NBA Draft 2019: Best and worst fits for all potential lottery picks

10. Darius Garland, 6-2 PG, Vanderbilt

BEST: Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies

As the weeks go by and the NBA Draft gets ever so closer, more and more people — be it fans or members of the media — are connecting Darius Garland to the Chicago Bulls at No. 4 (if they end up picking there, of course), and really, it makes perfect sense. The Kris Dunn experiment has been a failure, with his limited (i.e., bad) scoring ability being too much of a hindrance for the Bulls’ offense. Finding a backcourt mate for Zach LaVine is a must for John Paxson and Gar Forman, and Darius Garland profiles as an electric pick-and-roll scorer and potentially lethal pull-up shooter.

He’s a small point guard at only 6-2 and has his defensive limitations, but he at least competes on that end, which is an admirable trait. Garland’s translation to the next level will hinge on his shot-making proving to be legitimate and his playmaking for others improving rapidly. Right now he’s score-first and is displays limited vision as a passer, but his scoring alone would be a huge boost for the Bulls. Grabbing a small guard is always a gamble, since their scoring needs to be great (or even elite) to make up for defensive shortcomings, but if the Bulls are looking for talent, then Garland makes sense.

If the Grizzlies’ pick stands pat at No. 8 or jumps up into the top five after the lottery, then Garland would make sense as their point guard of the future, too. Although he fits the similar mold as Coby White, he’s shown — albeit in a limited sample — superior capabilities of picking apart defenses in the half court thanks to deft ball-handling and shifty movement. White is impressive nonetheless, but he’s at his best when he’s pushing the tempo and putting pressure on opposing defenses; considering Memphis’ knack for slowing things down, Garland fits what they could be looking for as their future point guard and Mike Conley replacement.

WORST: Phoenix Suns

Darius Garland and Devin Booker would make for an exciting tandem of legitimate long-range bombers who can spot-up or pull-up from the perimeter and maneuver ball-screens with effortless agility and nimble ball-handling. Garland’s implementation in Phoenix would lighter the offensive load for the Suns franchise star and would give the organization a potential long-term option at the point that meshes well with coach Monty Williams’ offensive scheme (e.g., pick-and-roll, pull-up, isolation, etc).

All of this sounds grand, but Phoenix is a team without any notable defenders beyond a pair of 2018 draftees (Mikal Bridges and De’Anthony Melton), and Garland’s wiry 6-2 frame and physical shortcomings would only make matters worse. Pairing two porous defenders together in the backcourt while placing an unproven center behind them is a recipe for open threes and layup lines for opposing teams.

If the defense stays a problem, then the offense would need to be genuinely special in order to actually compensate, and that’s too tall of a task for such a young and inexperienced team. NBA point guards are typically bad for a large chunk of their first contracts: Would Booker be willing to wait and undergo more and more losing until Garland becomes a legitimate impact player?