Justin Verrier

But if it just keeps happening, then maybe it can be indicative of something about style of play, something about ultimately how they're carrying themselves on the court that lends itself to that.

I don't think of Garland as that kind of player.

And yet the proof is what it is that he's had a really hard time staying on the floor.

And in between those spells, sometimes take takes a minute to kind of ramp up and get back into form again.

Like we blinked and this guy is about to be in the prime of his career.

Like he's not a young player anymore.

He is a star that the Clippers absolutely should bet on and should see if maybe he can be healthier for them than he was for the Cavs.

Maybe it'll just be like the right time in his career.

He'll catch some better luck.

Everything will turn out.

I just get from a Cleveland perspective why they would be nervous given the stakes, given the pressure, given all that desperation to say like, are we absolutely sure he's going to be one good enough and two healthy enough to be what we need him to be in this exact playoff run, which is going to determine the future and the fate of our team.

It's a lot to put on Darius Garland's shoulders.

Do you have another decade of...

a small guard who's already at this age.

I think a great case for Darius Garland is he has like six good years left.

That would be a great career.

That's still pretty good.

That would be amazing.

Again, that's like a 99th, 100th percentile outcome for him.

I think there's a lot of range in between those things where you get a year or two of star level play and then a lot of mystery box is he going to be healthy enough questioning.