OKC Thunder prospect series: Examining Darius Garland’s complicated season

Skills

Shot creation

In a draft where there are maybe 1.5 prospects outside of Zion Williamson who have a real shot at becoming reliable shot creators at the next level, Garland established himself as a potential lead guard. The sample size is tiny and he hasn’t faced any true competition yet, but he flashed more than enough tools in the five games he played at Vanderbilt that it’s easy to see him becoming a high-level creator in the NBA.

I’m not saying that he’s going to be anywhere near as good as Damian Lillard, however, like Lillard, Garland is an elite ball-handler whose ability to get defenses moving by constantly changing his speed and direction is going to translate right away. At just 19, Garland’s already figured out how to lull defenses to sleep with probing crossovers and hesitations before hitting them with an explosive drive to the rim:

If you squint hard enough, you can kind of see the similarities between the way both attack the basket. They’re even clearer when you look at the way each guy navigates similar situations in the pick-and-roll. In the clips below, watch how both guys shake their defender right before the screen comes, see the big man hedge out, wait for him to drop back and pull up for a deep three:

Yeah, there’s a big difference between the defense Garland was facing against Liberty and the defense Lillard was facing against the OKC Thunder, but the patience that Garland showed will absolutely serve him well in the NBA. The Dame comparisons don’t end here, though; in fact, the infinite ways each guy can get to their pull-up jumper might be the most striking similarity of them all.

Because both guys are so slippery and have such quick releases, they can get solid looks off the bounce whenever they want:

What this really shows is that while Garland obviously can’t hit shots like Dame, all the pieces to the puzzle are there. The ball-handling, athleticism, and creativity that makes Lillard such an elite creator are the same things that make Garland such an intriguing prospect. I don’t know if Garland can ever be as valuable as Dame nor do I know if his shot creation will totally translate to the NBA, but the tools are here.