Cleveland Cavaliers star guard Darius Garland underwent surgery to repair his great toe injury and will be out approximately 4-5 months, the organization announced on Monday.
The toe injury greatly impacted Garland’s mobility and availability during the NBA Playoffs for the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed Cavs. He initially injured the toe toward the end of the regular season, before re-aggravating the injury during Game 2 of the first round against the Miami Heat. After missing four consecutive games, Garland returned for Game 3 of the second round, but struggled through three appearances as the Cavs fell to the Indiana Pacers in five games.
According to Cleveland’s update, Garland is expected to resume basketball activities by the start of training camp. However, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Garland will likely miss the start of the 2025-26 regular season.
Garland, an All-Star in 2022 and 2025, appeared in 75 games this past season. He averaged 20.6 points, 6.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting over 40% on 3-pointers.
Hawks Hire Pelicans GM, 76ers Executive
In other news, the Atlanta Hawks have dipped into the front-office talent pools of two NBA franchises to add to their foundation.
According to Sharania, the Hawks have hired New Orleans Pelicans general manager Bryson Graham as the team’s senior vice president of basketball operations and Philadelphia 76ers executive Peter Dinwiddie as senior vice president of strategy and analytics.
Graham spent 15 years with New Orleans and stepped into the GM role last June. Dinwiddie started working in the Philadelphia front office in 2020, following a 14-season stint with the Pacers.
Charania reported that both Graham and Dinwiddie will report to new Hawks GM Onsi Saleh, who was promoted to the position in April. The organization is still searching to hire a president of basketball operations.