3 Cleveland Cavaliers helped by the arrival of wing Max Strus

The Cleveland Cavaliers young core is in an interesting spot. Prior to trading for Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley clearly were developing rapidly with Jarrett Allen as a steady contributor.

In Cleveland’s situation, every new player does more than broadly improving or hurting the team’s trajectory. Each developing talent has an opportunity to learn from their new teammate and develop new skills based on their fit with one another.

As free agency approached its official start, the Cavaliers were in rumors for a sign-and-trade with the Miami Heat centered around Max Strus. With it finally completed, with the San Antonio Spurs in the deal as well, the Cavs have added another reliable shooter and retained Caris LeVert to start the summer.

Max Strus is joining the Cleveland Cavaliers

Though Cleveland will miss Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens and their contributions to the city, Strus will provide every member of the Cavaliers franchise a running mate that can complement their individual skills.

Primarily, Strus will be expected to serve as Cleveland’s starting small forward on opening night. His recent run to the NBA Finals as the starting three in Miami proved his worth in the league in that role. While his performance in those five games exposed some of his flaws, Strus will still offer a number of positives to Cleveland.

There are three members of the Cavaliers organization that will be the most grateful for Strus in his first season with Cleveland. Here are those contributors, beginning in descending order in terms of Strus’ importance to them.

Cav No. 3: Evan Mobley

Cleveland’s 22-year-old unicorn forward Evan Mobley will see his game blossom next to Max Strus. In Miami, Strus played next to Bam Adebayo, one of the better passing big men in the Association.

There are plenty of avenues for Mobley’s growth to follow. In a positionless NBA, learning to orchestrate the offense as a 6-foot-11 big man makes the young stud deadly to any rival. Strus does not need the ball in his hands to operate effectively, using off-ball movement and fluid offensive schemes to get to his best spots on the floor.

By adding veteran sharpshooter Georges Niang as well, the duo of Strus and Niang offer Mobley two types of teammates he hasn’t had the chance to appreciate entirely. When the Cavs still had Kevin Love, Mobley was learning how to operate in the NBA at a more basic level. With his second campaign finished, Mobley can begin to form his playstyle.

With both forward spots seemingly able to shoot in certain lineups, Mobley will be placed into entirely new game plans, as a scorer, screener, playmaker, and dunker.

It is hard to overstate how much of an impact Mobley’s development could have on Cleveland’s future. With every signing or trade, it should be critical that Mobley’s fit next to the addition is taken into heavy consideration. Strus clearly fits the mold for Mobley.

Max’s benefit continues beyond Mobley. The face of Crunchland chips will also appreciate his new running mate.

Cav No. 2 helped most by Strus: Darius Garland

We have seen Darius Garland adapt and involve every teammate he has. Whether he’s throwing lobs to Mobley and Allen, sharing the ball-handling load with Mitchell or LeVert or launching a quick pass out of a layup to an open shooter, Garland’s offensive IQ continuously evolves with every passing season.

Garland’s creativity and selfless mentality solidify him as a Cavalier for as long as he wants to be one, regardless of what any outlandish trade speculation says. The Wine and Gold live in Garland’s soul.

By slotting Max Strus into the starting three spot, Garland has another teammate with offensive versatility and defensive productivity. In truth, Strus seems likely to be the best realistic wing option the Cavaliers could have found this offseason. With a 37.1 percent three-point accuracy over his career, Strus adds lethality to Cleveland’s perimeter attack.

Playing next to a shooter of Strus’ caliber is sure to put the smile that lights up Cleveland on Garland’s face every game.

Strus can also cut into an open lane, running past an opponent who lose their focus. Strus made 67.9 percent of his field goal attempts within three feet of the basket. Though Strus is only 6-foot-5, he has the ability to finish in deep off of a smart pass inside. Garland can make the most of this talent.

There is a myriad of opportunities for both Garland and Mobley provided by Strus, but one member of Cleveland benefits most with what Strus brings to the table.

J.B. Bickerstaff will benefit the most from Strus’ arrival

Every honest viewer of the Cavaliers failed postseason run saw one consistent, fatal flaw – a repetitive and stagnant offense. Some of that came from the inexperience of J.B. Bickerstaff as a head coach in the Playoffs. Some of that resulted from a glaring lack of depth across the board.

The Cavaliers had no excuse to lose in a gentleman’s sweep with homecourt advantage. As the leader of the team, much of that disappointment in the fanbase fell onto Bickerstaff.

When Koby Altman confirmed that Bickerstaff’s job was not in jeopardy in the wake of numerous high-profile head coaches being fired, Cleveland was split. In the end, it became clear that if Bickerstaff stayed, he had to make the most of the moves Cleveland made during the offseason.

With Strus being one of the newest on the Cavaliers roster, Bickerstaff now has the assets and players he needs to remind Altman why he’s here. There is no question that the team respects and loves Bickerstaff. Not a single Cavalier seemed to pin the blame of their failure on J.B. or the coaching staff in general. He has the loyalty of the locker room, and that has to stand for something.

Going into the next season, though, Bickerstaff absolutely must display a better and more assertive offensive mind. While Garland and Mitchell can be masterful in the high pick-and-roll set, the repetitive playbook allowed opponents to predict every move the Cavs made.

Max Strus changes that. Strus is a high-volume, accurate shooter and active off the ball. To place Strus on the perimeter to do nothing more than stand and hope he gets the ball would be a waste of the proven wing’s value.

And, there is no reason to expect that to happen.

Bickerstaff is the reason Garland exploded and earned his first (of hopefully many) All-Star appearances. The same goes for Jarrett Allen. As for Evan Mobley, Bickerstaff’s defensive intelligence maximized Mobley’s innate skills and elevated them to the point that Mobley earned a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team in only his second year – a feat that only the greats tend to achieve.

Although Cleveland’s recent disappointing season’s end still looms heavily over the city, the development of the many young prospects the Cavaliers have molded in recent years speaks volumes to Bickerstaff’s talents.

If he can continue this trend and improve himself, then Strus will fit in perfectly and be heavily appreciated by Cleveland’s main man.