Cedi Osman has produced better stats than Max Strus

The Cleveland Cavaliers gave Max Strus a lot of money to produce almost as well as Cedi Osman.

The Cleveland Cavaliers may have made a mistake in acquiring Max Strus. The Cavs have agreed in principle to a deal with Strus that’ll be for four years and will cost a total of $63 million for the former Miami Heat player. It was a move that at first made me very happy, but then it occurred to me what just happened.

The Cavs paid more money for a player who isn’t as good, or as tested as Cedi Osman.

I wrote about wanting Strus in the past, and I stand by what I said. He’s the kind of guy the Cavs needed on their team. But here comes the problem with that; I wrote those articles thinking the Cavs would retain Osman. The Cavs needed what they currently had, plus Strus and some other players.

The Cavs nerfed that idea when they traded Osman and Lamar Stevens to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the sign-and-trade deal that brought Strus to Cleveland. The Cavs gave up Osman to get Strus, and here’s the kicker; Osman is better than Strus.

That’s not an opinion, either, look at their numbers from last season. Osman is significantly better. Moreover, look at their career stats. Strus has played in just 189 career games, as opposed to Osman’s 404.

Despite having fewer games, Strus barely has a better set of advanced stats. You’d think if there was less against a player, he’d provide higher numbers.

Osman’s stats;

"‘22-’23 season: .451/.372/.684, TS: .579OBPM: -0.8, DBPM: +0.2, BPM: -0.7, VORP: +0.5Career: .427/.353/.715, TS: .545OBPM: -1.4, DBPM: -0.7, BPM: -2.1, VORP: -0.3"

Strus’ stats;

"’22-’23 season: .410/.350/.876, TS: .557OBPM: -0.8, DBPM: -0.9, BPM: -1.7, VORP: +0.2Career: .427/.371./.820 TS: .583OBPM: 0.0, DBPM: -0.8, BPM: -0.8, VORP: +1.3"

The Cavs weren’t supposed to replace Osman with Strus, they were supposed to combine them on the same team.

The Cleveland Cavaliers getting rid of Cedi Osman in exchange for Max Strus was truly short-sighted

Osman was a better shooter than Strus last year, that’s not a debate. Osman has a more established track record than Strus, that’s not a debate. We know what we’re getting from Osman, a jack-of-all-trades shooter, who can be a game-changer if left unshackled. We don’t know what Strus can be.

If you look at his playoff run, Strus’ numbers don’t just tell the simple tale of “he played great until the finals”. What they actually show is that his figures fell off from series to series. His three-point figures fell in every series during the 2023 run.

I think Strus can improve from a down 2022-2023 season, I do, but I also think Strus isn’t enough to improve the team’s shooting woes on his own. The Cavs needed to retain as much shooting as possible and they didn’t.

Strus isn’t Kyle Korver or Ray Allen. He isn’t such a good three-point shooter that you can rely on him and him alone, and that’s sadly what the Cavs have gone on to do.

Though, it’s also worth pointing out, again, that the biggest issue with the Cavs is Donovan Mitchell and his involvement in the offense. He needs to work on his shot selection, his turnovers, and his desire to shoot just the worst three-pointers imaginable.

That’s truly what the Cavs needed to work on, so if they address that, they should be in a much better place in 2023-2024 regardless of how Strus does.

• Published on 07/06/2023 at 01:30 AM
• Last updated at 07/06/2023 at 01:30 AM