Darius Garland

Pro comparison 
Similar to Damian Lillard and D.J. Augustin

NBA projection
Starter/All-Star

Measurements
6'3" 173 lbs  6'1" wingspan 19 years old

Projectable Skills

• ​Quickness/Burst - Shifty athlete, does a good job timing his quickness/burst. Herky jerky style of play catches opponents off-guard. Slippery in P/R, can split defenders. 
• Creating ability - Fairly tight handle, comfortable creating with either hand, solid array of counter moves. Able to get to his spots on the court. 
• Shooting - Diverse shooting ability, was excellent (99th percentile, 1.441 PPP) on jump shots and 3pt attempts (99th percentile, 1.5 PPP). Has range, comfortable pulling up from distance. Gets into his shot quickly off the bounce, does a nice job getting squared up. Dangerous set/off-ball shooter. 
• Finishing ability - Small sample size, but has upside as a creative finisher. Fairly polished going/finishing left, uses his body well to generate space. Crafty. 
• P/R ability - Tough cover, can score in a variety of ways, knows how to effectively use screeners, mis-match for bigs. Improving playmaking, high upside as a P/R player. Rated excellent (92nd percentile, 1 PPP) as a P/R ball-handler. 
  
• Passing upside - Tough to label passing as a strength, but he showed flashes as a playmaker during his shortened season. Made some nice reads, able to breakdown defenses/stretch the floor, has the BBIQ to continue improving. 
  
• High floor - Projects as a starting level PG, but has the skillset/tools to be a productive/valuable NBA player even if he never reaches his full potential. 

Improvement Areas

• Turnovers - Averaged 3.0 turnovers/game compared to 2.6 asts/game. Was careless with the ball at times, would get himself into problematic situations. Needs to have a plus AST:TO ratio as a lead ball handler and PG. 
• Passing - Raw passer, needs to work on instincts, score first mentality, could improve his overall court awareness. Needs to make more efficient reads, struggles to complete more complex passes. Lacks size/length to pass over the top of defenders, could improve touch. 
• Shot selection - Tends to force shots/fall in love with the jumper. Fairly quick trigger, can pullup regardless of timing on the shot clock. Had some wild takes to the basket, could look to be more efficient in his overall shot selection. 
• PG polish - Has the BBIQ to continue rounding out his game, but has some things to cleanup/improve if he's to be a starting level PG and efficiently run an offense. 

• Defensive versatility/upside - Not necessarily a strong weakness as we didn't see much of his true defensive ability due to a shorter season/zone defense. However, lacks the physical tools to be a versatile defender, most likely locked in to defending PG's. Could continue to refine overall instincts. 

Potential Questions/Concerns 

• What's his projected defensive ability/upside? 
• How much will he improve as a passer? 
• Is he more of a long term starter or a rotation player?

• How much will his lack of length be a problem? 

Write Up
     Darius Garland was projected to have a big season at Vanderbilt along with teammate Simi Shittu, but it unfortunately ended early due to a meniscus injury in his left knee which required surgery.  While he only played in 5 total games, he did show flashes of his scoring ability and overall upside. He's a lights out shooter and is comfortable shooting from anywhere on the court, he shot 47.8% from deep (4.6 attempts/game) and 56.2% on 2pt jumpers according to hoop-math. Aside from shooting, his next most projectable skill is his creating ability, he has more of a mature/polished dribbling skill-set for his age and is at his best when creating space in P/R situations. Combine his shooting, creating ability, and deceptive quickness/burst and he becomes a tough cover within half-court offenses. However, Garland has many aspects of his game which need improvement if he's to reach his full potential, the first being his negative AST:TO ratio. As a projected starting PG he needs to value the ball and improve as a playmaker if he's to efficiently run an offense.  Secondly, Garland has to show some toughness as a defender, he lacks the physical tools to defend multiple positions, but does have the ability to become a plus defender on PG's if the effort is there. It was difficult to fully evaluate him as a defender due to a shortened season and playing zone defense, but in order for him to be a starting level PG in the NBA he'll have to assert himself on defense to cover other NBA starting PG's consistently. Overall, Garland brings scoring diversity and creating to an NBA team, combine that with his solid BBIQ and he's worth a high end lottery pick in this year's draft.