The first round of NBA All-Star voting returns have been announced, leading to a major snub of Cavs guard Darius Garland. Garland has had a resurgent season thus far following his jaw injury this time around last year. He has been a driving force to Cleveland’s 29-4 start yet has not received the credit he deserves.
Cavs Star Snubbed in First All-Star Voting Return
Heading into the season, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Garland. He had statistically the worst season of his career in 2023-24 since his rookie campaign, and he was involved in various trade rumors. However, the Cavs elected to keep Garland in hopes he would return to his All-Star form this season. The Cleveland front office has been correct as Garland has exploded averaging 20.5 points and 6.7 rebounds on nearly 50/40/90 splits. Additionally, Garland is playing the fewest minutes of his career, furthering his impressive stats.
All-Star Voting
Garland could have expected to be a leader among Eastern Conference guards when the first All-Star ballots returned; however, that has not been the case. Garland was left off the All-Star leading vote-getters, not ranking in the top 10 among Eastern Conference backcourt players.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo are leading the NBA’s first 2024-25 All-Star fan voting returns: pic.twitter.com/eQeU60l673
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Garland ranks below his teammate Donovan Mitchell, who has had a career year from beyond the arc as well, amassing over 700K votes. Derrick White, Tyler Herro, Jordan Poole, and Tyrese Maxey all made the list despite having a worse team record and worse individual stats.
White averages 17.1 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.5 rebounds on 39.5% shooting from three. He averages fewer points, assists, and worse shooting than Garland’s 42.3% from behind the arc.
Herro is having a tremendous season, averaging 24.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.1 assists on 41% from three. Regardless, his team’s record is significantly worse, and Herro plays five minutes more than Garland while being less efficient.
Poole plays on the team with the worst record in the Eastern Conference and averages 21.7 points and 4.9 assists on 43.4% shooting from the field. Finally, Maxey is averaging 25.5 points and 5.4 assists on 34% from three. Again, Maxey is a player on a significantly worse team and not playing as efficiently as Garland.
The players above Garland on the All-Star voting list are simply playing worse than him both individually and as a team. Garland impacts winning at the highest level, leading the Cavs to the best record in the NBA. He has a net rating of 10.81 in his 961 minutes and has been the closer for Cleveland many times this season.
The Last Word
The misconception behind Garland is that he is not the main star of his team. Mitchell and Garland have closed games separately this season. This season in Cleveland, it’s a different leading scorer every night. Neither Garland nor Mitchell need to carry the load every night for the Cavs to win. The roster depth has allowed them to play within themselves and impact winning. Just because Garland has not exploded for 30-40 points on a nightly basis, it does not mean he should not be considered an All-Star.
Garland has been one of the best players on the best team in the NBA. He should be an All-Star in February.
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