It’s been a busy few days for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers added a few new faces and kept an old one since the NBA’s contract negotiation period began on Friday. They brought back guard Caris LeVert on a two-year, $32 million contract after he played in 74 games and started in 30 for Cleveland last season. It signed sharpshooting forward Georges Niang to a 3-year, $26 million contract after he spent two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cavaliers traded for Utah Jazz center Damian Jones and signed guard Damian Jones to a two-year, $5 million deal.
In arguably their biggest deal of the weekend, the Cavs brought in a former DePaul star guard Max Strus with a four-year, $63 million sign-and-trade. The Heat received a 2026 second-round pick. Forwards Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens were shipped off to the San Antonio Spurs with a second-round selection in 2030.
What grade should adding Max Strus to the squad receive?
Max Strus trade grade: B+
Getting rid of Stevens and Osman will be a tough pill to swallow.
Osman was among the last remaining players from the Cavs’ previous runs to the NBA Finals. He played in 404 games and started in 183 since he first started his Cleveland career in the 2017-18 season. Cavs head J.B. Bickerstaff and former Cleveland forward Kevin Love commented on Osman’s ability to play at his best when he “plays free” as the season went on.
“I’ve been on him about just playing free,” Love said, via Cleveland.com. “When he plays free and plays with joy, he’s so much better. He’s playing out in transition. He’s slashing to the cup. He hits tough shots. He hits open shots.
“When he’s playing free and having joy, it’s fun to watch. He’s like a whole different person and whole different player.”
San Antonio will be getting a tough, vocal leader off the Cavaliers’ bench. Cleveland had picked up his team option last month after he stood out as a hard-working option who puts in the extra effort needed to win during the regular season.
“He’s Mr. Everything,” Mitchell said of Stevens in November, via Cleveland.com. “He’s guarding. He’s running the floor. He’s making the extra effort. He’s holding us all accountable.”
But the Cavs needed a solidified starter at the small forward spot. And, if Strus can continue to be the player he was in Miami, he can be a solid option for Cleveland for the foreseeable future.
Strus played in 80 games and started in 33 for Miami last season. The 6-foot-5 guard built up his NBA career through a series of two-way contracts after he declared for the NBA Draft in 2018, eventually finding a home with the Heat after he signed a multi-year deal with Miami in 2021.
Strus did well at embodying the Heat’s culture. He showed toughness during his time at Miami, a time Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra highlighted in April.
“Like a lot of our guys,” Spoelstra said of Strus, via The South Florida Sun Sentinel, “he has that grit and that perseverance. His routine never changes, in terms of starting his shooting workouts. Whether we’re on the road, he always meets us there, gets in his routine before we arrive. After practice, before practice, before games, he just stays consistent all the way through.
“And that’s what you can commit to, not having a guarantee of any kind of results. But if you just continue to plug away, you stay with your process, eventually the floodgates can open, particularly if you just stay the course and have that kind of perseverance and grit.”
Strus has shot at a comfortable 37.1% from the 3-point line throughout his blossoming career in the NBA, peaking at the 41% he shot during the 2021-22 season. He hit four of his seven 3-point attempts against the Cavaliers in a March matchup at the Kaseya Center, taking confident pull-up shots from the wings and left corner as the Heat swung the ball to and across the perimeter.
The Cavs will have a crucial few days to fill out the last few spots on the roster before the end of free agency. Even if they don’t add anyone else, the Strus signing will be a welcomed one for a roster hoping to make an extended playoff run next season.
If Strus can work well with some of the Cavs’ new signings, he can help a Cleveland squad that shot 36.4% from 20-24 feet in the regular season, putting them at 24th in the NBA. Strus hit 42% of the 205 field goal attempts and 42.8% of the 201 total 3-point attempts he shot from that range.