Cavs Mailbag: Garland's Giveaways, Can Duo With Mitchell Work?

Welcome to Cavs Mailbag! In this daily mailbag, Spencer Davies will respond to fans’ curiosities surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers throughout the duration of the 2023-24 season. In order to submit yours, simply send your questions on X to @SpinDavies or via email at spindavies22@gmail.com.

With a perfect opportunity to build upon a feel-good win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, the Cavs came out of the gates like they did in Indiana and did not guard the ball well enough. They fought back, but it was too little too late in Oklahoma City.

Next up are those same Warriors on Saturday, this time at Chase Center in San Francisco as the wine-and-gold continue a long road trip.

On to your questions:

Will somebody address Garland’s insane amount of turnovers and what is going on with that? - @mcc15__

Yeah, it’s disconcerting. Darius Garland is at his most dangerous when he attacks using angles off the dribble and shifts gears to get defenses to react. We saw that in Sunday’s win over the Golden State Warriors when he got into the paint at will and drew fouls left and right. His biggest issue is trying to do too much or underestimating how little room he has to work with in certain coverages.

How many times have we seen Garland think he has enough air under the ball to try to get the ball over the top to Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen just for it to get deflected and/or stolen in a blitzing/trapping situation? We can look at the film from the past and see when he’s driven into a crowd with multiple defenders, picked up his dribble and gotten into no-man’s land. Trying to fit quick passes between small crevices is an ailing part of his game when he doesn’t have his timing right. Leaving your feet on the baseline without a plan is never a good thing either. Recognizing all of this is imperative — especially during crunch-time situations.

To his defense, in a handful of scenarios, there are turnovers that have been credited to Garland instead of his teammates who have fumbled the ball after a picture-perfect feed. There have been some DG BBs on the money that some guys can’t handle or react to quick enough. That’s also a trend.

You’d need more than four hands to count how many turnovers he’s committed this season in the four games he’s played. On average, Garland is averaging six giveaways per contest. That ain’t gonna cut it. Fortunately, there are 74 more chances left to fix it and his average was half of that number last season.

Garland is the engine that gets this offense rolling and organized. He’s a terrific pocket passer, lob disguiser and pace-changing handler. You’re going to want him to get on the same page with everybody because Donovan Mitchell can’t just put up 35 every night if the Cavs want to succeed sustainably.

And that brings us to the next question!

Why doesn’t Garland always shoot a three-pointer when it’s a fourth quarter and clutch situation? This has been a problem since last season. I still think Garland and Mitchell’s combination is bad. What do you think? - @derickderick08

I don’t think Garland trusts his jump shot right now. Just like the rest of the team who’s mired in a frankly-unlucky early-season shooting slump with good shooters — it’s true, don’t yell at me when there’s real data — he is not converting on threes. According to NBA.com, Garland has taken 12 triples classified as wide-open. He has made one. Regaining confidence is a big part of this. Keep taking them during games and get back to that pull-up free flow.

I agree that Garland has to be more aggressive in crunch-time, but he can do that just by touching the paint or forcing defenders to follow him by snaking around the half-court. Again, the Warriors’ tape should be exactly his focus. He draws a bunch of attention, as does Mitchell. That should open up lanes in the middle and leave shooters with space on the outside.

If you want me to answer your question about Garland and Mitchell being “bad” together, I just think that’s shortsighted. You’re right in saying it’s not guaranteed to work. We can’t see the future. Can we at least acknowledge that a deeper roster with players who are proven to be able to stretch the floor gives it a better chance to?

Patience isn’t everybody’s favorite word. That said, being just over one week into the season and mailing it in isn’t the answer. Not when you have an All-NBA talent on your roster next to two former All-Stars and who the team believes can be a multi-time All-Star.

From the perspective of how the two play together, it can be better. There are possessions where Mitchell will come down the floor and take a quick shot or dribble the life out of the ball. There are other times where he’ll run a high pick-and-roll with a big and create a quality look too. He’s hardly selfish. When he’s being the aggressor, it’s by necessity because somebody else isn’t being assertive enough. But Garland isn’t deferring as much as people think. He’s still above 27% in usage rate, right around where he was last season.

It’s about finding a balance for those two. There is one basketball to go around, and it is up to everybody to figure out the flow. Sunday it looked beautiful. In the season-opener, it looked beautiful. Hell, when the Cavs weren't giving it away on Wednesday night in OKC, the offense was clicking. Good process should pay off.

The reality is five guys aren’t going to average over 20 points per game. And honestly, it’s less about Garland and Mitchell as a duo and more about consistent production from the others — including the new guys and Mobley, who’s been up-and-down to say the least. I said at the beginning of the season in one of our standups that this team will be a work in progress. It could even take up to a month of two. As long as they don’t fall too far behind in the standings and stay above water, it’ll be okay.

If the Cavs don’t win 51 games and are the fourth seed or higher, what will Koby Altman say, especially after last season’s end-of-the-year press conference where he spoke so proudly of 51 wins? - @NOHYPEJUSTBALL

That’s a what-if question that the Cavs don’t want to think about. If Cleveland doesn’t build upon last season with at least a first-round playoff victory, then there will be some serious discussions about the direction of the franchise. I don’t think anybody will care about a regular-season win total as long as the team gets to the dance with an opportunity at redemption in the postseason.

But yes, that would open a lot of eyes hypothetically. This one-step-forward-two-steps-back things they're doing isn't going to work.

Maybe we can wait to assume such a doomsday outcome considering it’s Nov. 9 though. Just a thought.

How quickly can they get Mike Budenholzer on a flight to Cleveland? - @CoopRoss4

If you think the Cavs are allowing too many threes now...