DariusGarland

Preseason question: [Staind voice] It’s been a while … since we’ve seen Garland in this spot. What does he look like as a team’s undisputed best player? The only season Garland has ever led a team in both win shares and box plus-minus was in 2021-22, in Evan Mobley’s rookie season, before the Cavs traded for Donovan Mitchell. As far as counting stats go, that was his most abundant season, though, health permitting, he could soon see the gaudiest numbers of his career playing on a Clippers squad that desperately wants to forget the past but doesn’t have much of a present or future to speak of. In 19 games after last season’s trade deadline, Garland showed off a level of shooting and playmaking efficiency reminiscent of Seven Seconds or Less–era Steve Nash. But Nash always had ample support around him, and these Clippers—especially without Brandon Ingram, who is recovering from both offseason heel surgery and a partially torn Achilles—are sorely lacking in that department. Garland had the highest usage rate of his career in that small sample of games last season, but just how far can he push that figure? Optimists might look at his massive opportunity as a spiritual sequel to Trae Young’s peak years in the early 2020s—but Garland’s shot 38.9 percent from 3 in his career instead of the sub-league-average figure that Young has put up.