CLEVELAND — On Thursday night, the NBA All-Star reserves will be announced on TNT and the Cleveland Cavaliers figure to have at least one player named with the hopes of having a second.
With the Cavaliers having one of the best seasons in the NBA, it would be a total stunner to see neither point guard Darius Garland nor big man Jarrett Allen be named to the All-Star team. The Cavs, and fans alike, are hopeful that both players will make their All-Star debuts in Cleveland later on this month.
Here is the individual case for both guys to be named to the All-Star team on Thursday night.
Darius Garland
There are a number of different arguments that can be made for Garland to make the All-Star game. This season he’s been the best player on a team that has greatly overachieved its expectations and has spent much of the year as a top-four team in the conference, he’s made the leap and has been one of the NBA’s most improved players, too.
The best argument for Garland may actually be what the Cavs look like without him on the floor. The Cavs have spent this season in the middle of the pack offensively. They currently rank 17th in the NBA with an offensive rating of 109.9 points per 100 possessions. When Garland is on the floor, that number is boosted to 111.8 points per 100 possessions, trailing only forward Lauri Markkanen amongst Cavs regulars.
When Garland is off the court, the team’s offensive rating plummets to 102.8, the lowest mark on the team and a number that would rank tied for 29th in the NBA amongst teams. Garland’s on-court would rank eighth among all teams for the full season.
Garland being able to take the Cavs from a team that cannot stay afloat without him on the court to one that outscores opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor is more than enough reason to select him as an All-Star.
The numbers Garland has put up this year have been impressive, too. He’s averaging team-highs of 19.8 points and 8.2 assists per game on the season. On the year he has 16 double-doubles, including his first-ever career triple-double against the Jazz last month.
Garland’s development this year has been about so much more than just the raw numbers. He’s transformed into a guard that has no problem being able to create for himself and others. His passing and vision have gone up another level from where they were in the past, and his confidence certainly has as well.
Garland may not have the easiest path to being named an All-Star, with a number of other very deserving backcourt players in the Eastern Conference, but he’s also the most deserving guy that the Cavs have on the roster.
Jarrett Allen
The case for Allen is that he has been an anchor for the Cavaliers on both ends of the floor. He’s been one of the biggest reasons the Cavaliers went from having a horrific defense last season to one of the league’s best this year. And it’s easiest to point to the team’s defensive rating of 105.5, trailing only Golden State and Phoenix, as the biggest reason they’ve been successful.
The Cavs, of course, have been a better team with Allen on the floor than off it. While his numbers aren’t quite as drastic as Garland's, and the team is still a net-positive when he’s on the bench, there’s no doubting that Allen has impacted the team positively. When he’s on the floor, the Cavs have a net rating of 5.3, while that number drops to just 2.6 when he’s off the floor. The team’s defensive numbers actually aren’t bad when he sits, thanks in part to rookie Evan Mobley’s presence, but offensively the Cavs go from scoring 109.9 points per 100 possessions with Allen on the floor to just 106.4 points per 100 possessions with Allen on the bench.
Allen’s counting stats have been strong too. He’s posted a career-high in double-doubles with 26 in 44 games played so far this season.
The case to name Garland to his first All-Star Game is stronger than the case for Allen, although Allen has less competition right now in the Eastern Conference frontcourt compared to Garland in the backcourt.
In a perfect world, the Cavaliers are celebrating a pair of first-time All-Stars on Thursday night.