🏀Front Office2026-27
 
← Los Angeles Clippers
77
OVR

Max Strus

Los Angeles Clippers · Starter
SF6'5"215 lbage 308 yrs expDePaulHickory Hills, IL
4th best of 13 on LACworth +1.2 wins to the rotation
OFF81DEF72
Elite interior finisher & playmaker
LAC
Los Angeles Clippers
Western · Pacific · proj. 42-40 (▲+0.9)
→

A 30-year-old movement shooter and connective wing — exactly the kind of floor-spacer Cleveland's stars need around them. He sat out the 2025-26 season, so there's no current sample to grade, but his value has always been the catch-and-shoot three and willing team defense on the wing.

9.4
PPG
4.3
RPG
3.2
APG
0.5
SPG
0.2
BPG
GP 50MPG 25.5FG% 44.23P% 38.6FT% 82.4TS% 60.7USG% 14.7PER 12.6BPM +1.3VORP 1.1EPM +0.8
2024-25 regular season · bars are percentile at his position

NBA player ratings

0–99 · 2024-25 form
Inside finishing97
Playmaking92
Shooting87
Scoring79
Perimeter defense69
Rebounding68
Rim protection60

Skill ratings are 2024-25 per-game and advanced stats (Basketball-Reference) ranked 0–99 within position (guards vs guards, bigs vs bigs). Overall is anchored to EPM impact on a non-linear curve, nudged by these skills; Offense and Defense come from box plus-minus. A player who missed the latest season is shown from his most recent one.

Career

2019-20 to 2025-26 · 7 seasons
10.4
PPG
3.5
RPG
2.3
APG
321
GAMES
Points 3,343Win Shares 16.0Starts 161Best season 2023-24 · 12.2 ppg
Games played, last three seasons54%

Regular season, 2003-04 onward (Basketball-Reference). Averages are weighted by games played; honours count awards won, not finishes. “Current players” means the 802 who played in the last three seasons.

Trajectory

2023-24 → 2025-26 · age 27 → 29
▬Steady

Max, at 29, was as productive as ever when he played, but managed only 12 games last season, so his value to a team dipped (2.7 → 1.4 wins).

2026-27 forecast▲ 3.8 wins (+2.5)
Assumes a normal season; he played 12 games last year. Age takes about 0.3 wins off at 30. Range 2.3–5.3 wins.
Production (BPM)-0.6 → -1.2-0.626-27 forecast -0.2
Only 288 minutes last season, too few to call a trend.
2023-24: -0.6 · 70 games2024-25: +1.3 · 50 games2025-26: -1.2 · 12 games2026-27: -0.2 (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Value to team (wins)2.7 → 1.4-1.326-27 forecast 3.8
Down because he played 12 games last season, not because his game slipped.
2023-24: 2.7 · 70 games2024-25: 3.2 · 50 games2025-26: 1.4 · 12 games2026-27: 3.8 (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Contract value2026-27: worth $9.5M vs $16.7M salary−$7.2M
He is paid more than his play is projected to be worth.
$16.7M salary2023-24: $5.9M · 70 games2024-25: $7.4M · 50 games2025-26: $3.4M · 12 games2026-27: $9.5M (forecast)23-2425-2626-27
Current deal: $16,660,836 cap hit · through '27. On the contract row the flat dashed line is this salary, so the gap to the 2026-27 forecast is the surplus.

Seasons from Basketball-Reference (2023-24 → 2025-26). Production is box plus-minus, a per-possession measure. Value is VORP-based wins, so it also counts games played. Contract value is what each season’s play would fetch on the open market. The dotted 2026-27 point is a forecast: his established level, a year older, assuming a normal season.

Contract

2026-27
$16,660,836Guaranteed
9% of the club’s payroll · 3rd of 17 priced deals
Runs through1 season
Est. market value$9,508,000 /yr
Surplus−$7,152,836
ABOVE VALUEpaid above his on-court value

Market value is an estimate, not a reported figure: what his play is forecast to fetch on the open market in 2026-27 — his current rating, a year older. Cap thresholds are projected for 2026-27 until the league sets them.

2026-27 off-season

1 move

OFFICIAL means the league’s own records carry the move; AGREED means a trusted insider reported it and the league has not processed it yet. Terms and attribution come from the wire, which is the only source that carries them.

Plays like

same position

Nearest skill profiles across the seven rating axes — who he plays like, not who is as good. The rating beside each name answers that second question.