Darius Garland made Cleveland Cavaliers franchise history when he converted his 100th career triple on Saturday against the Miami Heat. With that, Garland, the 2019 no. 5 overall pick, joins Collin Sexton, Cleveland’s 8th overall pick in 2018, as the only rookies in franchise history to make 100 three-pointers in their rookie campaigns.
Garland only needed 56 games to get to the century mark for triples. Meanwhile, Sexton took 73 games to get to 100, per Basketball Reference.
This is somewhat a surprising historical accomplishment given that Sexton or Darius Garland aren’t really known as elite marksmen from beyond the arc.
Likewise, it’s pretty surprising that former franchise rookies such as LeBron James or Mark Price didn’t accomplish the feat in their respective debut campaigns. Still, considering the era they were in, it’s pretty understandable.
Nonetheless, this should be a welcome sight for Cavaliers fans. At this point, they would probably welcome any kind of positive development from their two young guards.
The Cavaliers are focused on developing Sexton and Darius Garland as their backcourt of the future. So far, the two have experienced growing pains as they develop their games further.
Sexton made the All-Rookie First Team last season after having a strong second half. He is following that up with a better sophomore campaign which has seen his scoring output bump up to 19.8 points (from 16.7 points) and his efficiency increase to 45.8 percent (from 43 percent).
Darius Garland, meanwhile is averaging 12.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, while shooting just 39.9 percent from the field. Despite the struggles in the early goings of the season, Garland is showing signs of progress as the season comes down to a close.