Max Strus Out to Start Season With Torn Plantar Fascia in Right Foot
The Clippers newcomer gets a four-week re-eval after a partial plantar fascia tear, joining a brutal early-season injury pileup in L.A.
Minutes bump is coming, but his form has been ice-cold.
- Partial plantar fascia tear, right foot
- Re-evaluated in four weeks, misses opener
- Missed most of 2025-26 with left-foot fracture
- 5 potential rotation players out for L.A.
- Dick: 10.8 FPTS/G in 76 games (2025-26)
Max Strus can't catch a break, and neither can his feet. The Clippers announced that Strus partially tore the plantar fascia in his right foot during Sunday's preseason game. He'll be re-evaluated in four weeks, which rules him out for the start of the regular season.
It's a cruel echo of last year. Strus missed the bulk of the 2025-26 season with a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left foot that needed surgery, then returned for a dozen games with Cleveland before a bigger playoff role convinced the Clippers to go get him. L.A. sent a pick to Washington in a five-team deal this summer, shipping out John Collins (24.9 fantasy pts/game in 69 games last season, 2025-26, now in Detroit) to land him.
An Injury Room, Not a Rotation
Here's the part that should make Clippers fans nervous: Strus isn't the only one on the shelf. As Clutch Points' Tomer Azarly pointed out, L.A. could field an entire starting five from its injured list — Jordan Miller (shoulder surgery), Bradley Beal (knee), Strus, Brandon Ingram (partially torn Achilles) and Yanic Konan Niederhauser (foot). Four of them, everyone but Beal in that group, are expected to miss the opener.
Ingram is the big fantasy domino here. He put up 21.5 points, 5.6 boards and 3.7 assists for 35.9 fantasy pts/game across 77 games last season (2025-26), good for our rank of #48, and an Achilles tear changes everything about his timeline. Beal, meanwhile, managed just 6 games at 11.7 fantasy pts/game before his knee issue — he's unranked for a reason.
Who Soaks Up the Minutes
With Strus down, the opportunity flows to rookie Keaton Wagler and especially Gradey Dick. On paper, Dick is the obvious beneficiary of extra wing run, but temper the excitement: he averaged a thin 10.8 fantasy pts/game over 76 games last season (2025-26), ranking #355 overall, and his last five games trended 6.5 fantasy points below even that modest baseline.
For fantasy managers, Strus is a stash-only name in deep leagues — don't burn a roster spot waiting out a four-week re-eval on a guy with back-to-back foot injuries. Dick is a watch-list add if you need streaming bodies, but let him earn a real role before you trust him. The Clippers' depth chart is a minefield right now, and chasing these minutes is a gamble until the names on the injury report start coming off it.
