{"id":180917,"date":"2026-03-12T06:49:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=180917"},"modified":"2026-03-12T17:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T21:45:16","slug":"veteran-forward-close-to-making-season-debut-how-does-his-addition-affect-the-cavaliers-rotation-and-prospectus-down-the-stretch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/03\/12\/veteran-forward-close-to-making-season-debut-how-does-his-addition-affect-the-cavaliers-rotation-and-prospectus-down-the-stretch\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Forward Close To Making Season Debut, How Does His Addition Affect The Cavaliers Rotation and Prospectus Down The Stretch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> made two splashy moves at the trade deadline. But could the key trade have been the one they didn’t make?<\/p>\n

Veteran Forward Close To Making Season Debut, How Does His Addition Affect The Cavaliers’ Rotation, and Prospectus Down The Stretch<\/h2>\n

Cleveland entered the 2025-26 campaign with high expectations after posting the second-most wins in franchise history with 66 victories and returning the same core. However, the Cavaliers struggled with injuries and inconsistent play early on. The Cavs were just 17-16 after falling to the New York Knicks<\/a> and Houston Rockets<\/a> around Christmas.<\/p>\n

The Cavaliers<\/a> showed improvement in play in January, winning 13 of 18 games. But the Cavs still had only the 11th-best record in the league at 30-21 and a +3.1 scoring margin on February 1. And there was talk that the Cavs could reduce their NBA-high payroll by trading some veteran players, such as Jarrett Allen<\/a>, Darius Garland<\/a>, Max Strus<\/a>, and De’Andre Hunter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cleveland ultimately accomplished both of its goals at the trade deadline. The Cavaliers slashed their tax bill for this season and also improved their team by trading Garland and Hunter for Keon Ellis<\/a>, James Harden<\/a>, and Dennis Schroder.<\/a> With the trades, the Cavs got the 3-and-D wing they wanted, with Strus sidelined, in Ellis. They also got a bigger man in the backcourt with Harden and a reliable backup point guard in Schroder.<\/p>\n

Since the trade deadline, Cleveland has the ninth-best record at 9-5 with a +5.2 scoring margin. The Cavs have been the fifth-most efficient offense, averaging 116.1 points per 100 possessions, and have improved defensively.\u00a0 Donovan Mitchell<\/a>, who is having an outstanding season, has been much more efficient and better defensively since the trade deadline. Furthermore, Allen has played the best ball of the season — averaging nearly 20 points and 10 boards. Evan Mobley<\/a>, Harden, Ellis, Schroder, Dean Wade<\/a>, Sam Merrill<\/a>, and Jaylon Tyson<\/a> have played well.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 \u00a0Mike Watters\u00a0<\/span>Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Max Strus Is Close To Making Season Debut<\/h3>\n

Cleveland is sitting comfortably in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 40-26 record. The Cavaliers are also very much in striking distance of earning a top-three seed and possibly being a two-seed. They are 1.5 games back of New York<\/a> and 3.5 behind Boston<\/a> after falling to Orlando 128-122.<\/p>\n

Before last night’s game, the Cavaliers got some good news on the injury front. According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com<\/a>, Strus is currently on assignment with the G-League<\/a> Cleveland Charge.<\/p>\n

“As the <\/span>#Cavs<\/a><\/span> are currently on this two-game road trip, injured Max Strus is back in Cleveland, on assignment with the Charge for the next few days, putting the finishing touches (he and the team hope) on this return-to-play process,” Fedor tweeted yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Strus, who is still recovering from August foot surgery, practiced with the Charge for the second time in three days. Strus is expected to practice with the Charge today, and perhaps on Friday, Fedor added. He has been doing on-court activities since the beginning of the month. However, he will have to avoid setbacks and have a doctor’s appointment before being ultimately cleared.<\/p>\n

While it is unlikely to happen, it does make sense for Strus to get some run with the Charge when they host the Santa Cruz Warriors on Friday and Saturday night. Even if Strus doesn’t play more than five minutes a game with the Charge, he would get the juices flowing and start getting the rust off.<\/p>\n

“While the organization has not yet identified a potential debut date and there has been no official change in his playing status,” Fedor remarked. “Strus\u2019 participation with the Charge marks a critical step in his recovery, allowing him to increase exertion, build stamina, take contact and test his surgically repaired foot in a controlled environment during a congested stretch of the NBA schedule that limits the Cavaliers\u2019 practice days.”<\/span><\/p>\n

If everything goes well,\u00a0 Strus could make his season debut on Sunday against Dallas. The 29-year-old is expected to be on a minutes restriction when he does return.<\/p>\n

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What Does Max Strus Bring To This Cavaliers Team and His Role?<\/h3>\n

Strus has started 107 of his 120 appearances for the Cavs. The 6-5 combo wing will come off the bench this year.<\/p>\n

Cleveland has one of the best starting units in the NBA this year. But the Cavaliers’ bench has been below average despite being fairly deep.\u00a0 A big reason is that the Cavs’ reserves have struggled shooting the ball, particularly after the All-Star break.<\/a><\/p>\n

Strus is known for his shooting gravity, knocking down 2.3 treys per game at a 37% clip throughout his career, and his defensive versatility. He is capable of guarding four positions, though he is best suited to play the 2 or 3, and is an excellent cutter. His toughness allows the Cavs\u00a0to play smaller, faster lineups.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe adds another connector. Him and Sam [Merrill] are that connector piece and at an elite level because they got the skill and then they have the know-how, IQ,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson<\/a> said about what Strus brings. “I\u2019d say the other area where we have [been] missing is his screening ability … Max can get that elite defender off our elite ball handlers, and then we get all the grit and the winning plays and big shots and all that. It\u2019s exciting what that can look like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cavaliers Projected Rotation Going Forward<\/h4>\n

Strus’ return to action projects to mean fewer minutes for Tyson and perhaps Wade. Once the postseason rolls around, as long as Strus shows he has returned to form, Atkinson will likely use a nine-man rotation.<\/p>\n

Strus is not the only Cavalier sidelined due to injury. Allen has missed three straight games with a knee injury, though he could return against Dallas<\/a> on Friday. Rookie Tyrese Procto<\/a>r has also sat out the last three contests with a right quadriceps strain.<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting Lineup<\/h5>\n

PG: James Harden<\/p>\n

SG: Donovan Mitchell<\/p>\n

SF: Sam Merrill<\/p>\n

PF: Evan Mobley<\/p>\n

C: Jarrett Allen<\/p>\n

Reserves:<\/p>\n

6th man: Keon Ellis<\/p>\n

7th: Dean Wade<\/p>\n

8th:\u00a0 Max Strus<\/p>\n

9th: Dennis Schroder<\/p>\n

10th: Jaylon Tyson or Thomas Bryant<\/a>.\u00a0 Tyson and Bryant will likely see playoff minutes in specific situations: foul trouble, injuries, or matchups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cleveland Cavaliers made two splashy moves at the trade deadline. But could the key trade have been the one they didn’t make? Veteran Forward Close To Making Season Debut, How Does His Addition Affect The Cavaliers’ Rotation, and Prospectus Down The Stretch Cleveland entered the 2025-26 campaign with high expectations after posting the second-most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":181317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,9,2,62,3,17],"tags":[900,3966,444,1043,1478,4745,596],"class_list":["post-180917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-cavaliers","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","category-magic","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-evan-mobley","tag-james-harden","tag-jarrett-allen","tag-max-strus","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-playoffs"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180917"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181388,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180917\/revisions\/181388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}