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Cavs Planning To Make Key Starting Lineup Change

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The Cleveland Cavaliers know all about roller coasters. No, that’s not because they’re the home of popular Cedar Point. Since the franchise’s inception in 1970, they’ve experienced mountainous peaks and nearly bottomless valleys. In just the last five years, they’ve gone from one of the NBA’s worst teams to one of their best.

With that being said, what goes up has to come down and the Cavs are preparing for a trap season. Not only did they set an unfathomably high bar to reach after winning 64 games in 2024-25, they have multiple key players recovering from surgery. The good thing is that they have a plan.

Cavs Planning To Insert De’Andre Hunter In Starting Lineup

Next season, “the starting small forward…will be” six-year pro De’Andre Hunter, cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto begins. Though adding the caveat “unless there is a change of plans,” the rationale behind the move is logical: Max Strus —who has started in 128 of the 141 games he’s played with Cleveland (playoffs included) — will be out for a few months after sustaining a Jones fracture in late August.

In truth, the Cavs “already were looking at” starting Hunter “before” Strus was sidelined. As Hunter averaged a disappointing 9.0 points per game on 36.7 percent shooting from the field (30.8 percent from 3) in the Cleveland’s series against the Indiana Pacers last postseason, Pluto takes care to note that he was dealing with a finger injury. he “looked great” during the Cavs summer workouts.

There are other reasons to believe that starting Hunter over Strus is the correct path for Cleveland to take.

Size Matters

What jumps off the page and the screen is that Hunter has much more suitable size for a small forward.

Feb 21, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus (1) and forward De’Andre Hunter (12) goes for a loose ball against New York Knicks forward Precious Achiuwa (5) during the first half at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

At 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds, he’s three inches taller than Strus and outweighs him by 10 pounds. His 7-foot-2 wingspan is 6.5 inches longer than Strus’s, which is even more substantial. With that in mind, perhaps the primary reason that the Cavs traded for Hunter was that they were having problems guarding longer wings.

Hunter starting over Strus allows them to avoid going into 2025-26 facing the same obstacle that they did in 2024-25.

Afterburners

Taking 72.8 percent of his career field goal attempts from 3, Strus is rightfully regarded as a 3-point specialist.

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Yet, Hunter is a more consistent outside shooter. To that point, Strus has shot lower than 35.2 percent from deep in four of his six career seasons. Meanwhile, Hunter has only shot below that mark twice. On top of that, Hunter is a more dynamic scorer off-the-dribble, which allowed him to average 17.0 points per game last season. For comparison, Strus posted 9.4 points per game.

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The difference between their firepower and on-ball ability is even more significant given that Darius Garland could miss some time next season as well. Out with a toe injury, the two-time All-Star has averaged 18.9 points per game in his NBA career.

Not to be without a 3-point specialist, 6-foot-4 shooting guard Sam Merrill apparently has the fast track on a starting spot as well. However, his promotion will likely be a temporary measure that coincides with Donovan Mitchell slotting to point guard while Garland is out. In his time with the Cavs, Merrill has shot 38.5 percent from 3.

© Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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