Losing out on a quality player in the NBA draft can be a gut punch. The same can be said for having to shed a potential difference-maker for strictly financial reasons. However, having a hot prospect in-house and then making the choice to waive them in favor of players who end up busting may sting the most.
That’s exactly what the Boston Celtics did with Max Strus.
Just over two years ago, the Beantowners had the 6-foot-5 sharpshooter on the team. Instead of keeping him, though, they populated the back end of their roster with the likes of Tacko Fall and Javonte Green.
Fast-forward to now and Strus is putting up monster numbers for the Miami Heat. Over his last five games, he’s averaged a team-high 22.6 points, as well as 5.2 rebounds per contest. During that span, he connected on 52% of his field-goal attempts and 44.4% of his threes (which he attempted at a rate of 10.8 per game).
As a result, Celtics fans are left to wonder what might have been.
The Big Whiff
After he went undrafted out of DePaul in 2019, the Celtics got the first crack at Strus when they signed him for Summer League. He did well with the opportunity, too, putting up 9.8 points per contest and logging shooting splits of 41-45-86 over four games in Las Vegas.
Shortly thereafter, his NBA dreams were realized when Boston signed him to a two-way contract. Once training camp rolled around, however, Strus’ situation changed in a hurry.
In order to free up a two-way spot for Fall — a cult hero who raised eyebrows as a 7-foot-6 import to Central Florida — the Celtics converted Strus’ deal to a standard contract. There was a catch, though; his new deal was only partially guaranteed, which left him vulnerable.
Although he went on to knock down 45.5% of his triples during preseason play, the Celtics ultimately picked Green over him to fill their final roster spot. Worse yet — because Strus’ guarantee was more than $50,000, he was ineligible to become an affiliate player with the team’s G League club in Maine.
So, just like that, he was gone. And in the wake of his exit, Strus has consistently grown to the point that he’s now one of the Association’s better bench players and a legitimate microwave scorer. Meanwhile, neither Fall nor Green stuck with the Celtics.
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Strus Is Getting Compared to Some High-Level Ballers
After Strus scored a career-high 32 points during the Heat’s December 17 win over the Orlando Magic, head coach Erik Spoelstra compared the 25-year-old to some of his team’s cornerstone players.
“[Strus] is like a few of our guys — Duncan [Robinson], Tyler [Herro]… they’re ignitable,” Spoelstra said after the game, via ESPN. “They hit two [three-pointers] and immediately they’re thinking three, four, five. They all can get in a roll and that’s what we saw with Max.”
On that particular night, Strus knocked down eight triples. For the year, he’s a 40.4% shooter from deep.
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Celtics Missed the Boat in a Big, Bad Way on This Sharpshooter