Cleveland Cavaliers forward Max Strus had surgery to repair Jones’ left foot fracture, which lasted about three to four months in a recent workout, the team announced Tuesday.
His approximate recovery schedule means he will miss at least the first month of the upcoming 2025-26 season. The Knights opens Season 56 in New York on Wednesday, October 22.
Max Strus joins the Cavaliers in the offseason 2023
Strus, 29, joined the Cavaliers in four years two summers ago, with $63 million in signatures and trade, playing a key role in bringing Cleveland contenders in the Eastern Conference in the past two years.
The 6-foot-5 Strus has been healthy with the Cavaliers in 70 games (all of them) in the 2023-24 season, averaging a career-high 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, while the floor shot 41.8% from the field and 35.1% from the depths.
However, Strus was also injured last year due to the correct ankle sprain he suffered during his workout. Initially, he had a hip contusion earlier in the preseason and was close to returning due to the injury.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) August 26, 2025
Stras missed the first two months of the 2024-25 season, his second season in Cleveland.
In last season’s 50 games (37 games), Strus averaged 9.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 25.5 minutes per game while shooting 44.2% from the field and 38.6% from the field.
According to basketball reference, on March 18, Cleveland lost to the Los Angeles Clippers on a 132-119 road, with his season-high 24-point shooting percentage (66.7%) on 8 innings (62.5%) outside the ARC.
Cavaliers, Knicks expressed interest in Malik Beasley
Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto reported on Sunday that the Cavaliers “checked in at Malik Beasley”.
The story comes days after federal investigators cleaned up nine years of veterans in nine years of veteran gambling investigations. NBA insider Jake Fischer said the Knicks also “keeped interest in Beasley.”
Beasley won second place in the Sixth Grade Award last season, making his debut in all 82 games (18 games) in 2024-25, his first season with the Detroit Pistons.
The former first-rounder averaged 16.3 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 27.8 minutes of games, while shooting 43% from the field and 41.6% from the ground floor.
Beasley scored 319 3-pointers, the most in a season in the history of the Pistons, and is second in the NBA, behind star guard Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
If the Cavaliers can’t add Beasley, players like De’andre Hunter, Sam Merrill and Dean Wade may be asked to strengthen the offensive side until Strus is ready to return.
