In a subscriber-only mailbag for Cleveland.com, Chris Fedor states that Max Strus was slated to be the Cavaliers‘ starting small forward this fall prior to suffering a Jones fracture in his left foot last week. The injury required surgery and will sideline Strus for multiple months.
Fedor cautions that while the team gave a three-to-four month timeline for Strus to return to basketball activities, his actual absence will likely extend beyond that period. As Fedor observes, Jones fractures can be tricky and slow to heal, plus the Cavaliers typically take a cautious approach to injuries — it’s possible Strus might end up missing about half of the season.
Here’s more on the Cavaliers:
- Strus isn’t the only starter likely to be out to open 2025/26, Fedor notes, as All-Star point guard Darius Garland is still recovering from offseason toe surgery after being hobbled by the injury in the postseason. Sam Merrill, who re-signed with the Cavs on a four-year, $38MM deal this summer, is the “most obvious” player who needs to step up with Garland and Strus out, according to Fedor, who says the former second-round pick (60th overall in 2020) will likely be a replacement starter.
- It will take a team effort to cover for Strus and Garland during their absences. Veteran forward Dean Wade and second-year guard Jaylon Tyson are among the other players who should get more opportunities, Fedor writes, with Wade perhaps slotting in as the fifth starter. Head coach Kenny Atkinson may prefer to have De’Andre Hunter in a sixth man role to have more scoring punch off the bench, Fedor adds.
- According to Fedor, Tyson may be the biggest X-factor for the rotation, because the team had already planned him give him more run prior to Strus’ injury. The 2024 first-round pick (20th overall) will have a real chance to carve out minutes if he plays well, as Atkinson is high on him and is curious to see how he’ll mesh with the “core four” of Donovan Mitchell, Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen once Garland returns.
- Offseason trade acquisition Lonzo Ball is another player who will fit into the rotation, Fedor writes. However, it remains to be seen how active the 27-year-old guard will be. After missing two-plus years with a knee injury, Ball played surprisingly well in his return to action in ’24/25, but he was limited to just 35 games due to multiple wrist injuries.
I would much rather start Hunter than Strus. Strus would be a good sixth man
Everybody gets injured. Tatum is out for a whole season. So is Halliburton. Almost half the Cavaliers missed large amounts of time last year. There’s nothing different about Lonzo. No reason to think that Lonzo can’t play a whole season. He had a small wrist injury in Chicago last year, and since the Bulls weren’t going anywhere they just kept him out to finish the season.
My prediction is he will have the best season of his career!!
Lonzo has played 60 plus games only once in his career. Unless his playing time is going to be severely limited. Chances are he’s going to be hurt again.
And it looks like he forgot how to shoot 3’s again. Which makes him pretty useless.
1. Lonzo’s knee injury is the same injury since his rookie year with the Lakers where he had that “torn meniscus.” It’s a mystery injury that followed him to the Pelicans and the Bulls. No one was able to diagnose this properly until after 2 surgeries with the Bulls. The 3rd surgery identified the issue. So the “injury” is the same injury that plagued him from the Lakers to the Pelicans. Has it been fully resolved? That’s the question.
If Tatum comes back from a torn achilles and it cause him pain for the next year and he misses games is that considered “injury prone” or a recovery from the same injury? That’s not injury prone. That’s still recovering from the same injury.
2. Did you not see he had a 2nd degree sprain to his shooting hand that impacted his 3 point shooting this past year? Before that sprain, which was the 4th game into the season, he was shooting in the 40% range which is how he had been trending the past few years. So to say his shooting got worse is a misnomer based on him shooting with a wrist sprain on his shooting hand.
3. Lonzo’s problem is he takes risk on defense to cover for everyone who doesn’t play defense. That wrist sprain came from diving for a loose ball. See when you do the dirty work that happens. It happened for Caruso too. And that’s why you have to managed these players for the long haul.
Better athletes today… Yeah okay haha
It could work out for them if they’re all healthy at the end of the season. But they could use a guard with some height, as the Mitchell/Garland backcourt is simply too small for a Finals team.
Russell Westbrook is still out there. Might still have some gas in the tank.
Ball stats last year were decent for his mins. All he has to do is give them 16-18 mins a game. His shooting splits were excellent last year. He has had enough time to heal. I know he is not what he used to be. Issue is does he know that. Cavs just need solid backup mins. He does that he will be a valuable piece. Like Livingston was for Warriors. Playing for a chip should be motivation enough. To get him to play the right way. He has always been an IQ player. That’s something you never lose.
Sean Livingston won his championships with the Warriors in his 30’s. Zo is 27 so I don’t think he see his issue as a “does he know that.” Most younger players coming off injury at a young age tend to believe the opportunity to get better is there. Now if you look at the aging player, over 30, they may see an injury as a major setback or a “I can’t get better than before.” Klay tore his achilles and a torn ACL at the same time, at age 30, and even he believed he could come back from those injuries. Durant had his torn achilles at age 30 and he recovered. The problem with Zo is being off 2 years didn’t allow him sufficient games to even know his capabilities at age 25 when he returned. He will not know that until he get his game legs back, which you can’t do with 30 games.