According to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon, the Cleveland Cavaliers may be forced into a situation where they are obligated to re-sign Ty Jerome due to the latest Darius Garland news.

On Monday, fans learned of Garland’s toe surgery that will require him to be out four-to-five months. This will see him miss the beginning of the regular season.

With no Garland, they’ll be without their top point guard. If Jerome leaves in free agency, then they’ll be without their second-best point guard. Overall, this is something Cleveland doesn’t want to have happen.

Vardon says the Cavaliers may feel pressured into giving him a considerable contract to have him stay and help lead the offense in the absence of Garland. There is also sense where they must do it following the outstanding season he is coming off of.

Jerome was a critical piece to their roster, as he was one of their top facilitating play-makers and one of the best sixth men in the league. Losing a player like him would instantly hurt Cleveland.

Despite the team owning his Early Bird rights, it will still cost Cleveland a significant chunk of change with them heading into the Second Apron trenches. The extensions of Evan Mobley and Donovan Mitchell both kick into effect next season.

What gets crazier is knowing just those two represent 30% of their cap space. If they re-sign Jerome to a solid multi-year deal, then they’ll be well beyond the second-apron threshold.

For them to feel some relief, the Cavaliers would need to salary-shedding moves through releasing or trading players.

Currently, Jerome is attracting his own market as one of the top players eligible to be signed in free agency. Teams like the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Orlando Magic have been reportedly interested in signing the 27-year-old.

According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, the Cleveland Cavaliers are slowly inching towards the possibility of trading away cornerstone piece Darius Garland.

Not only have they shown interest, but Windhorst believes Cleveland begun trade talks with teams who have interest in the talented guard.

For the past year and a half, Cleveland have been rumored to want to trade away Garland. However, it was constantly shot down by general manager Koby Altman.

Despite constantly shooting it down, it appears this offseason may be the time where they become more open-minded and actively shop him to better the organization.

An additional sidenote relating to the news, Windhorst has stressed the fact that the 25-year-old does not want to leave and is currently loving his role within the Cavaliers. If he were to be traded, this would entirely fall upon the organization’s motives and not the players.

According to Chris Fedor, the Cleveland Cavaliers would love to re-sign Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill, two key players during their regular season run, but teams could have the advantage of outbidding Cleveland.

Due to both players being able to earn larger contracts this offseason, Cleveland will be in a tough situation of how they’ll be able to structure contracts to satisfy both their financial situation and the player’s worth.

Both Merrill and Jerome were signed to contracts near the veteran minimum this past season, which won’t be the case heading into the new season. Merrill could look to make more than league minimum salary for the first time in his career, plus see Jerome have a larger role with a larger paycheck.

It has been well documented how teams are beginning to show real interest in one of the league’s best sixth men.

Ultimately, this all comes down to how much further front office leader Koby Altman wants to go into the second apron for the likes of their two bench role players. Attempting to sign both will be seen as an aggressive move, as it will push them further into the tax.

This could lead the Cavaliers to picking between Merill, Jerome, or possibly losing the bidding war on both players.