A few NBA point guards are exhausting just to watch from afar, be it on your living room couch or inside a crowded sports bar, gazing up at an enormous screen. Darius Garland, the Cavaliers’ 22-year-old blooming All-Star and strong Most Improved Player candidate, spent his third season climbing on to that short list.
Those who’ve actually had to cover Garland this year might use a word like “disorienting” to describe the experience. The task requires energy, discipline and a willingness to hunt in ways that separate him from almost everyone at his position.
To explain, here’s a primer coat: Garland is a pick-and-roll virtuoso who probes and pounces, zipping over ball screens with eyes that immediately discern how best to attack secondary layers of a shifting defense.