Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 ways Darius Garland can become a star
By Tony Pesta
2. Improve as a playmaker
There is simply no way the Cleveland Cavaliers will be able to justify playing Darius Garland and Collin Sexton together much longer if neither of them is able to create plays at a high level. Seeing as how Sexton is blossoming as a scorer and Garland has shown the most potential as a playmaker – it’s safe to say this is an area Garland should look to make a leap.
Garland has everything needed to be a top-notch distributor. He made some great reads last season and has a solid understanding of what is happening on the floor. His natural feel as a scorer should translate to creating plays for others if he is willing to make the extra effort.
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As a rookie, Garland scored on less than half of his field-goal attempts as the pick-and-roll ball-handler. This placed him in the 33rd percentile. This means he likely should be looking to pass more in these scenarios as he clearly isn’t generating quality shots for himself.
More concerning was his assist/turnover ratio. He dished 229 total assists and committed 151 turnovers last season. This was the 180th worst ratio among guards. Many of his mishaps with the ball came from hesitant decision making – a factor that impacted all of his game last season.
As previously mentioned, his tentative play throughout the year was probably a direct result of his time off with injury then being thurst into a lineup next to a ball-dominant guard. Again, it never helps to have a coaching swap midseason.
Garland did show some potential down the stretch of the year. In the 26 games since December, Garland was recording over 5 assists and was beginning to form chemistry with multiple members of the roster. His turnover rate remained exactly the same but the assists began to cancel out his mistakes.
As Garland heads into his sophomore season, he will need to build on his understanding of the offense to continue making strides in the right direction. This is an aspect of his development that shouldn’t bring many worries to Cavs’ fans.