Darius Kinnard Garland

[PIP]

Asking a lot of Darius Garland to be a primary ball handler ANDDDDDDDD to play defense in this day and age? Garland is underpaid for such efforts…

 

[buzzdog]

Like with Mobley I'm just happy to see any indication of the needle pointing in the right direction with this guy. He's had plenty of chances to prove himself in Mitchell's absence and he's been coming up short. Maybe sharing the court with Mitchell will help him be the player we need him to be. He seems to draw confidence when Donovan is getting minutes and being a positive factor. I think this may be the beginning of these guys figuring things out. Garland needs to be the best version of himself to take some of the burden off of Mitchell, for us to have any chance to advance beyond the first round.

 

[Pierre Pan]

Some interesting banter:

 

[Boobie4Three]

How did he only shoot one 3?

 

[J_J]

Garland has only shot more than 6 FTs once since his injury which was 6-7. He shot 10+ 3 times pre injury and had 10+ at least 7-8 times last season.

In last 10 games, he has shot 2 FTA or less in 8 of those games. He has historically shyed away from contact but improved year to year. Ever since his injury it’s not been the same and has been shying away from contact. He’s not good in getting the calls but needs to play aggressively to the hoop. If he can get some consistent spell rest from CPJ, I would have the conversation with Garland to be aggressive to the rim.

 

[Boobie4Three]

With Garland's timidness and lack of improvement, coupled with Mitchell's nagging knee, we are going to be hard-pressed to make it past the 1st round. Need a Merrill performance for the ages and a Mobley awakening.

 

[B Mac]

I think it’s a lot closer than any of us want it to be. Putting them together in groupings (all of these guys are their teams starting PG):

Elite (3)
Curry, Luka (or Kyrie down a couple tiers), SGA

All Stars (6)
Haliburton, Brunson, Lillard, Booker, Maxey, Young,

Should Have Been All Stars (2)
Fox, Murray

Above Average (2)
Harden, Holiday

So that’s an easy 13, and he lucks out because Dallas has two and we are only counting one, and because his own teammate has shown him up in the PG role as well, but is really the starting two.

We don’t want to believe it and I really dislike these players, but both of these guys looked significantly better in their short stints this season as well:

Injured (2)
Morant, Ball



On a game by game basis I’d understand the argument for any of this next group over Garland this year too:

The Debateables (5)
White, Cunningham, Russell, VanVleet, McCollum

Talent wise, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be considered a top 10 PG. His continued reliance on a play style that isn’t working, either through stubbornness or lack of ability to play any differently has moved him down my personal rankings significantly. He just got outplayed twice in a week by Terry Rozier for crying out loud.

I don’t know man. I’m in the group that is really coming around to the guy we are counting on to be our floor general being a major cause of the issues. The night and day difference in the way the team played in games that Mitchell ran the show is something I just can’t ignore or try to explain away by schedule.

The sample size is getting larger and larger, and I was totally one of those guys who refused to believe that Garland wasn’t the future.

I don’t know the answer, but it sure seems like DG not being able to figure it out consistently is the problem.


Edit: I found this ranking online that puts the tiers pretty damn closely to mine.

This is becoming more and more depressing. The sample size continues to grow and I’m not sure an argument to have him in the top 17-18 has any legs to stand on anymore.

What a complete disappointment of a season.

 

[Cavatt]

I don't think he is this bad. He has played much better than this. Maybe it is a lost season. He has very little time to turn it around and I am not sure the playin break is enough time to get healthy.

Hope I see them gel suddenly or are able to get it going during the playoffs, but a beat down in the first round is going to be tough to swallow after seeing the ideal team in January

 

[Cassity14]

Two big qualifiers l, but IF Mitchell signs a max extension this summer and IF there is a team willing to pay market value for Garland this summer, I can’t see turning it down.

Need either a good starting wing or the assets to acquire one back in the deal.

 

[B Mac]

Two big qualifiers l, but IF Mitchell signs a max extension this summer and IF there is a team willing to pay market value for Garland this summer, I can’t see turning it down.

Need either a good starting wing or the assets to acquire one back in the deal.

It absolutely has to be explored.

SA, NO, and ORL should be some of the first calls.

 

[cabs]

It absolutely has to be explored.

SA, NO, and ORL should be some of the first calls.

Brooklyn wing heavy team that have had Dinwiddie and Schroder running the show this season

 

[Smooth]

Orlando and Brooklyn aren’t going to offer the type of wings the Cavs would want back for Garland, and the Spurs don’t have the type of wings the Cavs need back for Garland..

Pelicans remain the most interesting team..

Otherwise, his value is likely to be in a similar spot as Zach LaVine and Tyler Herro and I’m sure either team would engage a one-for-one swap..

 

[CavzAddict]

He should've been eating against a tanking Jazz team. He couldn't even drive to the basket against guards who were hardly playing defense. I just don't see him rising to the occasion in the playoffs. Whoever we play will be on his ass. He's gonna see suffocating, annoying defense that he's not gonna be ready for.

 

[AustinCarr]

I can deal with the midling defense, the inconsistent aggression, and the occasional sloppy turnover.

What kills me though is the drifting out of the play to the logo after he passes the ball into an action. He functionally removes himself from the office. The defense gets to play five-on-four. The coach needs to slap that out of him.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I'd take personally take Jrue (tier 5) before either Young (tier 2) or Lillard (tier 3) because I believe he's the more likely to get you additional wins on a good team. Trae Young strikes me as perhaps the No. 1 example of fools gold in the NBA. Lillard isn't what he was, and his lack of defense really shows up now.