The Cleveland Cavaliers won’t have forward Max Strus for the first few months of the 2025-26 season, and All-Star guard Darius Garland will be limited to start training camp, as well.
The updates came from Cavaliers general manager Koby Altman in a press conference ahead of the team’s training camp in Sarasota, Fla.
Strus suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot during a summer workout and underwent surgery last month. The team said at the time that Strus could miss three to four months, which Altman confirmed Tuesday.
“He’ll still come down to Sarasota with us, and there will probably be a better update after we spend some time with him there,” Altman told reporters.
Garland was hobbled by a big toe injury in the playoffs and underwent surgery in early June. Cleveland said at the time he would be sidelined for four to five months but also that he’d “resume basketball activities by the start of training camp.”
Altman confirmed that Garland is back on the court and will participate in “limited team activities” to open camp, but he did not put a timetable on the point guard’s return. Cleveland.com later reported that Garland may miss the first 10-15 games of the regular season.
“He had a really good offseason, only because he focused on the things that we’ve been talking about for a long time with him, which is weight room strength,” Altman said. “Because he couldn’t touch a basketball for a month, he had to just lift and so he’s stronger, he’s more stout. His mental was in the right place.
“I think for him, the biggest thing is how do we start to ramp him up from a conditioning standpoint? And that’s not something that can happen in two weeks.”
Garland, 25, averaged 20.6 points, 6.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals and shot 40.1 percent on 3-pointers across 75 games for Cleveland last year. Strus, 29, posted 9.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 38.6 percent from deep in 50 games after missing the first two months of the season with a sprained ankle.
Cleveland brought in some reinforcements Tuesday. Free agent center Thomas Bryant, 28, signed a one-year deal, according to his agency on social media. And the Cavs signed 24-year-old guard Killian Hayes, according to Hoops Hype.
As a member of the Pacers last season, Bryant was pesky in the Eastern Conference semifinals as Indiana upset the top-seeded Cavaliers. In five games, Bryant averaged 3.6 points and 1.8 rebounds over 10.2 minutes per game.
In his career, Bryant is averaging 8.9 points and 5.1 rebounds over 333 career games (146 starts). In 66 games (eight starts) last season with the Heat and Pacers, Bryant averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds.
Hayes was the No. 7 overall pick of the 2020 draft by Detroit and appeared in just six games for the Brooklyn Nets in 2024-25. In 216 games (150 starts) for the Pistons (2020-24) and Nets, he has averaged 8.1 points, 5.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds per contest.
–Field Level Media
