Max Strus will be missed, even if Cavs made the right trade

There are trades you don’t make because you don’t want to lose a player. Then there are trades you make because you have to get better, even though you know you’re going to miss the guy going out the door.

For the Cavaliers, Max Strus falls into the second category.

On Wednesday, Cleveland agreed to send Strus to the Clippers as part of a multi-team trade that brings 23-year-old forward Peyton Watson from Denver to the Cavs.

Cleveland is also sending an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder to the Nuggets, while Watson will sign a four-year, $88 million contract with the Cavs. The larger deal also sends Tre Mann to Washington and brings Cam Whitmore to Cleveland.

Let’s get this out of the way first: I like the trade for Watson. I think the Cavs needed to make it.

They needed a bigger wing. They needed someone who could reasonably be viewed as a starter at that spot, not just another guy to move in and out of the lineup depending on the matchup. They lost Dean Wade in free agency. Strus started some playoff games. Sam Merrill did, too.

Watson is 23, athletic, long and already a good NBA player. There’s reason to believe he’ll become an even better one playing alongside Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

He doesn’t have to carry the offense. He might be the fifth option some nights, and he’s a pretty darn good fifth option.

So yes, I understand why the Cavs did it. But I’m going to miss watching Strus play basketball on a nightly basis.

What Strus brought

Strus was never Cleveland’s most consistent offensive player. Far from it.

He could score 27 one night and then go four games without scoring 27 combined. You never knew for sure if the shots were going to fall.

You always knew something else, though. You knew Strus was going to play his rear end off.

Every possession. Every night. Didn’t matter if it was November or Game 7.

He’d defend somebody six inches taller. He’d get physical with somebody smaller. He’d chase a loose ball, fight through a screen, take a hit, give one back. Whatever was required.

People have spent a lot of time talking about the Cavs needing more of an edge. Strus had one.

You could actually see the difference last season when he wasn’t available. Injuries limited him to only 12 regular-season games, after he’d been a major part of the rotation during his first two seasons in Cleveland.

When he returned, so did some of that edge. That’s the part of this deal that won’t show up in anybody’s trade grades.

Part of the Mitchell era

Strus wasn’t in Cleveland forever. It only feels a little longer because of everything that happened while he was here.

He arrived in the summer of 2023, one year after Mitchell, and became part of the group that helped move the Cavs from being a promising young team into a legitimate Eastern Conference contender.

He was there for the first playoff-series victory of the Mitchell era. He was there as the Cavs kept climbing. He was there for last season’s run to the Eastern Conference finals.

Fans appreciated him. His teammates clearly did, too.

My interactions with Strus were always good. He could be dry, which isn’t exactly uncommon in an NBA locker room, but I always got a kick out of the way he talked to me.

I sometimes joked that Strus treated me like I was his uncle. Maybe it was because he knew I’d been around forever. Maybe it was just because I’m older than most of the people asking the questions.

Whatever it was, there always seemed to be a certain respect there, and I appreciated it. I respected the way he played even more.

The hard part

Sometimes you give up someone you like. That’s ultimately what happened Wednesday.

The Cavs wanted Watson. Once it became clear he might actually be available amid his restricted free agency situation with Denver, Cleveland went after him.

To get someone you really want, sometimes you have to give up someone you really like. That’s what the Cavs did.

Watson gives them something they needed. Jaylon Tyson continues to develop. Merrill gives them shooting and toughness. Mario Hezonja is an intriguing new face.

The Cavs have options on the wing now, and Watson has the potential to become considerably more than just another option.

That’s important because the East isn’t getting any easier. The Knicks are the defending champions. The 76ers added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. The Pistons won 60 games. The Raptors are on the rise and the Pacers could return. 

So the Cavs couldn’t just sit around until February and hope the answer presented itself. They acted. I think they got better.

That doesn’t mean they won’t miss Max Strus. They will. And I suspect a lot of people around Cleveland will, too.