Clippers Lose Key Player To Torn Plantar Fascia
League sources have confirmed to @ClutchPoints that Max Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot during Sunday’s preseason game against the Warriors. Strus is out indefinitely entering the start of the 2026-27 season. ESPN was first to report.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) October 5, 2026
The Clippers say that Max Strus will be reevaluated in four weeks.
The incident occured during Sunday’s first exhibition game of the preseason, against the Golden State Warriors. But in reality, the injury shouldn't come as much of a surprise, given Strus's past history.
This will mark the 3rd consecutive season that Max Strus will miss the beginning of due to a foot injury. • In 2024, he missed multiple weeks due to a right ankle sprain. • In 2025, he missed most of the season with the Jones fracture in his left foot. • Now in 2026, he is expected to miss multiple weeks with the partial plantar fascia tear.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) October 5, 2026
As Tomer Azarly of Clutch Points notes, this will mark the 3rd consecutive season that Max Strus will miss the beginning of the year due to a foot injury.
The 30-year-old, a three-point marksman, was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a complex five-team trade that also involved the Denver Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Washington Wizards. Peyton Watson wound up going to Cleveland in the most notable part of that deal.
This injury to Strus follows the recent news that their newly acquired star scorer Brandon Ingram would also be out for a while after it was revealed this week that he also had a partially torn right Achilles tendon repaired during surgery in May on his heel.
The Clippers are entering a tough era for the team, after being severely punished by the NBA for their cap circumvention scandal involving Kawhi Leonard (who has since been traded back to the Toronto Raptors). The Clips were stripped of their next five first-round draft picks, and their owner and front office personnel were suspended for lengthy periods.
The Strus & Ingram news adds "injury to insult", if you will.