushing a change for either Sexton or Garland and the two should at the least finish this season together as starters.

Looking ahead to the future of the franchise, someone will either need to be traded or moved to the bench. Though Sexton appears to be the better prospect currently, he may be the best fit for the second unit.

In a bench role, Sexton could focus all of his energy on being a spark plug offensively. The pressure to create plays for others would decrease and we could see Young Bull become one of the league’s premiere sixth-men.

On the other hand, Garland may not have what it takes to be a starting point guard. His recent play has been promising but until we see him perform more consistently there is no telling what to expect from DG.

However, Garland already seems to be a better playmaker than Sexton and certainly has the potential to equal him as a scorer. Because of this, I feel more comfortable betting on Garland as a future starter.

Either way, someone needs to be moved in order to open a spot for Kevin Porter Jr. The 19-year old guard is an exciting prospect and has the build to become elite on both ends of the floor.

Adjusting Garland/Sexton’s role to give Porter a bigger opportunity seems like a no-brainer. Porter is averaging 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists per 36 minutes and seems to have the highest ceiling of any current member of the Cavaliers young core.

Garland and Sexton are both talented in their own way and have bright futures, but the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t doing themselves any favors by starting the two together.