Darius Garland Undergoes Surgery on Toe Injury, Out 4-5 Months amid Cavs Trade Rumors

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland has been rumored to be a trade candidate this offseason, but he will now be sidelined for quite some time.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, Garland underwent surgery to repair a toe injury and will be out for "approximately four to five months."

The Cavs said in their announcement that Garland "is expected to make a full recovery and resume basketball activities by the start of training camp." That news will be comforting to teams considering trading for the floor general this summer, but ESPN's Brian Windhorst and Charania reported that he "is likely to miss time to start the regular season."

Windhorst reported during a radio appearance on ESPN Cleveland last week that there's "some belief" that Garland "might be available under the right circumstances." Windhorst added that he feels the Cavs "are listening and open-minded."

Garland appeared in a career-high 75 games this season and averaged 20.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.2 steals. He shot a career-best 47.2 percent from the field and connected on 40.1 percent of his three-pointers. He played a key role in helping the Cavs finish with the best record in the Eastern Conference at 64-18, though the team fell to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals after sustaining injuries to multiple starters in the postseason.

Garland was among those to be sidelined at an inopportune time, as he missed four games in the playoffs after aggravating his toe injury. He played in just three of Cleveland's five-game series against Indiana and was visibly slowed by the injury, averaging just 14.0 points and 4.0 assists.

When healthy, Garland is an effective lead guard who can run any team's offense. He should garner trade interest from a slew of teams this offseason, regardless of his surgery recovery.