Acquiring Max Strus from the Cleveland Cavaliers would accomplish three things for the Chicago Bulls: It would add some much-needed shooting for the present, draft capital for the future, and, perhaps most importantly, it would prove to fans that this front office is willing to use cap space to take on unwanted salaries in exchange for future assets.
Would a frankly overpriced role player like Strus move the needle much in the short term? Probably not, but that's OK. Would the Cavaliers be open to attaching truly valuable draft picks? Again, probably not.
But would Bulls executive VP of basketball operations Bryson Graham make a statement by sliding Strus into his final open roster spot and available cap room?
Yes. Yes he would.
Bulls should be open to acquiring Max Strus from Cavaliers
Even after trading Denis Schröder, Cleveland is trying to create cap room to re-sign James Harden and land either Jonathan Kuminga or Peyton Watson, according to league insider Marc Stein.
"Cleveland remains in active search of a trade to send out Max Strus as Strus enters the final year of his current contract at $16.7 million," wrote the long-time NBA scribe.
Chicago should be the team pursuing Watson rather than helping another franchise acquire the emerging 23-year-old swingman, but that's another argument for another time.
Strus would be an acceptable Plan B for Graham, for a few different reasons.
One, the Bulls have a young and talented roster, but there's an important component missing: Outside of 33-year-old Norman Powell, they have no one who can space the floor.
Strus isn't prime Klay Thompson, but he is a career 37.0 percent shooter from deep and connected on 38.6 percent of his 5.9 attempts per game in 2024-25. (He only played 12 regular-season games last year due to injury.)
Two, there's no long-term risk in acquiring Strus. As Stein points out, the 30-year-old is on a $16.7 million expiring contract. If things don't work out or if both parties simply want to move on after the season, the player can enter unrestricted free agency and the Bulls can add more cap space to their 2027 ledger.
And third, Graham could add to his stash of draft picks. Extracting a protected future first-round pick would be a major boost; even a few second-round selections would be better than nothing.
This is the kind of win-win deal Chicago's previous front offices refused to entertain. If Graham makes the move, it would set the Bulls up even sweeter for the future and let fans know that this time, things really are different.
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