Cavs’ Max Strus Makes Four-Word Statement On Win Against Miami Heat

The Miami Heat reached the NBA Finals as an eighth seed in 2023, changing into solely the second group in historical past to take action.

One month later, the group coordinated a sign-and-trade that despatched sharpshooter Max Strus to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Two seasons later, the Cavaliers defeated the Warmth in a primary spherical sweep.

Strus, who averaged about 12 factors as a starter for the Warmth between 2021 and 2023, just lately put collectively a collage of images in a publish for Instagram. The caption? “Strictly business. Nothing personal,” together with the ‘cooking’ emoji.

The sign-and-trade scenario all began with a enterprise resolution by the Warmth, who didn’t need to pay Strus the contract the Cavaliers had been prepared ($63 million over 4 years). Strus was a key contributor of their 2022 Japanese Convention Finals look in addition to the run to the Finals.

Strus averaged 11 factors, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal within the traditionally lopsided sweep that noticed the Warmth lose by a mixed 92 factors within the two video games in Miami. Moreover, the Cavaliers outscored the Warmth by about 35 factors per 100 possessions within the sequence when Strus was on the ground.

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Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Warmth On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, overlaying the Warmth and NBA. He will be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @tropicalblanket

With the Miami Heat’s season over, analysts across the league are questioning what’s left of the roster that misplaced within the debilitating sweep in opposition to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Together with NBA analyst Zach Lowe. On a latest episode of his podcast, Lowe stated that Adebayo’s postseason underperformance mirrored his typical output.

“This is what Bam is,” Lowe stated. “The Heat need him to score 25, 27, 28 a game. It’s not going to happen. That’s just not what he’s going to be and that’s fine. Different players can do different things. He’s never going to be a top 10-to-15 player for the most part because of that. He’s still awesome, and you just need to realize that.”

The three-time All-Star averaged 17.5 factors, 11 rebounds, and 4.4 assists within the sequence. Though they had been nonetheless outscored by nearly 25 factors per 100 possessions within the sequence when Adebayo was on the ground, they had been outscored by about 64 when he wasn’t. Moreover, for the entire (legitimate) issues together with his offensive limitations, their offensive score was 28 factors higher with him taking part in.

“Everybody knows I love Bam. He’s a winner. Bu he was not good enough in this series,” Lowe stated. “17 points a game, 44% shooting, not good enough, not assertive enough. It wouldn’t have mattered and, at some point, everybody just let go of the rope and he’s going to have series where he’s not, he doesn’t give them enough offensively.”