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Cleveland Cavaliers
Aug 5, 2025 3:24 PM EDT
Perhaps no single player better exemplified the frustrating end to the Cavaliers‘ 2024-25 season quite like Darius Garland, who first suffered a big-toe injury late in the season, then had the injury flare back up on him during a playoff run that ended in the conference semis against Indiana.
Garland underwent surgery to fix his toe in June, and originally, the Cavs put out a confusing statement. The team noted that Garland would, “resume basketball activities by the start of training camp,” while at the same time writing Garland’s, “status will be updated as appropriate … in approximately 4-5 months.”
Four months was, at the time, early in training camp. Five months was well into the regular season, in November.
Cavaliers Announced June Surgery
Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com is now reporting that Garland is, indeed, not expected to be part of Cavaliers training camp. He noted that in a conversation with coach Kenny Atkinson, he was told that the team wants Garland to take his rehab slow.
Garland averaged 20.6 points last year on 47.2% shooting, making 40.1% from the 3-point line. He added 6.7 assists. But Garland struggled in the playoffs.
“I asked (Atkinson), I said, ‘You know, as a coach, you lost Ty Jerome and Darius Garland is obviously recovering from toe surgery. Are you anticipating Darius being ready for training?’ And he said, ‘No, I don’t decide these things. It’s going to be up to Darius and the training staff led by Steve Spiro.’
“But he said, “I don’t expect him to, and I want him to take his time with this, and we’re not going to push it. We’re not going to rush it.”
Darius Garland Key for 2025-26
The Cavaliers are hopeful that Garland will be back in good form for the long-term. The team was the best in the Eastern Conference at 64-18 but flamed out in the playoffs in part because of Garland’s health.
They’re going to give him time to come back 100%, but in the meantime, there could be some struggles for the Cavs without him. Cleveland was 5-5 when Garland did not play in the regular season or playoffs last year.
“I think the fact that the Cavs said long ago, in that release, he’ll be back to basketball-related activities by training camp, that doesn’t mean he’s gonna be full-go, that he’s gonna be ready for 5-on-5,” Fedor said.
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Sean Deveney