The Cleveland Cavaliers have added a significant piece to their roster just days before the NBA trade deadline.
News broke shortly before 4:30 PM Sunday that the Cavaliers were acquiring Caris LeVert from the Indiana Pacers; you can view more as far as the reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski here.
LeVert’s name had been linked to the Cavaliers for several weeks, and the rumors had been heating up recently.
In the deal, Cleveland sent Ricky Rubio to Indiana, their first-round draft pick this season and their second-round pick via the Houston Rockets from this season, and a future 2027 second-round pick via the Utah Jazz. It was rumored that Indiana was asking for potentially more in any deal involving LeVert, but Cleveland was able to land him without giving up any key pieces of their current rotation.
While giving up two decent draft picks for the 2022 draft is tough, the Cavaliers are turning those picks into a proven player in LeVert. With the Cavaliers competitive window now wide open, using draft picks to acquire proven talent is something they could surely be doing more of in the future.
The addition of LeVert makes sense because the Cavaliers were seeking perimeter help since Collin Sexton went down with a season-ending injury, and Rubio himself.
Over the years LeVert has developed into a reliable NBA scorer, but the biggest issue for him over the years has been his health. LeVert played in 71 games back in the 2017-18 season but since that year he hasn’t played in more than 47 games.
Cleveland added a proven scorer to an already talented roster, though, and LeVert’s addition to the Wine and Gold will be a welcomed one for several reasons.
However, there are two realistic expectations for the newest member of the Cavaliers, and we’ll get into those here.