Chicago Bulls: Max Strus ‘fully cleared’ for practice after ACL tear

A 24-year-old two-way contracted shooting guard/wing of the Chicago Bulls last season, Max Strus, looks to be making a successful recovery from an ACL tear.

Good news on the injury front for a former member of the Chicago Bulls, on a two-way contract, with the report that the 6-foot-6 and 215 pound 24-year-old shooting guard/wing Max Strus has recovered from a terrible ACL tear he suffered last season. Strus was one of the two players on the Bulls cap sheet on a two-way contract during the 2019-20 season. The other one was the rookie French 6-foot-5 shooting guard/wing Adam Mokoka.

Strus looked to have a lengthy recovery process in front of him after he originally suffered that lower-body injury in December 2019. In the 10 months since that ACL tear he suffered as a member of the Chicago Bulls G-League affiliate Windy City Bulls, he’s appeared to have worked hard and gotten back to a key point in the recovery timeline.

According to a report from Lawrence Kreymer of The DePaulia, Strus is “fully cleared for contact” in basketball activities at this point in the timeline of his recovery from the ACL tear. Here’s more on what that report from Kreymer of The DePaulia had to say on this matter.

"“I’m fully healed now, I’m basically 100 percent, so I’m back doing everything,” Strus said. “Obviously, with everything going on in the world, there’s not much 5-on-5 going on or me being able to do that in my recovery process. That’s kind of pushing me back a little bit, but other than that I’m cleared to play and ready to go. I’m feeling better than I have before.”Usually after an athlete suffers a torn ACL they would be out for 8-12 months, which fits into Strus’ recovery timeframe. But it’s the road back from the injury that is the most gruelling part of the rehilabiton.The process of returning to action has multiple steps, including learning how to walk normally again and being able to get the swelling down in the knee. For Strus, he was back walking in a couple of days after surgery and began the long process of coming back to the court."

It’s really great to hear that a player that was improving over the course of his brief stint in the Bulls organization has recovered from this scary of an injury. An ACL tear is the sort of injury that some players in Strus’ position might not be able to come back from. But it sounds like he’s ready to try his hand if he gets another shot with an NBA team heading into the 2020-21 season.

In 13 games played during his shortened 2019-20 regular season run with the Windy City Bulls, Strus was pretty solid and efficient for them (while starting in a dozen of those outings). He averaged 18.2 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks. And Strus shot 41.5 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 96.3 percent from the free-throw line.

Strus also played in six minutes on the floor with the Bulls in the NBA during the 2019-20 season, where he registered five total points, one rebound, and one personal foul. Given that he looked pretty good prior to this ACL tear last year, he likely will get another shot in the future if the Las Vegas Summer League returns in the near future, or in the G-League.

As a former member of the DePaul basketball program, Strus was an undrafted free agent that has now played for the Boston Celtics and the Bulls in two different stints in the last two years.