The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without Darius Garland at the start of the new season, which obviously isn’t great.
But head coach Kenny Atkinson doesn’t think the team will be doomed without him.
In fact, he sees an opportunity in the absence of Garland.
Speaking to Cleveland.com, Atkinson dug into how the team will adjust to life without Garland.
“We have Don (Donovan Mitchell). We have Lonzo (Ball). We have CP (Craig Porter Jr.). We are kind of covered. We also have Evan (Mobley), where we can throw it to him in a trail position and have him be a playmaker. I hate that this injury happened to Darius, but it allows you to start figuring out things for the times he is not available. Last year in the playoffs it just hit us and maybe we weren’t as prepared as we could have been. If we have to play games without him, this will allow us to kind of experiment a little and see if we can find playmaking in other places,” Atkinson said.
Garland has been hurting for some time, and he is thankfully on the road to recovery.
He injured his toe last season but fought through it and tried to play as much as he could.
He missed time, including during the playoffs, and it was clear that he wasn’t 100 percent when he did suit up.
In the summer, he had surgery and is now recovering, but the rehabilitation will take time.
The good news is that he will come back fully healed, although it won’t be at the start of the season.
Atkinson will use that time to try other lineups and see what works.
Therefore, this can be a period of experimentation and growth for the Cavaliers, perhaps putting them in a great position for when Garland is back.
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