Max Strus’ Foot Injury Underscores Top-Heavy Cleveland Cavaliers’ Fragility

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 11: Darius Garland #10 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Max Strus #1 of the Cleveland Cavaliers after defeating the New York Knicks 108-102 in the game at Madison Square Garden on April 11, 2025 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

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The Cleveland Cavaliers’ attempt to shake off their third straight disappointing playoff exit hit a snag Tuesday, as they announced forward Max Strus would be sidelined for the next 3-4 months after undergoing surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his left foot.

The Cavs were already poised to potentially be without starting point guard Darius Garland at the start of the season after he underwent toe surgery in June, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst. They’ll now likely need to replace 40% of their starting lineup early in the year, which is no easy task given their salary structure.

At $226.3 million, the Cavaliers have the NBA’s most expensive payroll by far this year. They’re nearly $20 million over the $207.8 million second apron, which greatly restricts the types of moves they’re allowed to make for the rest of the season. For instance, they’re only allowed to hand out veteran-minimum contracts to free agents, and once the season begins, they won’t be able to sign someone on the buyout market who was previously earning more than the $14.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

The Cavaliers only have 13 players on standard contracts for now, so they have as many as two roster spots to fill. However, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that they’re “expected to leave their 15th spot open given their hefty luxury-tax bill,” and they’ll “likely attempt to sign a 14th player on a non-guaranteed contract because of those tax concerns.”

With Garland and Strus sidelined to begin the year, the Cavaliers will now be down to 11 healthy players on standard contracts, plus two-way signees Luke Travers and Nae’qwan Tomlin. While the injury-ravaged, downtrodden Eastern Conference may give them a healthy margin for error, the Garland and Strus injuries do underscore the risk of compiling huge contracts and going deep into the second apron.

Cavs’ Depth Set To Be Tested

Even without Garland, the Cavs still have plenty of star power between Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Both Mitchell and Mobley were named All-Stars last season, and Mobley backdoored his way into the Defensive Player of the Year award after San Antonio Spurs wunderkind Victor Wembanyama got shut down after the All-Star break due to deep vein thrombosis.

The Cavs also have De’Andre Hunter, whom they acquired ahead of the February trade deadline and who finished fourth in the Sixth Man of the Year race. He could be a candidate to replace Strus in the starting lineup early in the year, although head coach Kenny Atkinson reportedly prefers to keep him “in the primary reserve role” as a “way to create needed scoring balance,” according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

Fedor believes the “obvious answer” to replace Strus would be Sam Merrill, whom the Cavs re-signed to a four-year, $38 million contract this offseason. However, Merrill has started only seven games across his five NBA seasons with the Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks. He’s deeply unproven in that role for now.

Regardless of whether the Cavs promote Hunter, Merrill or someone else, that will have a domino effect on the rest of their rotation as well. The Cavs lost both Ty Jerome (who finished third in the Sixth Man of the Year race last year) and Caris LeVert in free agency and only added oft-injured guard Lonzo Ball, so Dean Wade, Craig Porter Jr. and Jaylon Tyson may all be headed for bigger roles early in the season.

That experience could prove beneficial in the long run. When the Cavs are fully healthy, those guys likely won’t get as many minutes. They’ll receive valuable on-court reps, which will also give Cleveland a chance to suss out which of them are ready to be regular rotation members and where their greatest needs might be ahead of the trade deadline.

However, that depleted depth could put the Cavs at risk of spiraling early in the year.

Cavs May Struggle Against The ‘New NBA’

Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle recently told Caitlin Cooper of Basketball She Wrote that “roster construction is changing” in the NBA and it’s now becoming “a play-hard league.”

“It’s not just being top-heavy with stars,” he said. “… It’s become more important to have good players than be top-heavy with two or three great players that get all the touches.”

Carlisle’s Pacers were the ones who sent the Cavaliers packing in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this past season. With Garland hobbled by his toe injury, Jerome got forced into a larger role, and the Pacers exposed him as Cleveland’s weak link.

The Garland and Strus injuries could leave the Cavs even more vulnerable early this season.

The Cavaliers did a great job of keeping their players’ minutes in check last year. Mitchell led the team with only 31.4 minutes per game, and Garland and Mobley were the only two other Cavaliers players to top 28 minutes per game. They might not have that same luxury this year, particularly early in the season with Garland and Strus sidelined.

The Cavs thus may find themselves balancing two competing interests: keeping their eye on the bigger picture and maximizing their competitiveness on a game-to-game basis. They could be tempted to play their stars heavier minutes early in the season to give themselves a cushion in the East, but that could have compounding effects on their health later in the year.

The 2024-25 Philadelphia 76ers may be a cautionary tale for the Cavaliers in that regard. With Joel Embiid and Paul George sidelined early, they leaned heavily on Tyrese Maxey, who wound up suffering a hamstring strain two weeks into the season. Embiid and George proceeded to shuffle in and out of the lineup all year, and the Sixers tumbled from a theoretical preseason title contender to the No. 3 spot in the NBA draft lottery.

Garland and Strus don’t have the sort of lengthy injury history that Embiid and George do, and they’re both on the right side of 30. The Cavaliers easily could be full-strength by midseason and look like the favorite to come out of the East this year. Then again, if another player or two suffers an injury while Garland and Strus are sidelined, that could put even more strain on the rest of their rotation.

Thanks to those injuries, the Cavaliers may be about to put Carlisle’s new theory of team-building to the test.

Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

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