The Rapid Development of Darius Garland Cannot Go Unnoticed
It seems to be a general consensus among fans that the point guard position is the hardest position for young players to come into. Going from running the offense at the collegiate level to being at the helm of an offense going against NBA defenses is something that takes time.
For Darius Garland however, his success is coming quicker than what it arguably should have.
Garland, a 2017–2018 McDonald’s All-American, was limited to just five games — the fifth game having only played two minutes — after sustaining a knee injury that would require season ending surgery in his one year at Vanderbilt. Despite only having played four full games, Garland gambled on himself and declared for the NBA Draft.
Garland was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft, a pick that baffled just about everyone given the Cavs had selected an undersized guard in the previous draft in Collin Sexton.
Garland’s rookie campaign showed flashes of the potential that every raved about going into his freshman year at Vanderbilt but the season as a whole was unsurprisingly a slow start to the young guard’s career. Perhaps the downfall to Garland’s season had been the utilization of his skill set.
In his rookie year, Garland had played only 25% of his minutes at the point guard position and had a low usage percentage compared to his backcourt mate, Collin Sexton. Alongside a negative net rating, Garland simply looked hesitant in his play like most young guards do.
As it should have been from the start, the second year of Garland’s career saw him play point guard during every minute of play and he took a substantial leap. Looking more comfortable as the year went on, Garland proved his worth and showed to be a true difference maker with the ball in his hands.
Garland’s second season consisted of him taking the rightful criticism of his rookie year and flipping the script as he came into his own. However, the first 19 games of Garland’s third year has him not just looking like a starting point guard in this league but instead a PERENNIAL All-Star.
In 19 games this season, Garland is averaging 18.6 points and 7.2 assists as he has led the Cavs to an 11–10 start. While the overall season itself has been wildly impressive, the span of games thus far with Collin Sexton sidelined has blown just about everyone away.
In ten games with full reign of the offense, Garland has put up 21.5 points and 6.8 assists a game while keeping the Cavs hopes of landing a play in game or even a playoff spot alive in the early course of the season. With a season ending injury to Collin Sexton and the Cavs losing both Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen for a handful of games due to health and safety protocols, Garland and company have gone 4–6 over the last ten games and stayed above .500.
Garland continues to impress as a playmaker but his leap as a scorer has flown under the radar. At 6-foot-1, Garland is shooting 62% at the rim, tied for 12th among all point guards. Even more impressive is the fact Garland has shot 52% from mid range, placing him in the top 95 percentile for his position.
He looks in charge, calm, collected and ready to take the Cavs by storm. There’s a different kind of confidence about him and it seems to be infectious among the rest of the Cavs locker room. The hesitant ways of his past self are gone and now Cleveland has true leader in possession of the keys to their offense. Because of this, Cleveland has put together some impressive wins against solidified playoff teams and they look like to be one of the more exciting teams to tune into as we venture deeper and deeper into the season.
With little to no college experience, coming off a surgery to repair his meniscus, and thrown into a position to play outside of his comfort zone at just 19 years old, Darius Garland has become one of the most exciting young guards in the Association. On the cusp of being just 21 years old, the sky is the limit for the Vanderbilt alumni.
