Max Strus shows he’s still the ultimate X-Factor

Strus is more important than you realize.

It’s easy to forget about Max Strus. His nonchalant, sometimes passive-aggressive demeanor doesn’t land him in the spotlight very often. He’s not stuffing the stat sheet or scoring 20+ points per game. But the Cleveland Cavaliers rely on Strus for much more than he ever gets credit for.

Strus has proven to be more than a sharpshooter. In fact, advertising Strus as an answer to Cleveland’s spacing issues in 2023 might have been a mistake altogether. Strus has never been a three-point specialist. The Cavs have found out just how impactful Strus can be on both ends of the floor.

You might not notice it throughout the regular season. Certain developments like Darius Garland’s comeback season, Ty Jerome’s breakout or Evan Mobley’s All-NBA leap have taken center stage. But Strus has quietly remained one of Cleveland’s biggest swing factors. His role as the glue guy is hard to quantify. You can feel Strus’s impact even if it isn’t always easy to describe.

Game 3 against the Miami Heat finally gave us something tangible to point to.

Strus put up 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists while playing elite team defense. He got hot from deep, drilling 4-of-9 three-point attempts. And his ancillary playmaking looked more important with Darius Garland on the sideline.

Cleveland’s path to a title will require numerous players to step up. But let’s take this opportunity to shine a light on one of the more underrated contributors to the Cavs success.

More than a three-point shooter...

Cavs fans thought they were getting something akin to Kyle Korver when they added Max Strus. No one assumed Strus would be as efficient or consistent as Korver — but the expectation was Strus would fill a similar role.

That just hasn’t been the case. On many nights, Strus’s three-point shooting is an afterthought. He’s less of a specialist and more of a Swiss Army Knife.

The Cavs quickly realized how versatile Strus is as an offensive weapon. He’s not a full-fledged three-level scorer. And you can’t make him the lead playmaker. But Strus can handle the ball and fill in the gaps as good as any role player.

Strus thrives as a glue guy. He’s an expert at attacking advantages and making quick reads against a scrambling defense.

Take the following play as an example:

On the above play, Ty Jerome is drawing enough defensive attention to cause Strus’s defender to shade off him. When Strus catches, he’s able to attack a close out and get into the heart of the defense. Strus senses that Bam Adebayo is stepping too far away from Jarrett Allen — so he squeezes a bounce pass to Allen for an easy layup. This is high-IQ stuff from Strus.

Strus has had good chemistry with bigs since his time playing with Bam in Miami. His playmaking has been a seamless fit with Cleveland’s centers. Watch how he finds Allen on the roll for the first bucket of this game.

Strus does everything quickly. He’s a deliberate player who wastes no time senselessly probing the defense. Below, Strus shows that he’s thinking one step ahead of everyone. He’s swinging the ball to Donovan Mitchell as soon as he catches the initial pass. Miami’s defense has no chance of keeping up with this.

Again, we see Strus operate the pick-and-roll with efficiency. He reads the defense and sees that Kel’el Ware is in no position to recover to Allen. Strus shows he can deliver a pass in multiple ways — jumping to get this one over the defense instead of his usual bounce pass.

Strus is just having fun on this last play. His two-man game with Allen has turned Miami’s defense into a joke as they pass the ball back and forth to each other for an easy layup. This was just rude

But still a three-point shooter...

Sometimes we lose sight of how capable Strus is as a three-point shooter. Sure, he’s not in the highest tier of NBA shooters. But make no mistake — Strus can bury difficult jumpers with the best of them when he’s rolling.

Don’t believe me? Let’s watch the tape.

Strus was reminding everyone of the simplest rule in basketball. Hand down, man down. Right here, he sees Ware is committing the cardinal sin, so he dots his eye.

I guess Miami didn’t get the memo. Because shortly after, Wiggins is making the same mistake. With no hand up to contest him — Strus takes another jumper and lets Wiggins know about it afterwards.

Strus shot 38% from deep this season. He’s a player who needs no warm-up to catch fire. If you give him enough looks, he’s going to make you pay. This next clip is a 9-1-1 attempt that catches nothing but net.

Strus might not be the most consistent shooting threat, but he poses all sorts of problems to a defense that isn’t taking him seriously. He commands the respect of opposing defenders and that’s valuable even when his shots aren’t dropping.

Defensive intensity

The Cavs have had issues rebounding in the past. Strus is rarely responsible for those concerns. He’s brought a level of intensity and physicality to the backcourt that this team was missing before him. Watch Strus throw Bam Adebayo to the ground for this rebound in the opening quarter.

Below is another example of Strus being active. He spends this defensive possession top-locking Tyler Herro and keeping him away from the ball. Then when the shot goes up, Strus remains engaged and tracks down the long rebound. This would have fallen into Adebayo’s lap if Strus were standing next to Herro with his hands in his pockets. But because Strus is always doing something, it’s a defensive stop for Cleveland.

Here we again see Strus chasing Herro around on the perimeter. The Cavs expertly switch Allen onto Herro, Mobley onto Ware, and then Strus onto Adebayo. The defense is on a string — and Strus continues to be a factor when he (again) puts his body into Adebayo for a contested rebound.

Take note of how often Strus is beating larger opponents to the ball. Strus is in the paint with two seven-footers and yet, he’s the one who comes up with the rebound. This tenacity is what the playoffs are all about.

This last play is the culmination of everything we’ve highlighted. Strus is tentatively watching Herro as he halfheartedly sets a screen for Duncan Robinson. As Strus works through this action — he notices Andrew Wiggins is torching Wade on a drive to the basket. Strus quickly rotates and delivers a textbook vertical contest at the rim against a much larger opponent. Strus gets the stop without fouling and then secures the board to top it all off.

Oh yeah, then he nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game after all of that.

Putting it all together, this was one of the most complete games you can expect from a role player. Strus did it all in Game 3. The Cavs will be tough to eliminate if they consistently get performance like this throughout their playoff run.