Cavaliers rookie Dejuan Wagner's season has been cut short, the rookie requiring arthriscopic surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus, Bob Finnan of the Morning Journal is reporting.

Wagner, a 6-2 combo guard out of Memphis, has struggled since the Cavaliers moved him to point guard after he showed flashes of brilliance from the shooting guard position.  

According to Wagner he felt his knee twinge before the All-Star break but not willing to miss time off the court he did not tell anyone.  The Cavaliers found out about the problem while reviewing video tape.

''It's a partial tear,'' Cavs general manager Jim Paxson said. ''It's not something the doctors are overly concerned with. In the last month, he's showed that he's a pretty tough kid.''

''The coaches saw me limping while they were watching one of our games on tape,'' he said. ''Coach (Keith) Smart asked me what was wrong with my knee. When he watched me in the New Orleans game, he said I wasn't the same player.''

Wagner said he's played with pain his whole career and was willing to play through it.

''If it were up to me, I'd come back and play (after the surgery),'' he said.  The Cavaliers, however, view Wagner as an asset and will not risk bringing him back this season and doing further damage when the team has nothing to play for.

''It doesn't make sense,'' Paxson said. ''The season will end April 16. We're not going to push him to come back. He'll be able to start working out in May.''

According to Finnan the team will not place Wagner on the injured reserve nor will they sign another player.  League rules state that teams cannot go with 11-man rosters for more than two weeks -- the Cavaliers will have 10 -- which means the team will have until March 26th before they need to sign another player, a financial decision on the Cavaliers part.

''We have to manage the roster and the budget,'' Paxson said. ''The 10 guys in that room have to figure out how to get a few victories.''