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

Awards and Honors:

All awards are primarily from prior to this season given his injury

• McDonald’s All-American (2018)
• Jordan Brand Classic (2018)
• Nike Hoop Summit (2018)
• 3 time Tennessee Mr. Basketball (2016–2018)

Pro Comparison:

Kevin O’Connor: Damian Lillard, Jeff Teague, Nick Van Exel

Current Ranking:

• The Ringer: 6th
• NBA DraftNet: 6th
• FanSided Busting Brackets: 10th
• FanSided The Step Back: 6th
• ESPN (Note: from the paid portion of site ESPN+): 4th
• CBS Sports: 4th
• NBA.com: 6th
• Sports Illustrated: 6th
• Bleacher Report: 12th
• Basketball Insiders: 5th
• NBC: 6th

Fit with OKC

Why not try, right?

As my site expert told me a few days ago, I want to be careful and say from the jump that the chances of this happening are low. Like, really, really low. For one, the OKC Thunder already have Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder, both of whom are owed a combined $54,006,482 (!!!!!!) next season alone; bringing in a young point guard who doesn’t play defense and who’s coming off a torn meniscus would be almost inconceivable.

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For another, there are other players in this draft who offer similar upside at positions of actual need; why move assets to get a prospect who needs playing time at a position where minutes will be scarce when there are better alternatives in reach?

But when the upside is so high, Sam Presti and the front office are obligated to at least think about it. As Russ begins what will probably be a steep and ugly decline and Schroder keeps getting paid $15.5 million to chuck bad three’s and sometimes play passable defense, Garland could breathe new life into the point guard rotation and help keep the team relevant.

Sacrificing assets to stay on the treadmill of mediocrity in a brutal Western Conference is something that most teams probably wouldn’t do anymore, but it’s something that the Thunder’s salary distribution sort of necessitates. (I really didn’t expect my piece to get this dark, but here we are).

Their core is on the books until at least 2021 and after the way this season ended, there’s real doubt that they’ll be able to keep making the playoffs in an increasingly competitive Western Conference through the life of this core.

As such, they might need to swing for someone like Garland who can at least do some of what Russ does and keep the offense steady. Again, it’s probably never going to happen, but if I’m Sam Presti, I’m taking a long hard look at it.