The Miami Heat have a dire need for three-point shooters who can provide spacing for star big men Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly shopping former Heat sharpshooter Max Strus, with an apparent intention to make room for a roster addition.
With a steady stream of rumors that Strus could be traded, the Heat should do what they can to reunite with their former player and fill a pivotal void along the wings.
Strus, 30, spent three seasons with the Heat, helping the team reach the 2023 NBA Finals and 2022 Eastern Conference Finals. He's since helped the Cavaliers make a Conference Finals appearance of their own. Unfortunately, as Cleveland pursues Jonathan Kuminga, it's reportedly looking to offload Strus' expiring salary to clear space.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype provided the latest intel, stating that Strus is a trade candidate due to his lucrative expiring contract of $16,660,836.
"As the Cavaliers survey the trade market, the expiring contracts of starting small forward Max Strus ($16.66 million) and backup point guard Dennis [Schröder] ($14.81 million) are trade candidates."
Acquiring Strus could prove to be a bit of a challenge, but the Heat have the resources to do so without sending the Cavaliers too much outgoing salary to scare them away.
Heat must find a way to trade for Max Strus
The simplest way to complete this transaction is for it to be a three-team trade that lands Jonathan Kuminga in Cleveland. Miami could conceivably send Bobby Portis Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks, which would be sign-and-trading Kuminga to Cleveland. Miami would then get Strus for its role in facilitating the trade.
The Heat could also push for another player or a draft pick to be added to the deal, thus bolstering their rotation or their future.
The Heat can do so by utilizing the $5,616,000 trade exception from the Haywood Highsmith deal. It also still has $8,979,000 from its non-taxpayer midlevel exception and $5,477,000 from its bi-annual exception to further build out its rotation.
The key here would be adding Strus, however, as he's a low-risk potential acquisition who has played in Erik Spoelstra's system, shoots efficiently, and has an expiring salary.
Max Strus would help Heat resolve three-point shooting concerns
Strus underwent surgery on a Jones fracture in his left foot and thus missed 70 regular season games in 2025-26. Since the start of the 2024-25 campaign, however, he's shot 38.9 percent on 6.0 three-point field goal attempts per game and has translated his success to the playoffs.
Over the past two seasons, Strus has accumulated postseason averages of 10.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.4 three-point field goals made on 37.0 percent shooting from distance.
For Miami, adding Strus would mean bringing in a volume shooter who can space the floor with efficiency and a reasonable degree of assertiveness. He's also a proven and versatile defender who can match up against players at multiple positions and take pressure off of the star bigs.
Trading for Strus won't necessarily be easy, but as the Heat look for ways to make Antetokounmpo's first season a smooth transition, bringing back a familiar face could help them do so.
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