Report: Cavs sharpshooters expected to be ready for season opener barring setbacks

Two of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ top perimeter shooters are dealing with injuries at the moment. Max Strus suffered a hip contusion in Cleveland’s preseason opener against the Chicago Bulls earlier in the month, and Sam Merrill has been dealing with a wrist issue.

However, on the bright side, the expectation is that both Strus and Merrill will be good to go for the Cavaliers’ season opener against the Toronto Raptors on Oct. 23, barring any setbacks.

“Cavs sharpshooters Max Strus and Sam Merrill, both of whom have missed the last two preseason games because of injury, continue to make steady improvements,” Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor wrote.

“Sources tell cleveland.com that, barring any setbacks over the next few days, Strus and Merrill are expected to be ready for the regular season opener in Toronto on Wednesday night.”

Merrill and Strus were two of Cleveland’s more prolific 3-point shooters in terms of volume as well as efficiency last season. Starting with accuracy, Merrill knocked down 40.4 percent of his 3s during the 2023-24 regular season, his first season as a somewhat consistent rotation member in the NBA. Strus, on the other hand, saw a respectable 35.1 percent of his 3-point attempts find the bottom of the net in his maiden season in Cleveland.

The pair of sharpshooters also ranked in the top five on the team in 3-point attempts per contest. Strus took 6.8 3s per game on average, which was the second-most of any player on the team behind only Donovan Mitchell. As for Merrill, he averaged 5.8 attempts per game from deep, ranking fourth despite the fact that he received just 17.5 minutes of playing time per game (usually off the bench).

The pair’s ability to score the ball from deep makes life easier for the likes of Mitchell and Darius Garland on the offensive end of the floor as well. Because Strus and Merrill can space the floor so well, they open up driving lanes for the two undersized guards.

The Cavaliers were a solid 3-point shooting team last season, and for that to continue in the 2024-25 campaign, Strus and Merrill will likely need to be on the floor for Cleveland regularly.

So, with any luck, neither of them will suffer any setbacks leading up to the bout against the Raptors on Wednesday. But in an ideal world, the Cavaliers would win that game regardless, as Toronto is on the heels of a 25-win season.