The 2024-25 season is not even complete yet, but one NBA All-Star is already looking at an absence that could extend into the 2025-26 season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Monday that guard Darius Garland has undergone surgery to repair a great toe injury. Garland will be sidelined for an estimated 4-to-5 months as a result but is expected to be able to resume basketball activities by the start of training camp.
However, that does not mean that Garland will be ready for full game action by the start of training camp. The new season will begin in approximately four-and-a-half months (on Oct. 21), and Shams Charania of ESPN reports that Garland is likely to miss time to begin the 2025-26 campaign.
The 25-year-old Garland was initially diagnosed with a big toe injury towards the end of the regular season in late March but played through the issue into the postseason. He then reaggravated the injury in the playoffs and missed multiple games during Cleveland’s upset second-round loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Garland was the Cavaliers’ No. 5 overall pick in 2019 and has since blossomed into a multi-time All-Star. One of those All-Star appearances came this season as Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists per game on 47/40/88 shooting splits. Meanwhile, Garland will be entering the third season of a five-year, $197.2 million contract with Cleveland next season.
The Cavaliers won an impressive 64 games this season but flamed out with their second-round defeat to Indiana (which was an embarrassing exit in more ways than one). Now they will have to go back to the drawing board for next season but will probably have to kick things off without the services of Garland.
