Max Strus is out at least four weeks with a torn plantar fascia and Keaton Wagler's Clippers role just grew

The Los Angeles Clippers lost another wing before the games count. Max Strus suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot during Sunday's preseason win over the Golden State Warriors in Honolulu, and the team says he will be reevaluated in four weeks. That timeline wipes out the rest of his preseason and pushes him past the Oct. 21 regular-season opener at home against the Sacramento Kings.

Strus went down with a non-contact injury roughly four minutes into the game, with 7:50 left in the first quarter, limped off and did not return. The Clippers still won 104-101, and the player who made the winning shot is the one fantasy managers should be thinking about now: No. 5 overall pick Keaton Wagler, whose late step-back jumper put Los Angeles back in front.

A second straight foot problem for Strus

This is a worrying medical history for a 29-year-old shooter whose game depends on movement. Strus suffered a Jones fracture in his left foot during offseason training in August 2025, had surgery on Aug. 26 and missed the first 67 games of last season with Cleveland before making his debut on March 15 against Dallas. He played on managed minutes the rest of the way, and NBA.com reports he appeared in 12 games for the Cavaliers, averaging 11.2 points and 5.4 rebounds.

The Clippers acquired him on Aug. 20 in a five-team trade with Cleveland, Denver, Charlotte and Washington. The headline pieces of that deal went elsewhere (Peyton Watson and Cam Whitmore to the Cavaliers, Dennis Schroder to the Hornets), but for Los Angeles it was about adding a floor-spacing starter. Strus is in the final season of his four-year contract, so this injury also clouds a contract year.

The new injury is to the right foot, not the surgically repaired left one. Plantar fascia tears are notoriously hard to put a firm date on, and "reevaluated in four weeks" is a checkpoint rather than a return date. The realistic read is that Strus misses at least the first two weeks of the regular season, and managers should plan for longer.

The Clippers' growing injury list

Strus is the latest name on a list that already looked thin for a team trying to stay competitive after Kawhi Leonard's departure to Toronto.

Ingram, another offseason addition, was already ruled out for the start of the season. Beal, 33, signed a two-year, $13.2 million deal this summer after hip surgery ended his 2025-26 season after six games, and he opened camp sidelined by knee inflammation. Reports have not suggested his regular-season availability is in serious danger, but he is not a reliable answer to the Strus hole right now either.

Who starts in his place

Ty Lue opened training camp with a first unit of Darius Garland, Strus, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura and Isaiah Jackson, while saying before camp that only a couple of starting spots were truly locked in. With Strus out, local coverage has framed the open spot as a choice between Wagler and Kris Dunn.

Kris Dunn is the conservative option. He gives Lue a defensive guard next to Garland and keeps the rookie in a bench role where he can handle the ball. Some early opening-night depth charts already slotted Dunn at shooting guard, with Brook Lopez at center instead of Jackson, which would make for a defense-first group of Garland, Dunn, Jones, Hachimura and Lopez.

Keaton Wagler is the upside option. He played 30 minutes off the bench in Honolulu and finished with 15 points and two steals, but the shooting line was ugly: 3-of-15 from the field and 1-of-11 from three. He got to the line nine times and made eight, and he wanted the ball at winning time. Whether he starts or not, his minutes look secure because the Clippers simply do not have many healthy perimeter options.

Here is how the main Clippers contributors looked in the opener, per postgame reports:

Fantasy fallout

Max Strus: In most standard leagues, Strus was a late-round or waiver-level shooter anyway, valued for threes and some rebounding from the wing. A four-week reevaluation plus a fresh foot injury on top of last year's Jones fracture makes him a clear drop in shallow formats and an IL stash only in deep leagues with open IL spots. Do not draft him in the middle rounds of anything.

Keaton Wagler: He is the biggest beneficiary. Rookies on teams with this many injured wings tend to get long leashes, and Wagler already showed he will take volume and draw fouls. The efficiency is the risk. A 1-of-11 night from deep is one preseason game, but if that profile holds early, he will hurt field-goal percentage in category leagues. In points leagues, volume and free throws carry more weight, which makes him more appealing there. He moves into the late-round dart category in 12-team leagues and is a priority pick in deeper formats and rookie-heavy dynasty leagues.

Rui Hachimura: Already projected to start at power forward on a team short on forwards, Hachimura looks like the most efficient secondary scorer in this group early. With Ingram, Strus and Beal all unavailable or uncertain, his usage has room to grow. He is a reasonable mid-to-late pick for managers who want points and three-pointers without killing percentages.

Darius Garland: The offense runs through him. More missing scorers around him means more shot attempts and more on-ball reps, which supports his assist and points floor. His fantasy stock ticks up slightly with every wing the Clippers lose.

Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr.: These are steals-and-blocks specialists more than scorers. If Dunn wins the starting job, he becomes a streamable defensive stats option in deep leagues, but neither is a draft target in standard formats.

What to do in your league

If you are drafting this week, slide Strus well down your board or off it entirely in standard leagues. Bump Wagler up into the final rounds, with a stronger bump in points formats, and treat Hachimura as a quiet value who could outperform his draft slot while the Clippers are shorthanded.

If you already drafted Strus, hold only if you have an IL slot to spare and your league is deep enough that replacement-level shooters are hard to find. Otherwise, the waiver wire will offer a healthier three-point specialist.

For anyone looking at Clippers win totals or early-season futures, the main concern is wing depth. A team that opens without Ingram and Strus and with Beal's knee unsettled is leaning on a rookie, Dunn and Jones for perimeter minutes. That is a real hit to their early ceiling, even if the top of the rotation stays healthy. For game-by-game lines once the season starts, readers can check the model's full card at /nba/predictions.

What's next

The Clippers continue their preseason schedule over the next two weeks, and the starting shooting guard spot is now the main lineup battle to watch. If Wagler starts multiple preseason games, that is a strong signal for opening night. If Dunn starts and Wagler closes games, his fantasy value stays mostly volume-based off the bench.

Strus' four-week reevaluation lands in early November. Watch also for Beal's return to practice and any update on Kobe Sanders' hip. Each healthy body returns minutes to the rotation and trims the opportunity currently flowing to Wagler, so his best fantasy window may be the first few weeks of the season.