Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus is very important for the Wine and Gold.
Max Strus has been named the Cleveland Cavaliers' biggest X-factor to close out the regular season.
NBA writer Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report believes Strus is very important for the Wine and Gold.
"Max Strus, who made his season debut this week, isn't the player Jayson Tatum is, but introducing a wing who's averaged 11.1 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.5 threes, while shooting 37.3 percent from deep, over the last five years to a playoff rotation in March could alter the landscape of the East," Bailey wrote.
"Strus' shooting, particularly his ability to get threes up in volume, could go a long way toward pulling defensive attention away from Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. And that should make it more difficult for opposing defenses to scheme for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the postseason."
Strus made his season debut on March 15 against the Dallas Mavericks and showed no rust at all. He finished with 24 points and eight rebounds while shooting 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from beyond the arc.
Strus put up six points, six rebounds and four assists in his second game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Cavaliers are 1-1 with the guard back in the lineup.
"He's just Max," Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill said, via Cleveland.com. "He's one of those guys, whether he is making or missing shots, he's impacting the game. I know he is working his way back into it, but he's going to be really important for us."
The Cavaliers are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings. They haven't gotten past the second round of the playoffs in the Donovan Mitchell era, which began during the 2022-23 season.
Cleveland is under immense pressure to reach the conference finals this season after trading for James Harden. A core of Mitchell, Harden, Strus, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen is talented enough to make a deep run in the East.
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