Darius Garland | 2022-23 Cavaliers Player Year in Review

3 Key Factors Darius Garland in 2022-23

1 – Full-time point guard.

Before this past season, Darius Garland was a full-time combo guard, meaning he would not only handle the ball often but would be the first option for scoring on most possessions.   With the trade for Donovan Mitchell, he needed to make the transition to full-time point guard for the 2022-23 season, not an easy transition, especially on the ego.  

Garland handled it well as a teammate, which for a point guard is crucial.  The Cavs showed good team chemistry all season long, starting with Garland.  He deserves a lot of credit for the positive vibes. 

And as for the production on the floor, the point guard is the quarterback on the floor, so in a sense, everything on offense has to go through Garland with him bringing up the ball on most possessions.  The results were a big jump offensively, from the middle-of-the-pack offensive team efficiency ranking 17th in 2021-22, jumping nine slots to 8th (ESPN/Hollinger Stats) in 2022-23.   

The most important stat was 51 victories and a 4th seed in the East. 

2 – Garland statistics did not dip

A lot of fans got on Garland at times throughout the season for not doing enough offensive production on the floor.  

Statistically, however, his points per game were on par from the year before (21.7 in 2021-22, 21.6 in 2022-23) so no dip in scoring, and his shooting percentage stayed the same (46%).  Furthermore, his three-point percentage jumped from 38% to 41%, Garland shot a better three-pointer.

So why did fans feel like he was doing as much?  It is pretty simple, Donovan Mitchell is on the All-NBA Second Team for a reason, he is an outstanding player, and takes plays away from Garland and not because of Garland’s play.  Garland’s usage numbers are down across the board, but that has to be expected with Mitchell coming on board.  This may seem like Garland is not doing as much, but in truth, it is because Mitchell does a lot of good for the Cavs and needs the ball in his hands. 

3 – Playoff struggles 

Garland did not perform well in the playoffs and has to do more for the Cavaliers to be successful in future playoff appearances.  Because Garland is the point guard, he has to perform well or the team suffers offensively.  A portion of the playoff blame is on Garland’s shoulders. 

When Garland did play well as he did in Game Two, and he exceeded his regular season numbers, the Cavs won.  In a way, as Garland goes so does the offense, and they won only one game and that was the game Garland was at his best.

Overall

Garland played well in Mitchell’s first season in Cleveland with no dip in his overall numbers. 

Defensively, Garland is a below-average defender and teams try to exploit it, but with Mobley and Allen behind him, it does not make Garland a liability on that end of the floor.  That said, it would be great to see some improvement on defense as he is in the bottom 3rd of most categories. 

In regards to the playoffs, he along with almost everybody on the team has to perform better. Hopefully, some of his poor play is due to a lack of playoff experience, and one has to believe he will perform better the next go around.