When watching the Cleveland Cavaliers struggle in the first round of the playoffs in a five-game series loss to the New York Knicks, everybody recognized one of the biggest needs for Cleveland for next season is deep shooting.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell had far from great series’ individually against New York, but it was apparent that outside of them, there lacked a level of shooting consistency. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen being Cleveland’s frontcourt duo for much of those games didn’t aid the team from a horizontal shooting standpoint, of course.
Having said that, it’s evident the Cavaliers have to address their shooting needs to help out their quartet of Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen. Cleveland’s small forward/wing outlook has to have more legitimacy next season, and one would assume Cleveland does find ways to bring in players there via free agency and/or trade.
Names such as Royce O’Neale, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dorian Finney-Smith, Joe Ingles and Terrence Ross, among others, have been linked to the Cavs as possible offseason targets, and all of those players could be very useful for Cleveland.
A player who definitely would fit the mold of an impact shooter, to that point, is still playing, and that’s Max Strus of the Miami Heat, who are trailing the Denver Nuggets 2-1 in the 2023 NBA Finals.
Strus is just the kind of knockdown shooter the Cavs could absolutely use moving forward.
Strus has been another wing shooter seemingly linked as a potential offseason target for Cleveland. Further, he was also one of five shooters recently mentioned by reporter Kelsey Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) as targets Cleveland could pursue in free agency via their $12.2 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception.
As he’s had more chances the past two seasons, he’s made his presence felt in a sizeable way.
You can’t leave Strus unattended
In the past two seasons, Strus has had 11.5 points and 10.6 points per contest in 28.4 and 23.3 minutes per contest. He’s connected on 35.0 percent and previously 41.0 percent of his three-point attempts in those seasons.
Strus is a player who has established himself as a knockdown shooter, though, despite his decrease in deep shooting traditional splits this season. His volume in the past two seasons from three-point range has been a healthy 7.0 and 6.5 attempts per game as well, which is something to keep in mind, along with his shooting reputation.
In the past two regular seasons, Strus has placed in the 83rd and 94th percentile in spot-up scoring situations, per Synergy Sports. That’s been on a frequency of 39.2 and 33.0 percent.
Strus has made his imprint in numerous playoff games during the Heat’s improbable run to the NBA Finals as an eight seed as well, and despite some variance from three, has been a key on-ball option, too, as Russo pointed out.
He’s been off in two of the three games thus far against Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and the heavily-favored Nuggets, who were the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, but Strus’ shooting prowess has been on display often in recent seasons with Miami.
That skill set from Strus has helped space the floor for Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and others. And while it’s been tough at times for the Heat without Tyler Herro in this playoff run due to injury, Strus and other fellow originally undrafted players Duncan Robinson, Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent have picked up the slack.
But, it’s not simply the horizontal spacing element with Strus, in this case, that would make him such an alluring free agency target for Cleveland.
As Russo expressed, Strus is such an off-screen/movement shooting weapon for Miami, and with the Cavaliers, he could work so well in handoff games with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Strus has proven himself to be deadly benefiting from flares, can make shots coming off pindowns, and has excellent awareness as a relocating and transition shooter.
He has shown some pick-and-pop capabilities at times with the Heat as well, and could potentially function occasionally in that aspect with the likes of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell with the Cavs in stretches.
Strus will likely be a hot commodity, and is set for a raise, however, the Cavs should clearly covet him
Of course, given what he’s shown in recent seasons with more opportunities, Strus, who is in the second year of two-year, $3.4 million deal with Miami, will have his share of suitors this offseason with him as an unrestricted free agent, seemingly.
He’s set for a considerable raise for his next contract, one would imagine, but for the Cavs, allocating a good portion of their MLE for a knockdown shooter like Strus is something they should consider via two or three-year deal from there.
Granted, Strus is not known for his defense, and him being 6-foot-5 and somewhat limited on-ball defensively has to be factored into him as a possible signing. With Garland and Mitchell in mind within that context, too, one questioning how Strus could be involved defensively is a reasonable concern.
All things considered, though, Cleveland has to improve their shooting and spacing around Garland, Mitchell and Mobley, and movement shooters, especially, are invaluable. Cleveland could feature varying lineups with Strus involved to balance things out from a two-way perspective, too.
Strus, who will 28 next season, is a heatcheck-level shooter, and while he could end up returning to Miami or sign elsewhere, him as a Cavaliers target wouldn’t seem so off-base.
Shooters like Strus would play off the Cavs stars incredibly well, and as originally a player on a two-way deal, Strus could be a great culture and locker room piece in coming years for the Wine and Gold. That’d be similar to how Dean Wade and Lamar Stevens have found their niche with the Cavaliers, to some degree, and Strus’ development in Miami’s esteemed culture could be beneficial for him as a potential signing for Cleveland.