John Beilein's flexible coaching philosophy will not change in the NBA. That was reaffirmed Thursday when the Cavaliers selected Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland with the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Beilein's most successful teams at Michigan revolved around do-it-all point guards, and the ones who couldn't do it all still found a niche. Now, Beilein will start in Cleveland with Garland, who averaged 16.2 points per game with the Commodores last season.
The best-case scenario is that Cleveland got the second-best player in the draft, which would make taking a shot on Garland worth it. A worst-case scenario unfolded after LeBron James left last offseason.
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Garland offered a top-five twist despite a limited sample size (five games), the result of a season-ending knee injury. The Cavs must be confident in Garland given that Texas Tech's Jarrett Culver and North Carolina’s Coby White were taken with the next two picks by the Timberwolves and Bulls, respectively.
Not to mention, Cleveland last year drafted Collin Sexton, who averaged 16.7 points as a rookie, with the eighth pick. He’s also a score-first point guard.
That creates a big question for Beilein moving forward: How is a Sexton-Garland pairing going to work?
Guard play highlighted Beilein's tenure at Michigan. His best team — the 2012-13 squad that lost to Louisville in the national championship game — featured a backcourt of Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas. Caris LeVert came off the bench. The Wolverines relied on their high-scoring guards and a supporting cast of Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Morgan and Mitch McGary.
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It's not a coincidence that the '12-13 team produced the most NBA talent during the Beilein era in Ann Arbor. It's a bonus for Beilein that Stauskas is with the Cavaliers now. If Beilein is trying to concoct something similar to that Michigan attack at the next level, then it will start with guard play. That leads back to Garland and Sexton.
Both will be able to score. Garland shot 47.8 from 3-point range in his limited action last season and is considered a strong shooter off the dribble. Sexton averaged 20.8 points and 3.2 assists after the All-Star break last season. If Beilein can get those two to play off each other while also becoming better facilitators, then offense won't be a problem. That would be a big first step in Cleveland getting back to the postseason after a 19-63 season in 2018-19, its first since James' departure to the Lakers.
Defense will remain a question mark, however. Neither Garland nor Sexton is known for defending, and Cleveland allowed 114.1 points per game last season. Beilein's Michigan teams weren't known for defense until his last few seasons, when defensive specialist Zavier Simpson was the point guard.
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That change speaks more to Beilein’s ability to adapt to his talent, and he should be flexible with Garland and Sexton if that is the plan. If they can work together, then they can complement Jordan Clarkson and Kevin Love, the Cavs' top two scorers last season. Both remain on the roster for now. Beilein is also known for having big men who stretch the floor with the 3-pointer, something that is in Love’s wheelhouse.
Will this work? It is way too early to tell, but Beilein appears to be working on yet another experiment involving his point guard — or point guards. His flexibility could produce something exciting.
With Beilein, that’s not going to change, either.
