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Darius Kinnard Garland

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What is Darius Garland's Ceiling?

  • One Time All-Star

    Votes: 18 11.0%

  • Occasional All-Star

    Votes: 19 11.7%

  • 5-6 Time All-Star

    Votes: 31 19.0%

  • Perennial All-Star

    Votes: 40 24.5%

  • An All-NBA Team or Two

    Votes: 22 13.5%

  • Perennial All-NBA Teamer

    Votes: 20 12.3%

  • Occasional MVP Candidate

    Votes: 11 6.7%

  • Perennial MVP Candidate

    Votes: 2 1.2%

  • MVP, Baby!

    Votes: 10 6.1%

  • Being Jim Chones

    Votes: 13 8.0%
  • Total voters
    163
I did a little research on small backcourts that have had success throughout the history of the NBA and turns out there were some pretty good ones. The Celtics won four straight titles in the late 50's early 60's with Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman as their starting backcourt, both were 6'1. Different era but they still had a ton of success, with Bill Russell protecting the paint. In the 70's, the Lakers had Gail Goodrich (6'1) and Jerry West (6'2) and apparently they were awesome together, of course they had Wilt protecting the paint. The Knicks had Walt Frazier (6'4) and Earl Monroe (6'3), won a championship. Finally, the Sixers had a backcourt of Mo Cheeks (6'1) and Andrew Toney (6'3) and of course the Pistons won with Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars.

Initially I was skeptical that this could work, but now I'm not really worried about it, I don't see why they can't have success together. These guys have to develop and hold their own defensively, yes, and we'll need to build a really solid team around the two of them. But I don't think the simple fact that they are both smaller guards, automatically means that the pair will fail.
 
Love his shot. That will translate to the NBA. No idea if he will develop into a facilitator. But deciding that he can't pass or play defense off high school and 5 college games before he is 19 is ridiculous.
 
NMCav said:
Really don't know what the future holds. If it takes 15 years to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs again then its sad times though.
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dunno, 4 years of tanking. two generational players seems it worked. We're praying for a player of Embiid/Simmons calibre and i don't see any in next 3 drafts.
 
catfish said:
Especially if Toronto gets broken up I am not sure we should be talking about years until contention. Eastern Conference is pretty bad.
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No it isnt, the top 4 are better than anything the west has to offer bar GS. This is the best the eastern conference has been for over 10 years.
 
chomba said:
dunno, 4 years of tanking. two generational players seems it worked. We're praying for a player of Embiid/Simmons calibre and i don't see any in next 3 drafts.
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Or could luck into a generational player at the 15th pick like Kawhi or Giannis. Actually we should just trade for the 15th pick every year until the next Giannis or Kawhi falls into our laps. Its a bold strategy.

Also is Simmons really a generational talent? He's a very unique talent because of his height and facilitating skills but his lack of any offensive game outside of the paint really holds him back. He's in the upper echelon of talent I'm not arguing that but he's never gonna be a generational talent until he can be more of a threat from outside the paint and a more consistent FT shooter.
 
CalBuckeyeRob said:
Love his shot. That will translate to the NBA. No idea if he will develop into a facilitator. But deciding that he can't pass or play defense off high school and 5 college games before he is 19 is ridiculous.
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Especially when you consider that Vandy had no one around him. He was apparently told to focus on scoring first. Sexton had the same issue - not a lot of talent around him so he had to take things into his own hands. Vandy went 9-23. They were 4-1 in games Garland played - and he barely played in the fifth game.

Vandy won four games out of five with Garland (and they would've beaten Kent if he were healthy). They only won five out of 27 without Garland. Can we really judge a guy with no one around him?

I think Garland can still learn and grow. Same for Sexton. Bielein has developed far lesser talents in the past. I like his coaching staff. I'm excited to see where it all goes.
 
I have a good feeling about our alien. He will be good. It's all about fit imo.
 
InBoobieWeTrust said:
I'd really like to get an official updated physical profile on Garland. His HS coach says he's 6'3(in shoes)/190 now. Seemed like an oddly specific fact to know, so while it could be blowing smoke I tend to believe it at least in part.

Seems like he did have a lot of late-ish physical growth compared to a lot of other kids that age. If his physical profile baseline coming into the league is 6'3/190, does that drastically change your projections of him?
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The bigger number is his weight to me, just looking at players who have been average or better NBA players defensively, at the guard position. The height is a bonus and helpful but if he’s actually 190 already, he at least has a chance, given his age.

Being taller helps but being heavier is more encouraging because his skinnier build would make it really tough to be an undersized 2, if your assumption is that is his defensive position. 190 would indicate he can probably play at 200 LBS....so 6’3”, 200 LBS makes a lot more sense as a guard pairing with Sexton.

I’m pretty skeptical he can be that much heavier since hoops summit but I guess we’ll see. I really hate when guys don’t at least measure at the combine. It’s the only chance you get to set an official baseline for rookie players. If they don’t measure, you have people giving random stories like this one, where a player suddenly is significantly bigger than thought. If you want to take him at his word, it certainly is a big positive.....because the weight significantly helps you see him as an average defender and it would also help him be more physical on offense when attacking.
 
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Most excited I have been about a draftee since Wiggins, yes I was really excited about Wiggins..
 
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I'mWithDan said:
The bigger number is his weight to me, just looking at players who have been average or better NBA players defensively at the guard position. The height is a bonus and helpful but if he’s actually 190 already, he at least has a chance, given his age.

Being taller helps but being heavier is more encouraging because his skinnier build would make it really tough to be an undersized 2, if your assumption is that is his defensive position. 190 would indicate he can probably play at 200 LBS....so 6’3”, 200 LBS makes a lot more sense as a guard pairing with Sexton.

I’m pretty skeptical he can be that much heavier since hoops summit but I guess we’ll see. I really hate when guys don’t at least measure at the combine. It’s the only chance you get to set an official baseline for rookie players. If they don’t measure, you have people giving random stories like this this, where a player suddenly is significantly bigger than thought. If you want to take him at his word, it certainly is a big positive.....because the weight significantly helps you see him as an average defender and it would also help him be more physical on offense when attacking.
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It wouldn't surprise me if he was 190 or at least pretty close. He looks a bit soft though so you could expect he put on a bit of weight whilst injured and unable to workout. Encouraging that he lit it up at the workout though.
 
If you're concerned about the fit between Sexton and Garland, that's a fair concern. However, I'll contend that fit, right now, doesn't matter. You're in asset accumulation mode. You have to take the most valuable assets, regardless of fit, because we're not ready to contend.

When you're ready to contend, ready to start winning games, then you can start trading your valuable assets for assets that fit better. Unfortunately, until you see a franchise player out there, you have no idea what you're even going to be trying to "fit" around.

I believe that when we look back on this draft, Memphis is going to wish they took Garland instead of Ja. I think Garland is going to be the best guard in this draft, and be a special PG in the league.

If that means that Sexton, who I love, isn't our starting PG, that's just the way it has to be. Hopefully Sexton's attitude, drive, and every other positive thing he has going for him allows him to embrace whatever role we give him. Whether that's starting in the backcourt with Garland, or coming off the bench to lead the second unit, I'm sure he'll go all out in the role.
 
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