The Cleveland Cavaliers are waiting on baited breath for the return of sharpshooting forward, Max Strus. Strus, who's been out since the offseason with a Jones fracture in his foot, is viewed by many as the team's defacto 'big move' at mid-season. His return is being likended to other teams making a trade for a player to bolster their squad. Not an unfair comparision, he's a 36.8% three-point shooter, and his return to the lineup for the Cavs should help bolster a club who ranks in the bottom of the NBA in three-point shooting accuracy.
Since the Cavs have the highest payroll in the NBA and are the only team in the second-arpon of the league, this is the best they can hope for. Being in the second apron makes trading players or trading for players significantly harder as any player the Cavs acquire has to match or be less than the player the Cavs are trading away. This makes any mid-season trade bringing in reenforcements a bit unrelasitic.
So the return of Strus has become many people's "mid-season move"that the Cavs will make. Except, Strus isn't back yet. In fact, his timetable for a return is still unknown. It could be in January, February or...not at all this season. In fact, there are some worried that even if Strus returns this season, he won't return to being the same player he once was.
Speaking on the Wine and Gold podcast, Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor spoke about the perception of Strus' future with the club once he's healthy.
“I think Kenny is finally admitting and I think other people inside the organization are admitting, ‘We don’t know if we’re going to get the Max Strus that we’ve gotten in the past," Fedor said.
This isn't an easy injury to come back from. It's an injury that cost Zion Williamson an entire season during the 2021-2022 campaign. Strus may be as unlucky. The injury he suffered is common but hard to return from in a quick manner. A major reason as to why, according to the Cleveland Clinic website, is that the bones don't really heal as they're supposed to. If his foot does heal correctly, you're now at a much higher risk of suffering the same injury again down the line.
By all accounts, it sounds as though Strus may not be ready and back to 'normal' until closer to the end of the regular season, something Fedor himself echoes on the podcast. If that's the case, then the idea of Stus elevating the team to any real level above where they're currently at is a pipe dream. At least as far as any immediate impact goes.
- Giannis clears up his trade request rumors
- LeBron is breaking the NBA's aging curve
- Wemby can break a Guinness World Record
- Jazz 1st-round pick had worst plus-minus in NBA history
- Tyler Herro made NBA 3-point history one game faster than Steph Curry
- Craig Porter Jr. Keeping LeBron company in Cavs history