Given their injuries to the backcourt, the Cleveland Cavaliers had long been rumored to have interest in the likes of Caris LeVert, Eric Gordon, Terrence Ross and Buddy Hield, among others.
The Cavaliers have recently been without Darius Garland, who has been dealing with back soreness even prior to it seemingly, and he’s missed the past four games for Cleveland. Back issues are tricky, and hopefully in due time, the recently-named All-Star reserve can get himself right.
The Cavaliers have been without Collin Sexton, beyond that, since back in November because of a torn meniscus, and he’ll likely be out for the rest of the season. Plus, Cleveland had been without Ricky Rubio since late December, in relation to a torn ACL.
The gist is, with Garland banged up recently, and with other ailments, it wouldn’t have been surprising to have seen Cleveland make a move for backcourt/more perimeter help. Along those lines, it was reported on Sunday afternoon prior to their game against the Indiana Pacers, that the Cavs ended up acquiring Pacers guard/wing Caris LeVert via trade, to go with an Indiana 2022 second-round pick via the Miami Heat.
In exchange, the Cavs sent Rubio’s expiring contract, their lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick via the Houston Rockets and a 2027 second-round pick via the Utah Jazz. Indiana got a nice return, honestly, for LeVert, but I do get why the Cavaliers made this move, as LeVert can ease the pressure on Garland, and Cleveland’s bigs, to some degree, and LeVert can create for himself and others.
He’s had 18.7 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per outing this season for Indiana, and could help Cleveland’s offense in the scoring and playmaking sense, while feasibly being a late-clock bailout option, and/or for potentially down the stretch. The 27-year-old is a capable driver, transition player and can go to work in the pull-up game, a la Sexton.
We’ll have to see how he meshes with other guys, hopefully in due time.
As an aside, though, it is also cool that LeVert is an Ohio native as well, and with that in mind, it was great to see a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that in that realm, he’s excited to get rolling with the Cavs, and that home state connection did jump out. LeVert went to high school in Pickerington Central in the Columbus area, and was a standout at Michigan, where he played for four seasons before being drafted in 2016 by the Pacers, who then traded him shortly thereafter to the Brooklyn Nets.
LeVert is thrilled with the chance to return to his Ohio home and join an emerging contender with Cavs. He gives Cleveland a significant wing player who'll be eligible for an extension this summer. Pacers get Cavs first-round pick and a Houston second that'll be in low 30's.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 6, 2022
Following the deal, Cavaliers recently-promoted President of Basketball Ops Koby Altman touched on how LeVert will fit with culture of the squad, and that his Ohio roots bring “an immediate connection to our community.”
"Caris LeVert fits uniquely into our culture and his Ohio roots brings an immediate connection to our community."
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) February 7, 2022
📝 Join @CavsJoeG as he sums up the addition of some serious firepower with @CarisLeVert
LeVert’s clearly excited to get going with the Cavs, and rep Ohio, too.
LeVert was essentially another acquisition for Cleveland linked to the James Harden trade from last season, for what it’s worth, as Joe Gabriele of Cavs.com noted.
That’s with Taurean Prince factored in as salary-matching with Jarrett Allen, the Milwaukee Bucks’ unprotected 2022 first, and then Rubio being acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Prince with draft capital/cash. LeVert was originally involved in the deal as a former Net in ultimately going to Indy as part of it, too, and now the Cavaliers link to him from it is there from what was stated.
Circling back, anyway, while I’d expect it to take some time to see how LeVert fits in well with the Cavaliers, it’s good to see how he’s pumped to play for the Wine and Gold, who looks to be an emerging squad in the Eastern Conference.
And LeVert having an inherent connection to Ohio as a Columbus native should draw him to Cavs fans from the jump, and it seemingly already has.
Granted, the dude was a star for Michigan, but that doesn’t mean anything looking past that, though.
Now, we’ll again have to see how things get ironed out for LeVert within the Cavaliers system, as he admittedly had some rocky moments within the Pacers’ system this season.
However, with how the Cavaliers have been bought-in this season in that way, and with how Sexton himself pre-injury seemed to turn a corner as a passer this season, despite the assist splits, and did so last season, I am confident they’ll figure it out with LeVert.
Him re-joining his former Nets teammate in Allen could help, to some extent, from that chemistry standpoint, too, and as Wojnarowski expressed, if this bodes well, LeVert is extension-eligible. Cleveland has to have had that in mind here.
Lastly, while it’s not regarding LeVert, it was nice to see the Cavs/Altman, via Gabriele, show their gratitude to Rubio and his family for how he helped move things forward for this Cavaliers squad as well. I wish him the best of luck in his continued recovery.