Max Strus dealt to Clippers, Chicago guy heads west

Max Strus has spent the last 8 years as a regular on thestretchpod, and he was sitting in his usual seat behind the mic when word came down that the Cavaliers had shipped him to the Los Angeles Clippers. That's not a bit — that's just how fast the NBA offseason moves in late August.

Chief

@BarstoolChief

Eight year @thestretchpod veteran Max Strus joins the show RIGHT BEFORE he gets traded to the Clippers

The deal itself is a lot bigger than one guy getting reassigned. Per reporting, Cleveland, Denver and the Clippers worked out a five-team framework that sends Peyton Watson and Cam Whitmore to the Cavs, an unprotected 2031 first-round pick and a 2032 Kings second-rounder to the Nuggets, and Strus out to LA. The Clippers landed him for a 2027 second-round pick and absorbed his $16.6 million salary using a trade exception they'd built earlier in the offseason during the John Collins deal — meaning they didn't have to give up a single rotation piece to get him.

For Barstool Chicago, though, the real hook is where Strus is from. He's a Chicago-area product through and through, a Stagg High School guy who's kept his hometown ties tight even while bouncing from Miami to Cleveland. That local flavor is exactly what got played up in Barstool Chicago's own hit on the trade.

Barstool Chicago

@barstoolchicago

Max Strus is a Chicago guy through and through @ModeloUSA

Worth noting: that Bears clip spliced in isn't actual Strus footage — it's old B-roll of a Bears player wearing No. 54, used purely as shorthand for Chicago sports pride, not a literal cameo from Strus. Basketball and football, two different sports, one shared zip code.

Watson, the centerpiece heading to Cleveland in the swap, reportedly signed a new 4-year, $88 million deal as part of the move, complete with a player option and trade kicker — a sign of how much value Denver and Cleveland see in him long-term. Strus, by comparison, slots into LA as a proven floor-spacer, the kind of veteran shooter contenders like to stash for the stretch run of a playoff push.

The irony of the timing isn't lost on anybody who listens to the show — a guy who's been talking hoops on Stretch Run for the better part of a decade got dealt live, essentially, while sitting in the chair. Strus now heads to a Clippers roster looking to squeeze one more real run out of its championship window, and Chicago gets to claim one more NBA name with local roots, even if he's never actually suited up for a Chicago team.