How Darius Garland, Collin Sexton Can Fit Together in Cleveland

This article is a facsimile of an original publication on The Basketball Writers (TBW), which recently closed its doors.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are stocked with young guards following the 2019 NBA Draft—their first since LeBron James bolted for Los Angeles.

With the fifth pick on Thursday night, the Cavs plucked Darius Garland from Vanderbilt, a shooting and playmaking point guard that was one of the few names discussed as an elite scorer. Later in the night, the Cavaliers traded a hefty sum to move to the 30th selection, where they took a flier on Kevin Porter Jr., a talented but troubled guard from USC.

Drafting two guards with lottery talent would normally leave fans in Cleveland rejoicing about the future. However, when placed in the context of last year's draft headlined by their selecting point guard Collin Sexton, the question needs to be asked: Can the Cavaliers really make this many ball-dominant guards work?
​
New head coach John Beilein has been amenable to multiple guard fronts as a head coach at the University of Michigan, and I've already written extensively about the fit of Beilein's offense at the NBA level.

Read More