Yahoo! Sports Senior NBA Reporter Jake Fischer reviewed a few wing targets the Cleveland Cavaliers could be eyeing free agency in a Wednesday article.
“At this juncture, Max Strus, a career 37.1% 3-point shooter over three seasons with Miami, appears headed out of South Beach on the open market,” Fischer wrote. “There are several teams often mentioned by league personnel as Strus suitors, from those with cap room like Detroit, Indiana and Orlando, to teams that have the full mid-level exception like Cleveland, and others that are working to get under the first tax apron and gain access to that $12.2 million salary slot.
“The Cavaliers are looking at all kinds of wing targets, sources said, from Strus to Kelly Oubre to Georges Niang. There appears to be enough of an interest in Strus around the NBA that league figures aren’t expecting the DePaul product to return to Miami, and Strus sounds likely to command above the full mid-level in average annual salary when everything’s said and done.”
Strus, a former two-way signee for the Chicago Bulls in 2019, averaged 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Miami Heat last season. He earned averages of 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game during the NBA playoffs, playing and starting in 23 games of a playoff run that saw Miami make it to the NBA Finals against Denver, according to ESPN.
Oubre, an eight-year NBA veteran with four different NBA franchises, averaged a career-high 20.3 points per game for the Charlotte Hornets during the 2022-23 season. He took third place on Charlotte’s roster in points per outing despite shooting at an inefficient 43.1% from the field and 31.9% from the 3-point line.
Niang hit 40.1% of his 3-point shots during his second season with the Philadelphia 76ers and his seventh in the NBA. He signed a two-year, $6.7 million contract in 2021 after spending four seasons with the Utah Jazz.