Kevin Love Helped Max Strus Sign With Cavaliers Last Summer

According to NBA reporter Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, Miami Heat veteran Kevin Love helped Max Strus sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer. 

Love, who played 489 games with the Cavaliers, built a close relationship with Strus on the Heat. 

“I just told him the truth,” Love told cleveland.com in a sit-down earlier this season. “I thought it would be a great landing spot for him. I thought he would fit really well with the guys and be such a good value add in terms of his personality, along with his playing style that fits so well. I said, ‘I think you will be really happy landing there.’”

Strus signed a four-year, $62.3 million contract with the Cavaliers as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Heat. The 27-year-old is averaging 12.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists this season while shooting 41.2% from the field, 34.0% from 3 and 78.5% from the foul line. 

“I only had to talk to him once,” Strus told cleveland.com. “Me and Kevin talk a lot, just in general, about life. It wasn’t much that needed to be said. Whatever his word was I took it. The one conversation we had was long and thoughtful. That’s all I needed from him. I listen to everything he says. I make enough money to be in his friend group now. I cherish our friendship.”

The Cavaliers are 43-25 on the season. They are in third place in the Eastern Conference standings. 

“He’s so much more than just a straight-up knockdown shooter,” Love said. “He has a certain capability and swagger to him that I’m glad people are being able to see. Think you saw that last year here, but I think he is certainly blossoming into somebody who is a very, very good NBA player and will only get better.

“I don’t think people understand how athletic he really is and how good of a basketball player he really is. He is incredibly well-rounded. He defends. Ultra competitor. I love his game and love him as a person. I always talk about little brothers like Darius (Garland). Max became that for me as well. He is one of the guys I talk to the most and am closest to and I will be very close to him even after I’m done playing.”