The Cleveland Cavaliers have been missing an underrated piece all season long in Max Strus, the team’s starting small forward. Strus underwent surgery prior to the start of the 2025-26 campaign and has proceeded to miss the Cavs’ first 67 games.
But on Sunday night, despite Cleveland’s disappointing 130-120 defeat to the Dallas Mavericks, Strus finally made his return and was a bright spot for the team — scoring 24 points on 7-9 shooting from the field (6-7 from deep) and hauling in eight rebounds for good measure.
Strus was so good for the Cavs in his season debut that even Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was thoroughly impressed by his performance.
“Ooh, he was good tonight. Six for seven from 3. Being out as long as he was, I think we all thought he might be a little rusty…He looked really good. He looked like he’d been playing all season,” Kidd said of Strus, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
While the Cavs have a few kinks to iron out, the return of Strus should at least give Cleveland a better sense of rotation balance. Strus is a legitimate wing and has more size than Sam Merrill, and him hitting the ground running should give head coach Kenny Atkinson loads of confidence in his ability to be a contributor for the looming stretch run.
Cavs are missing Jarrett Allen dearly
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The Cavs, after running hot in the immediate aftermath of acquiring James Harden, have not managed to maintain that same blistering pace. Nonetheless, one key piece has been missing for Cleveland over the past few games — with Jarrett Allen missing the past five games for the team.
Harden is at his best when he works with a roll man like Allen, and the Cavs were humming when the big man hit his stride. Cleveland will be hoping that his knee issues don’t persist and that he gets healthy soon.