Darius Garland Urged To ‘Grow’ In 1 Area This Summer

The Cleveland Cavaliers keep counting on Darius Garland.

Unfortunately, he has yet to deliver when it matters most.

Everybody knows what he’s capable of when he’s at his best, but injuries and shortcomings in key moments have prevented him from taking a leap.

With that in mind, Ethan Sands of Cleveland.com urged Garland to be mentally stronger and more mature from now on.

“This goes back to the maturity factor that Kenny Atkinson referenced in the latter half of the regular season and making sure that Darius understood that now that he had put the work in with his body, it was time to put the work in with his mind,” Sands said. “I think when we talk about all of the mental toughness throughout the entire summer, there may not be a player that the Cavs need to grow in that area more than Darius Garland.”

Garland had surgery to address his late-season toe injury and might not be ready for the beginning of next season.

Of course, that also means he won’t be able to do much work on his game in the offseason.

As such, he needs to make sure to toughen up in other aspects.

Garland has a long history of struggles in the clutch, and though he showed signs of improvement last season, his failures in elimination games have left a bitter taste for fans.

Yet, he is an All-Star who can flirt with 50/40/90 shooting and average 20 points and six assists per game.

He should be one of the go-to guys in the playoffs, and that has yet to be the case so far.

Granted, people can’t blame him for being injured in the playoffs, and he did try to push through and play through it, but it’s been a similar thing with him every season.

Now that a trade might be off the table, the Cavs will have no choice but to continue pinning their hopes on him.