Aren't you here to help me?
I still remember when James first entered the league in 03, Cavaliers boss Ricky Davis confidently thought that the rookie champion was here to assist him, yes, look at Davis's performance the previous season, averaging 20.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game.
Davis only served as the boss of the little emperor for 2 months, and was sent to Boston by the team, and it was this deal that seriously frustrated Davis's self-confidence, and his state took a sharp turn for the worse, and he slowly faded out of the league.
Now, 20 years later, this memorable scene is about to be staged in Cleveland again.
After a disappointing rookie season, Garland finally proved himself in the third year of his career when Sexton, the core of the team, was injured, handing over a record of 21.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 1.3 steals per game, shooting 46.2% from the field, 38.3% from three-point range, and being selected as an All-Star for the first time, while also leading the Cavaliers to a 44-38 record.
Although the Cavaliers have a lot of money, packing Sexton, Markkanen, Abaki and 3 first-round picks in exchange for Donovan Mitchell, but in the eyes of the outside world, this is just a regular roster upgrade, and the team will not change the style of play with Garland as the core, in other words, everyone thinks that Mitchell is here to assist Garland, but what is the result?
In the first year of cooperation, Garland can still be a bit of a leader, although the score is not as good as Mitchell, but he is very efficient offensively, especially on the outside, shooting more than 40% of the shot, in addition to averaging 7.5 assists per game, is the team's central axis and engine, when he is on the court, the Cavaliers can score 6.4 more points per 100 rounds on the offensive end, however, since the 23 playoffs, the Cavaliers have gradually found that the new core in front of them seems to have reached the ceiling and has no ability to let the Cavaliers go further.
In the first round, the Cavaliers were easily eliminated by the Knicks with a score of 4:1, this round of the series, Garland's performance was not good, and even a little lagging behind, don't look at the average of 20 points per game, but as the core of the ball, he did not organize an effective offense, only 5 assists per game, 3.6 turnovers, when he was there, the team's effective shooting percentage fell by 0.1%, as for the defense, Garland was as bad as ever, either by Quickley step, or by Brunson raw.
This year is still the same, if it weren't for Mitchell's "super god", they might have another round of tours, 2 rounds of the series, Garland averaged 18 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists per game, 44.6% shooting, 37.1% three-point shooting, if we just ask Garland as the starting point guard, then he will definitely pass, but Garland is not, he is the tactical center of the Cavaliers, an All-Star guard with a 5-year 195 million contract extension, he has the obligation to let the team go further, and he must also take responsibility for the failure.
After these 2 years of investigation, the Cavaliers also saw Garland thoroughly, and on the other hand, Mitchell also reached the stage of renewing his contract, he did not threaten the Cavaliers with "trading Garland", but earlier, Mitchell has expressed a strong desire to compete for the championship, if the Cavaliers do not make some practical actions, so that Mitchell can see hope, the latter may not be willing to renew his contract, although Mitchell is not Leonard, a star of Durant's level, can look around the entire Cavaliers, and all free agents on the market, They really didn't have a better option than Mitchell.
At least compared to Garland, Mitchell's team role is more obvious, he has the explosiveness of continuous scoring, and the defense is also improving a little bit, this season, when Mitchell is on the floor, the Cavaliers can outscore opponents by 7.2 points per 100 possessions, and vice versa net minus 1.9 points, in the playoffs, Mitchell showed his super scoring ability at the same time, but also let the outside world redefine his defensive level, when he is on the court, the Cavaliers defense concedes 11.6 points less per 100 possessions.
According to American media reports, the Cavaliers have put Garland on the shelf, which is a pity, only 2 years as the boss was squeezed onto the shelf, but as far as the current situation is concerned, leaving is actually a good thing for Garland to save his career.