Before we start… yes JB has been an issue for a myriad of reasons and this doesn’t takeaway from that.
That said, Darius Garland is the Cavs problem.
After his All-Star appearance 2 seasons ago he’s essentially plateaued and/or regressed as an offensive player. This is primary driven by turnovers in which he is now firmly one of the leagues most turnover prone players. Thru 13 games he has 54 turnovers at 4.1 per game which is contention for worst in the NBA. Furthermore his TOV% of 20% is 4th worst in the the entire league, the worst of his career, and 4% higher than his career average.
Additionally, his assist %, offensive win shares, and defensive win shares are both the lowest they’ve been since his rookie year.
More, his VoRP (Value over replacement player) is a ZERO. So, he’s literally being paid a max contract for replacement level performance. For comparison, Craig Porter Jr has a better VoRP at 0.2.
Cavs Win Shares / VoRP:
- Mitchell 1.6 / 1.0
- Evan Mobley 1.9 / 0.6
- Max Strus 1.3 / 0.5
- Jarrett Allen 1.5 / 0.4
- Craig Porter Jr 0.5 / 0.2
- Caris LeVert 0.6 / 0.1
- Tristan Thompson 0.3 / 0.1
- Darius Garland 0.5 / 0.0
Lastly, let’s not even go into the defense where he’s the worst rated rotation player by DBPM @ -1.4.
Ultimately, the finger can be pointed at JB but the guy is forced to play a ball dominant PG who frankly sucks both directions and is 19th in assists per game.
Frankly, I’ve seen enough of DG and wish he would have been shipped in the Mitchell deal.