Darius Garland Poised To Have Bounce Back Season With Cavaliers

A healthy Darius Garland could thrive in Kenny Atkinson's new Cleveland Cavaliers offense.

Mar 6, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Darius Garland is coming off the toughest season of his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers. A variety of factors led to his play on the court, but DG averaged 18.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 6.5 assists while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor and 37.1 percent from behind the arc.

However, despite this down year, Garland is in a prime position and poised to bounce back next season, and this is why.

A Healthy Darius Garland

We can't talk about Garland's 2023-24 season without mentioning all of the injuries he suffered during the year. DG missed time with a back, ankle, neck, and, most importantly, a jaw injury.

The broken jaw, which Garland suffered when he drove into the lane and collided with Kristaps Porzingis. This injury caused him to miss almost two months of the season, and he never looked the same when he got back on the floor.

Feb 25, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles up the court during the first half against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports / Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Before the jaw injury, DG was averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 perent from behind the arc. Garland went on to average just 16.6 points and shot 43 percent from the floor.

It's clear that this injury affected him and he was never able to fully recover from it during the season. Perhpas, part of that had to do with the fact Garland lost 12 pounds over the six weeks he missed and could only eat through a straw.

Professional athlete or not, that could certainly affect anyone's conditioning and physical ability.

Kenny Atkinson's Affect On Darius Garland

Garland has already proven himself to be a top talent in the NBA. But given Cleveland's offensive system in the past, we may have only seen the tip of that potential.

J.B. Bickerstaff is a defended-minded coach, and his shortcomings on the opposite side of the ball grew more apparent as his time in Cleveland went on. Now, the Cavaliers have an offensive minded head coach in Kenny Atkinson leading the way.

Most importantly, Atkinson has a long history of working with guards and getting the best out of them, which could help take DG's game to the next level this upcoming season.

Mar 28, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The best example of this impact is how Atkinson helped D'Angelo Russell put together the best two seasons of his career as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. With Atkinson as his head coach, Russell averaged 19.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists while shooting 35 percent from three and 42 percent from the floor from 2017-19.

However, this track record even goes back to 2016, when Atkinson was an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks. Both Jeff Teague and Kent Bazemore praised Atkinson for how he transformed Atlanta's offense in a season in which the Hawks were the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and the number one seed just a season before.

We'll have to wait and see exaclty how Garland is used in the offense, bexactlyut history tells us that he could be in for one of his best seasons on offense yet.