Cavaliers guard Darius Garland working his way back from surgery

The Cavaliers will be extremely cautious with Darius Garland. The veteran point guard had surgery on his left big toe on June 9 and is expected to be sidelined 4-5 months. The 6-foot-1, 192-pounder said he is back on the court and has been taking contact for the last month. There has been talk that he would miss the first few weeks of the season. That might not be the case. "Everything is good," Garland said. "The rehab has been going really well. I'm back on the court. I'm moving around. It's been a really good offseason. The doctors said everything has been looking great. I'm ramping up for the season. "I'm happy where I'm at right now. I'll keep working and keep being aggressive. I'm working on cardio and conditioning right now. I'm happy to be back on the court." Garland, 25, wouldn't say when he'd play his first game. "I don't have a date yet," he said. Will he miss time? "I don't know yet," Garland said. "We'll see. I'm on the court and can do everything right now." The two-time All-Star missed four of Cleveland's nine postseason games last year with a "sprained big toe." Garland forced himself back on the court in the playoffs and wore a steel plate in his shoe to protect his painful toe. The results weren't good. He has one goal at this point. "Stay healthy," Garland said. "That's my No. 1 job." As the longest-tenured player on the team, he's become one of the Cavs' leaders. "I want to keep everyone engaged and locked in," the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft said. "I'm a leader of this group. I've got to be the head of the snake. "It's developed over the years. As point guard, you have to be a leader and have that mentality." Garland, who played five games in his Vanderbilt career before entering the draft, was only 19 years old when he came to the Cavs. "As a rookie, I came in at 18 or 19 (years old) and I had Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love, Larry (Nance Jr.) and Jordan Clarkson as my vets," he said. "I was kind of shy back then. I know the ropes a little more now. I've been around the league a little bit now. It's cool being one of the older guys in the locker room and being a leader. I'm super happy." The Cavs added two veteran players in the offseason in guard Lonzo Ball and forward/center Nance. "(Ball is) another guard who can handle the ball," Garland said. "He's very disruptive defensively. He knows where guys are going to be before the play even starts. That's super cool. He's a high-IQ type of player." The same can be said of Nance, who played parts of four seasons in Cleveland. "It's always fun having Larry back," Garland said. "That's my locker buddy from my rookie year. So, now we're locker buddies again. It's super cool to have it come full circle like that. His leadership and knowledge in the locker room are really going to help us a lot." Garland, who averaged 20.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and a team-high 6.7 assists last season, knows that expectations are almost through the roof in 2025-26. "Everybody in the locker room knows it's on us, the players," he said. "We're trying to build that camaraderie and get everybody (on the same page)." If he's not ready for the start of the regular season Oct. 22 in New York, the Cavs will likely shift Donovan Mitchell over to point guard and start Sam Merrill at shooting guard. Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said Garland had a "really good offseason." "He focused on the things we've been talking about for a long time with him — weight room, strength," he said. "He couldn't touch a basketball for a month. "He's stronger, more stout. His rehab has gone well. His mental is in the right place. The toe looks good. He's going to be limited in training camp. We're slowly ramping him up from a conditioning standpoint." Contact Bob Finnan at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.