Darius Garland undergoes toe surgery, could miss 4-5 months

Darius Garland undergoes toe surgery, could miss 4-5 months

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland underwent toe surgery on Monday and could miss up to 4-5 months, ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania was among the first to report.

Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland underwent surgery to repair great toe injury and will be sidelined approximately 4 to 5 months. pic.twitter.com/rk7RH912tF

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 9, 2025

According to the team’s press release, the surgery was done by by Dr. Nicholas Strasser at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in consultation with Cavaliers team doctor, Dr. James Rosneck (Cleveland Clinic Sports Medicine), and Dr. Bob Anderson (OrthoCarolina).

A four-to-five month recovery for Garland means that his earliest possible return could be in November or December, meaning he could miss the start of the 2025-26 season.

Garland originally got hurt in late March, missing only a pair of games. Though he aggravated his toe injury in the Cavaliers’ first-round series to the Miami Heat, missing the final two games of the series after directly calling out Heat guard Tyler Herro. It didn’t ultimately matter, as the Cavaliers steamrolled the Heat by a combined 92 points–yes, NINETY TWO POINTS–in the final two games of the series. It ended up being the most lopsided series in NBA History, which is pretty impressive to do without one of your best players for half of it.

Report: Cavaliers could explore trade market for Darius Garland

However, Garland’s injury lingered into their second-round series against the Indiana Pacers, who dusted Cleveland in five games. The 6-foot-1 point guard only suited up for the final three games of the series, where he was nowhere near as effective, averaging just 14.0 points and four assists on 34.2 percent shooting and 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from deep.

The Cavaliers are in a precarious situation regarding the second apron if they want to improve. Could Garland’s surgery throw a wrench in their plans?

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