Chicago Bulls: Redrafting the 2019 NBA Draft lottery

By Luke Askew | Apr 4, 2020

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(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /

Darius Garland. 9. player. 142. . Point guard. Washington Wizards

Darius Garland is the guy I originally wanted the Chicago Bulls to draft, and I still have high hopes for him, but his rookie year was disappointing. As mentioned when it was time for the Cavs to make their selection, Garland’s immensely underwhelming rookie season was partially a byproduct of playing next to Collin Sexton and having John Beilein as a coach, but some of the blame still has to fall on him.

Garland played and started in 59 of the Cavs’ 65 games this season, averaging slightly over 12 points per game on 40.1 percent shooting from the field and 35.5 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Even more troubling than his scoring inefficiencies and defensive limitations during those 59 games was his ugly assist-to-turnover ratio. On the season, Garland put up 3.9 assists and 2.6 turnovers per game. Again, some of that is a byproduct of playing next to Sexton and thus not playing the true point guard position, but some of it is just that he simply struggled this year.

Garland still has crazy-high upside as a three-level scoring point guard who can create in the pick-and-roll. He just needs more time to get used to the NBA game. Washington is the right spot for him. They desperately need a high-upside guy to pair with Bradley Beal.

Original pick: 5

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