The Cleveland Cavaliers have played the entire season without veteran wing Max Strus, but he is on the cusp of a return -- not on Friday night as incorrectly reported by some outlets, but likely in the next couple of games.
That will mean the Cavaliers' starting lineup is whole for the first time, and boosts the impact that starting group can have. At the same time, however, it means fitting Strus into a rotation that has been excellent in his absence.
Last season, Max Strus averaged 32 minutes per game for the Cavaliers. If he plays anything close to that upon his return, that's a lot of playing time he is going to wrest right out of the hands of other players.
Unfortunately for head coach Kenny Atkinson, those other players are all deserving of playing time, and in fact have been key pieces of a team that is leading the NBA right now.
No. 1: Georges Niang
Only two Cleveland Cavaliers players have appeared in all 25 games this season: one is Jarrett Allen, and the other is Georges Niang. That streak could come to an end once Max Strus returns to the lineup.
Strus and Niang theoretically do not play the same position, so it may seem strange that the two would be closely linked. Yet they do serve similar purposes in the offense, spacing the court and moving off-ball to position themselves in the seams that open up as defenses rotate to take away shot opportunities from the team's stars.
Strus returning and starting at small forward means that Dean Wade won't be needed at the 3 and can slide back to playing all of his minutes at his natural power forward position (and perhaps even as a small-ball 5 in short stints). With Evan Mobley starting at the 4 and Wade backing him up, the minutes in the rotation for Niang begin to disappear quickly.
Niang's floor-spacing ability is valuable, and he may pop into a few games because of it, but with Strus, Wade, LeVert and Ty Jerome all capable shooters and even Isaac Okoro nailing his shots, the need for every single shooter to be in the rotation is reduced. That could mean Niang is bumped completely out of the full-strength rotation.
No. 2: Jaylon Tyson
The first-round rookie Jaylon Tyson did not start the season in the rotation, but in most games he now sees his way onto the court for a small role as the backup small forward. He played his first non-garbage-time minutes when he stepped into the starting lineup during a short-handed night and absolutely dominated the New Orleans Pelicans, putting up 16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and a pair of steals.
That has earned him a small spot in the rotation in the games since, playing all but one game from that point on. That has largely been made possible as first Dean Wade and then Isaac Okoro have missed time. With Max Strus returning to start at small forward, those minutes will disappear for Tyson.
The Cavaliers will be at their best when Tyson is contributing in big moments, but that may not come this season, and that's a fine outcome for the rookie as he continues to develop.
No. 3: Sam Merrill
Sam Merrill has been something of a lifeline for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season. No one else on the team has his impact as an off-ball player, a sharpshooting wing who can fly around screens and suck the eyes and balance of defenders as he races around the court. He is a movement shooter in the best sense of the word, and the Cavs have benefited greatly from having him on the court, even if his shot hasn't gone down at an elite level this season.
Max Strus can come back and fill that role as well; he is not as accurate a shooter historically as Merrill, but he provides many of the same elements as a high-volume shooter willing to move off-ball and force defenses to react.
To find 32 minutes for Strus, you have to carve it out somewhere, and it's very likely that Merrill is out of the rotation entirely on some nights. Other nights his shooting will be needed and he will eat into the minutes of Ty Jerome or Isaac Okoro, but it's likely that in the highest-pressure games this team is really going all-out to win, the rotation may be reduced even further and Merrill now becomes the 10th-man on the outside looking in.
The return of Max Strus is a positive for the Cavaliers, but it may not feel like one to these three players as they see their roles reduced or even removed because of his return.