“I hate guarding Darius Garland”: Draymond Green sings Cavaliers star’s praise, calls him one of the best young guards in the NBA

Draymond Green says he hates guarding Darius Garland because of his ‘herky-jerky’ movements when trying to get past his man. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an interesting 2010s to say the least. They ushered in the new decade by driving away LeBron James to the Miami Heat, drafted Kyrie Irving, win the championship in 2016, and 3 years later, entered a full rebuild once again. Darius Garland Collin Sexton make up the 2-guard backcourt that the Cavaliers have put all their stock into going into the 2020s. 

Sexton has showed up and showed out, proving to the Cavs coaching staff that he’s a player that can be trusted on both ends of the floor. Darius Garland however, is more of a project that Sexton. Coming into the league, his draft comparison was Damian Lillard, something which is tough for any rookie guard to live up to.

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His rookie campaign was riddled with inefficiency and carelessness when handling the ball. He averaged merely 12 points a game on 40% shooting from the field, all while posting up an assist to turnover ratio of 1.5. 

However, things have clearly turned around for the sophomore guard as he’s now being complimented by a DPOY level defender in Draymond Green. 

Draymond Green compliments Darius Garland on his shiftiness and says he hates guarding him. 

Though Draymond Green has regressed a bit on the defensive end of the floor in terms of his verticality and lateral movement, he’s been able to hold his own against some of the league’s best at a respectable rate, especially when defending on the fast-break.  

So receiving a sliver of respect from a player of Green’s defensive caliber is definitely a show of things trending in the right direction for Darius Garland. 

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“Darius Garland is one of the hardest players to guard in the league. I know that’s an unpopular opinion. That kid is so fast, so herky-jerky and he can shoot the ball. When he figures out how good he truly is. I hate being switched onto him. It’s rough getting switched onto Garland.” 

The Cavaliers have a plethora of solid young pieces such as the aforementioned Sex-Land backcourt along with them essentially fleecing the Nets in the James Harden 3-way trade to acquire Jarrett Allen. Not to mention that they have an incredible 3-and-D player in Isaac Okoro who is ready to take that next step into being a Mikal Bridges-esque player.