After appearing in a career-high 75 regular-season games, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland is not guaranteed to be available for the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
Monday afternoon, the Cavaliers announced that the team’s starting point guard will be out for 4-5 months after undergoing surgery on his left great toe. While the expectation is that Garland will be good to go by the start of training camp, that does not precisely align with the timeline provided by the team.
Having averaged at least 20.6 points per game in three of the last four seasons, Garland earned his second All-Star Game appearance and helped lead the Cavaliers to 64 wins and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. In addition to the 20.6 points, he averaged 2.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.8 three-pointers in 30.7 minutes.
In his first season playing for Kenny Atkinson, Garland’s efficiency improved. At the same time, his playing time decreased slightly, with the first-year head coach being willing to go deep into his bench throughout the regular season. Garland shot 47.2 percent from the field, 40.1 percent from three and 87.8 percent from the foul line while averaging 2.5 turnovers per game, his lowest average since his rookie season (2019-20).
Unfortunately for Garland and the Cavaliers, a left great toe injury sidelined him for four games, including the first two games of the team’s second-round series against the Pacers. Cleveland would lose both of those games, falling into a hole that proved too deep to crawl out of. And in the aftermath of the second-round elimination, Garland and center Jarrett Allen have been mentioned in some trade rumors.
On a potential connection with Orlando, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported on June 8 that there have been no “substantive conversations” between the two franchises regarding a deal involving Garland. One would assume that uncertainty regarding Garland’s health would take any potential deals off the table if Cleveland were interested in breaking up its “core four.”
Also, Garland’s surgery may impact the front office’s approach to Ty Jerome, who will be an unrestricted free agent next month. Coming off the best season of his NBA career, Jerome may be in line for a significant payday. However, his importance to the Cavaliers cannot be understated, especially if Garland is not guaranteed to be healthy when training camp begins.
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