Max Strus will miss start of season for Clippers due to latest foot injury
Max Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot, and will be evaluated again in four weeks.
Los Angeles Clippers guard Max Strus will be out for at least a month with a foot injury.
Strus left Sunday's preseason win over the Golden State Warriors in Hawaii early after about five minutes after he pulled up with a non-contact injury. He limped off to the locker room and didn't return.
The team announced on Monday that Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot. He'll be reevaluated again in four weeks, meaning he will miss at least the start of the regular season.
Strus averaged 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, though he played in only 12 games while dealing with a broken left foot . He was traded to the Clippers in August in a three-team deal that sent Peyton Watson to the Cavaliers.
Strus is in the final year of a four-year, $62 million deal he first signed with the Cavaliers before the 2023-24 campaign. He appeared in only 50 games during the 2024-25 season, and has played in more than 70 games a year only twice in his seven-year career in the league.
The injury is just the latest significant one for the Clippers this offseason. Forward Brandon Ingram has a partially torn Achilles tendon , and will also miss the start of the season. It's not clear how long Ingram will be sidelined, but the team expects he could need about six fewer months of rehab than he would if it were a full Achilles tear.
Ingram was acquired in the trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, which was finally completed last month after the conclusion of the NBA's investigation into the Clippers over salary-cap circumvention regarding Leonard . The Clippers also got Gradey Dick and unprotected first-round picks in 2031 and 2033 in the deal.
The Clippers will open the regular season at home against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 21. While Strus' injury doesn't sound anywhere near as significant as Ingram's, he will now not be able to make his debut with the franchise until early November, at best.
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