Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers found an unforeseen strength en route to their Eastern Conference-leading 64-18 record: 3-point shooting. The Cavaliers were second in the entire league in both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage with 1,303 and 38.3 percent, respectively.
However, so far this year, Cleveland has not found nearly as much success from behind the arc. While the team still ranks in the top five in 3s made (377), the percentage has plummeted to 34.3 percent, only good for 22nd.
So, the Cavaliers are attempting a similar amount of 3s as last year, and they're just not making them at the same rate. On the 2024-25 team, Cleveland's top five leaders in 3-pointers made were Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Max Strus, Sam Merrill and Ty Jerome.
In 2025-26, Strus hasn't seen the court yet. Merrill and Garland have been in and out of the lineup with injuries. Jerome isn't on the team anymore.
Mitchell has carried a huge load on offense and leads the whole league in both 3-pointers made and attempted, but he needs help on that front in a major way. With Merrill and Strus both on the doorstep of making their respective returns, that help could not come at a better time.
Max Strus is ready for a major offensive role in Cleveland
It's hard to tell when exactly Strus will return to action after his offseason foot surgery, but when he does it will be a welcome sight for a team that desperately needs to right its shooting woes.
Throughout his career, Strus made himself in the league by becoming a maestro at playing off the ball on offense. He's a career 36.8 percent 3-point shooter and is excellent running off screens while attacking closeouts and making plays for his teammates.
With Mitchell, Garland, and Evan Mobley tasked with the brunt of the offensive load, Strus is able to get clean looks while not requiring the ball in his hands. Despite being fourth on the team in 3s made in just 50 games, he was 11th (excluding players who appeared in under 20 games) in usage (14.7 percent).
At the same time, Strus was sixth in assist rate. That means he is more than capable of making good decisions when he does have the ball.
Sam Merrill has taken a leap for the Cavaliers when he's been healthy
To begin this season, Merrill went on an absolute tear, averaging 17.3 points per game on 51.4 (!) percent from 3 in the month of October. Oh, and he was doing this on just under nine 3-pointers attempted per game. To put it plainly, Merrill was absurd.
While he cooled down a bit in November, he was still an extremely productive role player until he suffered a hand injury on Nov. 17. He hasn't come back since. In the 12 games that Merrill has played, the Cavaliers put together a 9-3 record. In the games he's been out, Cleveland has gone 5-8.
Like Strus, Merrill brings an immense amount of gravity to the floor, spacing the court so Mitchell and Garland have more pronounced driving lanes. Merrill has a 17.6 percent usage rate with an incredibly small turnover rate (7.5 percent), so he really isn't required to do anything except come off screens and shoot.
Cleveland's other wings, Jaylon Tyson and De'Andre Hunter, both profile differently than Strus and Merrill. They both shouldn't have a problem with finding time on the court.
Only Tyrese Proctor offers the Cavaliers a similar style of wing, but he hasn't exactly panned out perfectly thus far. Proctor would benefit from being behind Strus and Merrill on the depth chart for the time being.
It will be interesting to see how Kenny Atkinson puts together his lineups when Strus and Merrill do return to the fold. Hunter has been traditionally favored pretty heavily.
The problem is he has struggled mightily recently. Hunter has been shooting a measly 36.2 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from deep in his last five games. It may also serve him best to see a reduced role.
On the flip side of the coin, Tyson has been a pleasant surprise, averaging 13.0 points per game and 46.7 percent from 3 on 4.6 attempts per game. In terms of development, it would make a lot of sense for Tyson to continue to get the bulk of the minutes on the wing given his youth and long-term upside.
When everyone is back and healthy, the Cavaliers have an interesting choice to make on who should join the foursome of Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Jarrett Allen as the fifth starter.
Strus held the position for much of the last two years. Tyson has the upside and has been very good recently. Merrill was great as a starter earlier in the year. Hunter was brought in last season to presumably take a role of that caliber.
At the end of the day, though, whether or not either of Strus or Merrill starts doesn't necessarily matter all too much in the grand scheme of things. Their value as floor-spacing shooters will be priceless if the Cavaliers want to continue shooting 3s at the current rate that they are taking them. In that sense, their return cannot come any quicker.