Max Strus's Partial Plantar Fascia Tear Puts Him Out at Least 4 Weeks

Photo: NBA.com. Official Max Strus headshot, LA Clippers.

Max Strus cut across the lane five minutes into the Clippers' preseason opener in Honolulu on Sunday, caught the pass and pulled up on his right foot. The Clippers announced Monday that he partially tore the plantar fascia in that foot and will be re-evaluated in four weeks, which takes him out of the rest of the preseason and the Oct. 21 opener against Sacramento.

Strus struggled to put weight on his right foot after the catch. Ty Lue called timeout right away, Strus limped to the locker room, and tests back in Los Angeles after the flight home confirmed the tear. It was a noncontact play on a routine cut.

This is the second foot in 14 months. Strus broke his left foot, a Jones fracture, and had surgery in August 2025. He did not play for Cleveland until mid-March, then got 12 regular-season games in before the playoffs. Those 12 games looked like the old Strus. He averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds and hit 40.2% from three on 6.8 attempts a night. He then played all 18 of Cleveland's playoff games, averaging 9.6 points in 26.7 minutes on 35.8% from deep. A full camp was supposed to be the first clean runway he had in more than a year.

The Clippers got him cheap, and that is why the injury stings. Los Angeles took on his $16.6 million expiring salary in August with the trade exception left over from the John Collins deal, sending out only a future second-round pick in the five-team trade that moved Peyton Watson to Cleveland. No rotation player left. In three seasons with the Cavaliers, Strus averaged 11.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists on .428/.368/.800 shooting, with 112 starts in 132 games. He started Sunday's opener too, so Lue had him penciled in with the first group.

Now count the wings who are out. Brandon Ingram, acquired from Toronto in the Kawhi Leonard trade, is still coming back from heel surgery and a partially torn Achilles and has only just reached light court work. Jordan Miller is recovering from left shoulder surgery. Bradley Beal is out with right knee inflammation, and second-year center Yanic Konan Niederhauser has a foot injury of his own.

The minutes have to go somewhere. Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn already soak up perimeter minutes as two of the team's best defenders. The shooting is harder to replace, since Strus was taking 6.8 threes a night after his return. Rookie Keaton Wagler and Gradey Dick are the next names for those wing minutes, and the rest of the preseason doubles as their tryout. Every game Strus misses is one more for a young shooter to earn a rotation spot that may be hard to take back.

Four weeks from Monday's diagnosis lands on Nov. 2, the Clippers' seventh game, at home against Toronto.

Strus is extension-eligible through June 30, 2027, and his deal runs out after this season. A partial plantar fascia tear on top of last year's fracture makes any extension harder to price.

Watch the Nov. 2 re-evaluation. Even on schedule, it means Strus misses at least the first six regular-season games.

Sources

• ClippersPR via NBA.com: Clippers' Max Strus to miss start of season with foot injury. Oct. 5-6, 2026. Partial tear of the right plantar fascia in Sunday's preseason game vs. Golden State, re-evaluation in four weeks; 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 12 Cleveland games last season; acquired Aug. 20 in a five-team trade; final year of his four-year deal; opener Oct. 21 vs. Sacramento.
• ESPN: Sources, Clippers' Max Strus (foot) out at least 4 weeks. Oct. 5, 2026. Noncontact injury five minutes in on a cut across the lane; Lue timeout; tests in Los Angeles; Ingram heel surgery and partial Achilles, light court work; Beal right knee inflammation; Konan Niederhauser foot.
• Hoops Rumors: Max Strus to miss at least four weeks. Oct. 5, 2026. Four weeks lands Nov. 2 vs. Toronto, game 7; Jones fracture surgery August 2025, mid-March debut, all 18 playoff games; Collins trade exception, second-round pick out; 11.0/4.7/3.5 on .428/.368/.800 with 112 starts in 132 Cleveland games; extension-eligible through June 30, 2027; started Sunday; Jordan Miller left shoulder surgery; Wagler and Dick among candidates for minutes.
• Sportsnet: Clippers' Max Strus out at least four weeks. Oct. 5, 2026. 40.2% from three in 12 games last season.
• Land of Basketball: Max Strus 2025-26 stats. 6.8 three-point attempts per game in 12 regular-season games; 9.6 points, 26.7 minutes, 35.8% from three in 18 playoff games.
• The Sporting Tribune: Clippers land Max Strus in five-team deal. Aug. 19, 2026. $16.6 million expiring salary absorbed with the Collins trade exception; Peyton Watson to Cleveland.
• SI Clippers On SI: extension decisions on Jones, Dunn and Strus. Jones Jr. and Dunn among the team's best defenders; Strus at $16.6 million.
• Photo: NBA.com. Official Max Strus headshot, LA Clippers.