3 Reasons to believe in Cleveland Cavaliers’ young core

3. Darius Garland

Potential: Elite Shot Creator

Rookie point guards often struggle in the NBA. It’s rare for a first-year guard to step into the league and be the leader of a team without a few speedbumps. This was the case for Darius Garland, who had a steep learning curve this season.

Garland entered the league fresh off a knee injury that held him back for most of his freshman season at Vanderbilt. At just 19-years of age, Garland was rammed into the starting lineup and asked to adjust to the speed of the NBA while sharing the backcourt with another undersized, ball-dominant guard. To tie it all together, Garland was being coached by a first-year John Beilein who’s tumultuous season ended abruptly when he stepped down from his job during the All-Star break.

It’s safe to say that DG had a lot of factors working against him during his rookie season. This showed in both statistics and the eye test. He finished his first campaign dead last in Win Shares, Value Over Replacement and ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus. All the while, Garland looked hesitant and uncertain of his decisions, often resembling the confidence of a late second-round pick rather than the fifth pick in the NBA Draft.

There isn’t much reason for optimism regarding his first season, other than the fact that Garland flashed his potential as an elite shot creator in brief spurts. He became a top prospect in college for his ability to create shots off the dribble. This remained true during small stretches of the season when Garland was at his most comfortable operating the offense.

In a memorable game against the Denver Nuggets, Garland delivered six straight points, each in increasing difficulty, in the last three minutes to secure a tough win on the road for Cleveland. This spurt of clutch shooting and control of the game showed Garland has more in store for the future.

He is incredibly shifty with the basketball. His natural feel for changing momentum and using hesitation moves make him a tough player to defend one-on-one. We saw this in the last few months of the season when Garland scored 10-plus points in all but two of his last 28 games.

Garland also began to excel as a playmaker. While his overall numbers indicate him as a disastrous decision-maker, Garland increased his assist total by averaging over 5.0 per game since January. Though, he still turned the ball over at a concerning rate of 2.6.

The fact remains that Garland is a talented scorer when he catches rhythm. The young guard was on pace to break the franchise rookie record for 3-pointers and sustained just a slightly below average clip of 35.5 percent despite some massive shooting slumps.  At his best, Garland can one day be one of the league’s best self-creators off the dribble.