Flagrant one for not allowing proper landing space.
The Cleveland Cavaliers faced their first dose of bad news with the regular season just a few days away. It was announced that Max Strus suffered an ankle sprain that at minimum will sideline him for six weeks.
The details of the injury were murky, but many assumed it was just a case of an unlucky roll in practice. Wrong. In Cavaliers’ fashion, a simple ankle roll would have been too commonplace and frankly boring.
Instead, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst broke the details on The Hoop Collective podcast.
“The Cavs had a setback. Max Strus is going to be out for six weeks. . . . Strus was coming back from a hip injury that had kept him out of some preseason games. He was doing an individual workout, and from what I understand, a coach was just doing some shooting drills with him and he came down [on his foot] … the coach was just doing a shooting drill, and from what I understand Max just came down on the coach’s foot.”
The Cavaliers haven’t gotten a chance to hit their stride under Kenny Atkinson’s system. Strus was held out of most of the preseason with a hip injury and things were trending towards him being available for opening night.
Now the Cavaliers have options for who can replace Strus’s minutes at the three. It appears that the focus now turns to Caris LeVert, Dean Wade, and Isaac Okoro. All of the three mentioned have had their time in this role. None of them check all the conventional boxes you’d look for from a solid wing. They each offer a different flavor, so Atkinson will have to decide what skill set is best with the starters.
While it is unknown who the coaching staff will pick for those minutes, it appears that Wade would be the best option. Wade provides solid perimeter defense and stretches the floor well with the starters. He would not command touches and will take his opportunities well within the offense. In his sole start with the core four against the Chicago Bulls in the preseason finale, Wade scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting.
Whomever the coaching staff selects to replace Strus, this is certainly a bummer for a Cavaliers team that is undergoing an offensive revamp. Hopefully, the Cavs will get Strus back and Atkinson can use Strus and his offensive talents in this new motion offense by Christmas.