‘Floodgates come open’ for Heat’s Max Strus ahead of playoffs, free agency
On a night Max Strus totaled 31 points and made seven threes to help lead the Miami Heat to a playoff-clinching win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday, teammate Jimmy Butler verbalized what else Strus’ timely performance accomplished.
“Honestly speaking, I think Max made himself a lot of money tonight,” Butler said.
As the Eastern Conference’s eighth-seeded Heat opened the playoffs with Game 1 of its first-round series against the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum on Sunday, Strus is still in the final year of his minimum contract that includes a $1.8 million salary for this season. But Strus will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and is on track to sign the biggest contract of his young career after making a combined total of about $3.9 million over the first four NBA seasons.
While Strus’ three-point percentage dipped from 41 percent last regular season to 35 percent this regular season, he regained his rhythm over the last two months. After shooting just 33.8 percent on 7.7 three-point attempts per game before the All-Star break, he entered the playoffs shooting 40.1 percent on 5.7 three-point attempts per game in 25 games since the break (including the Heat’s two play-in games).
“He just, like a lot of our guys, he has that grit and that perseverance,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Strus, who turned 27 in March. “His routine never changes in terms of starting his shooting workouts. Whether we’re on the road, he always meets us there, gets in his routine before we arrive and after practice, before practice, before games. He just stays consistent all the way through.
“That’s what you can commit to, not having a guarantee of any kind of results. But if you just continue to plug away, you stay with your process, eventually the floodgates come open, particularly if you just stay the course and have that kind of perseverance.”
Strus, who went undrafted out of DePaul in 2019, was promoted to a full-time starting role in the final week of the regular season after playing primarily as a reserve for most of the schedule. Spoelstra hinted at another starting lineup change entering Friday’s win-or-go-home play-in matchup against the Bulls, but he ultimately stuck with Strus to open that game.
“If that’s what we had to do, that’s what we had to do,” Strus said of the possibility of moving back to the bench. “I’ve done it before, so that wouldn’t have changed my mentality and how I approached the game. Whatever he thinks is best for us to win is what we all got to be OK with.”
Strus is in the starting lineup because of the space his three-point shooting ability provides the Heat’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler. Most lineups with Adebayo and Butler are effective, but it’s worth noting that the trio of Adebayo, Butler and Strus outscored opponents by five points per 100 possessions in 532 minutes together this regular season.
“Regardless you can depend on his competitive character, his competitive toughness,” Spoelstra said of Strus. “He’s going to do other things. He’s not just a spot-up shooter. He still provides space, he’s a bigger body, he’s able to help us on the glass. He works at it.
“So he’s ignitable. Watch out, if he hits two or three then it might turn into a night like [Friday]. He’s had quite a few of those nights. He’s not dependent on that to impact the game, but he’s just stayed the course. I’ve enjoyed watching how much he’s grown as a basketball player this year.”
Whenever the Heat’s season comes to an end, it will need to make a decision on Strus in free agency. Even with Miami not positioned to have salary cap space and already up against the luxury tax for next season, the Heat can surpass the salary cap line to re-sign Strus up to his maximum salary because it holds his Bird rights.
In the 2021 offseason, the Heat re-signed three-point specialist Duncan Robinson to a five-year, $90 million contract. Comparable three-point shooting weapon Joe Harris signed a four-year, $75 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2020 offseason.
If Strus continues his hot shooting in the playoffs, he’ll continue making himself “a lot of money” as Butler pointed out Friday.
“His confidence is unwavering and you got to just cheer for a guy like that,” Heat guard Kyle Lowry said.
INJURY REPORT
The Heat only ruled out rookie forward Nikola Jovic (back spasms) for Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against the Bucks on Sunday.
Lowry (left knee soreness) and Gabe Vincent (right hip pointer), who were both listed as questionable, are available to play.
The Bucks do not have any players on their injury report.
This story was originally published April 16, 2023 at 9:09 AM.
