A Darius Garland bounce back might change what's possible for the Cavs

With the 2024-25 campaign approaching, we're diving deep into some of the players we're most interested in watching. Next up: a once-ascendant young star looking to rebound from a nightmarish season to get his team to the next level.

Previous entries: Damian Lillard

In the immediate aftermath of the Cavaliers' second-round playoff elimination this past spring, a report from The Athletic indicated that Darius Garland was prepared to push for a trade if Cleveland extended backcourt mate Donovan Mitchell. That was a tad strange, as it seemed to suggest Garland believed Mitchell - and/or the Cavs' roster as a whole - was holding him back in some fashion. In reality, it was closer to being the other way around in 2023-24.

Mitchell had an All-NBA campaign in which he thrived as a point guard in Garland's absence, but it's not like Garland's offensive role was seriously minimized when both were healthy. He still spent more time with the ball in his hands than Mitchell did, and his 6.6 minutes of possession per game ranked ninth in the NBA. The twofold problem was that he didn't do enough with those on-ball reps, and he went from shooting 44% to 35% on off-the-catch threes.

It was a strange and uneven season due largely to circumstances beyond Garland's control. He strained his hamstring on opening night, struggled upon returning two weeks later, and then broke his jaw just when he was finally getting back on track in December. He missed six weeks, lost 12 pounds, and never looked quite right thereafter. It's important to keep those mitigating factors in mind when evaluating Garland - who was an All-Star at 22 just two years ago - but we can still be honest about the role he played in the Cavs' disappointing campaign.

His handle was looser than in years past, leading to major turnover issues and an inability to create separation. He didn't look at all comfortable driving or finishing through contact, shooting just 46% on drives after being above 50% in each of the previous two seasons. That aversion to physicality also made him more exploitable defensively, and he got hunted relentlessly on that end in the playoffs.

For the first time since Garland's rookie year, the Cavs performed worse with him on the court than they did with him on the bench. They were 4.8 points per 100 possessions better when Mitchell played without Garland than when they played together, per PBP Stats. Tellingly, the Cavs put together their most inspiring stretch of the season - a run of 17 wins in 18 games - largely without Garland in the lineup.

In any event, Garland and his reps at Klutch Sports don't appear to have followed through on their reported threat despite the Cavs inking Mitchell to a max extension that runs through at least 2026-27. (It would've been hard to get the front office to acquiesce, given that Garland has three years left on his max contract, with his trade value currently at a low ebb.) The team also extended its frontcourt of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, thus locking in the core quartet that has tantalized and underwhelmed in almost equal measure since Mitchell joined via a blockbuster trade two years ago.

Cleveland ostensibly made progress last season, notching the franchise's first playoff series win of the post-LeBron era. But narrowly surviving a seven-game slog against an inexperienced Magic team - in a matchup the Cavs took pains to engineer via shameless tanking - didn't feel all that convincing. By almost any other measure, they were worse last season than they were in 2022-23, falling from 51 to 48 wins, from seventh to 16th in offensive efficiency, and from second to 13th in net rating.

Some of that had to do with bad injury luck, but a lot of it had to do with Garland's drop-off. The Cavs' ability to take a more meaningful step forward in 2024-25 rests heavily on the extent to which he can bounce back.

The good news is we have ample evidence not only that Garland is way better than he showed last season, but that he can complement all of Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen extremely well. At his best, Garland is a wicked pick-and-roll operator whose elite pull-up shooting, passing vision, and ability to maintain a live dribble in traffic help make Cleveland's non-shooting two-big frontcourt tenable offensively.

In their first season together, he and Mitchell had terrific on-court synergy, playing off one another cooperatively rather than engaging in a tug-of-war. For all the vulnerabilities that typically come with playing two small guards, the Cavs still finished first and seventh in defensive efficiency the last two years. Having one of the most stifling frontcourts in basketball certainly helps, but give the backcourt its due; Mitchell has been legitimately good defensively, and Garland - while not as long or strong - battles his ass off on that end when healthy.

The Cavs smacked opponents by 8.8 points per 100 possessions with their four top guys on the court in 2022-23, with elite marks on both sides of the ball. Even in their embarrassing playoff flameout against the Knicks, they finished with the best defensive rating of any postseason team. Their failures have primarily been of the offensive variety. Garland, more than anyone else on the roster, has the growth potential to mitigate those issues.

Amid his struggles last season, the core quartet's scoring margin shrunk to 2.2 points per 100 as its offensive rating plummeted from 118.9 to 112.3. (This despite a much more offensively dynamic wing in Max Strus replacing Isaac Okoro as the fifth starter.) Still, Garland's chemistry with Mobley shone through; with them on the floor and Mitchell and Allen off, Cleveland posted a plus-10.8 net rating.

The Cavs would surely be thrilled just to have Garland return to the level he played at a couple years ago, if only to rebuild his trade value. (Trading him or Allen might be their only viable way to acquire more quality two-way wing play.) But it's also reasonable to expect more considering how recently Garland was one of the game's most promising young guards. Development is rarely linear, and players don't usually peak at 22.

Mitchell's extension has given this iteration of the Cavs a longer runway. If Garland can get back on his star trajectory and ascend in the way that once felt inevitable, it'll give the team a chance to fully take flight.

Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.