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LeBron wants to be on a contender, he wants to play meaningful games — and meaningful playoff games — and be in the heart of the conversation. Additionally, LeBron has consistently sought to maximize his revenue. LeBron opted and will get paid. That means if he asks for a trade, his new team would have to match LeBron’s salary. For example, a lot of fans tried to link him to a return to Cleveland (league sources told NBC Sports the Cavaliers are not that interested, but let’s use them as a hypothetical): With a third team, a deal can be made if it’s LeBron for Darius Garland and Max Strus Why would the Cavs do that, giving up young players and getting 15 years older (and arguably worse) in the short term to rent LeBron for a year or two. And trading LeBron to Cleveland is a lot less complicated than most other destinations.
Donovan Mitchell: "No, because like I'm not brown like you know when there's being like I said it goes back to being comfortable who you were like I'm I'm not going to do it the same way that he did it. You know what I mean? And who knows maybe we get there sit what do you do six times in a row? Maybe we do that sit for the next six years. Maybe we don't like you know what I mean? But my goal is to find ways to you know we're not the LeBron James Kyrie Irving Cavaliers. We do it differently. We do it with Evan. We do it with myself. We do it with DG. We do it with Max. we do with Jay, all the guys on the roster, and it's just different."
Max Strus texted his teammates before Game 5: “If you don’t believe, don’t show up to work.” He finished the game 0/9
Danny Cunningham: Max Strus: "We can sit here and talk about it all we want but until we do it no one is going to give us that respect."
Danny Cunningham: Max Strus: "Nobody is going to talk about our regular season, as they shouldn't."
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Danny Cunningham: Max Strus: "We've gotta get tougher."
Danny Cunningham: Max Strus: "Disappointment. Kind of feels like a wasted opportunity to me and that's hard to live with at this point."
Collectively, though, numbers aside, the three players returning while less than whole meant everything to the Cavs. “We appreciate them fighting through whatever they’re going through,” Strus said. “We’re grateful for them, and hopefully they can do it again on Sunday.”
Danny Cunningham: Max Strus: “A minute left, up seven, can’t lose that one. Gotta be better.”
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Strus was stunned by the Cavs’ lack of maturity (among other things) when he joined the organization before the start of last season. He was used to structure, professionalism and toughness he was taught as a part of Heat Culture in Miami, and found all three things lacking during his early days in Cleveland. But he no longer feels that way. “It comes with the more you get around guys, the more you play together, the more experience you have,” Strus said. “So I think it’s just after last year’s playoffs, I think guys came back this year ready and prepared. Grew up a little bit, I guess you could say. But yeah, it’s been fun watching our younger guys grow and learn and be in these positions.”
It finally arrived. Easter Sunday. Game 1 against battle-tested Miami. Jerome’s long-awaited playoff debut — the moment he waited his whole life for. It was worth the wait. A debut for the ages. “The guy’s made for moments like this,” said starting small forward Max Strus. “He’s made for the spotlight.”
Anthony Chiang: Bam Adebayo when asked about Max Strus trying to help the Cavs prepare for the Heat: “I don’t give a [expletive] about Max Strus.” Adebayo said it with a smile and a chuckle, so I think he was kidding.
Danny Cunningham: #Cavs list Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Dean Wade, De'Andre Hunter, Sam Merrill, Ty Jerome, Isaac Okoro and Max Strus all as out tomorrow in the season finale against Indiana.
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