The Cleveland Cavaliers had reportedly been seeking perimeter help for a while with their injuries, and with that in mind, it wasn’t surprising that they eventually acquired Caris LeVert via trade with the Indiana Pacers last weekend. Cleveland sent out Ricky Rubio’s expiring contract, their own 2022 first-round pick, lottery-protected, a 2022 second-round pick via the Houston Rockets and a 2027 second-round pick via the Utah Jazz to Indiana.
Now, in my opinion, Cleveland gave up a fair amount for LeVert, but with Rubio being done for the season, and Collin Sexton likely, it appeared to just be a matter of time before the Cavaliers got perimeter/wing help to ease the workload on Darius Garland.
Garland’s had to carry Cleveland, to a large degree, for extended stretches offensively since Rubio’s injury, and LeVert can aid the team by taking some pressure off Garland, in the shot creation and to some extent, playmaking sense.
Garland had missed Cleveland’s past four games prior to their win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday because of lower back soreness, also, and that back soreness has been an issue for much longer it seems. He’s considered day-to-day, but he missed Cleveland’s comeback win over Indiana on Friday, and it’s something that the Cavaliers will still have to manage.
In LeVert’s case, after the deal went down on Sunday and was made official early this week, he made his debut with the Cavaliers in that Spurs game, finishing with 11 points.
He shot only 4-of-11, but in his first game in a new situation, he did fine, and I thought still did some good things in other ways in his 28 minutes in what was a quality Cavs win. In Cleveland’s win on Friday, where they somehow were at one point down 21 points early on, LeVert was one of the key reasons why the Cavs eventually chipped away and pulled it out, and he was huge down the stretch, with a number of key buckets.
It was somewhat noteworthy that LeVert came off the bench in that first appearance with the Cavs, though, even with it being his first contest with them. And based on recent comments from Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Wednesday, via Evan Dammarell of Fear The Sword and Right Down Euclid, it’s going to take some time before the team decides if he should start or more often come off the bench.
#Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he and his staff won't have set lineups and rotations with Caris LeVert figured out by the All-Star break. It's going to take Cleveland time.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) February 10, 2022
LeVert did end up starting at Indiana, and filled in some as a lead playmaker, where he got better as the game progressed, and ended up 22 points and five assists.
I could maybe foresee LeVert starting some still, and likely will keep doing so on a number of occasions, but he could maybe just come off the bench a fair amount as the go-to guy in that realm, and assuredly still play starter’s minutes, or 30-plus minutes pretty regularly.
LeVert might end up coming off the Cavs bench regularly, which would be fine.
First, we’ll examine how LeVert could function in that sixth man-type role often to start out with Cleveland, and then they could guage things from there.
Examining how LeVert could start out in bench role first, but it might be fluid
For now, with what Isaac Okoro brings defensively, and with him showing gradual progression offensively, he could still very well keep starting, when Garland’s active that is, as Okoro’s been doing since Collin Sexton’s injury mostly.
I get that Okoro is not close to the offensive contributor LeVert is, but either way as we expressed, LeVert will get a bunch of opportunities to create for himself and playmake for others, whether that’s off the bench or eventually more as a starter.
Regardless, with LeVert having experience as both a starter, which has been more in recent seasons, and as a bench guy, like back with the Brooklyn Nets earlier on, I think it’ll be somewhat fluid as to what the Cavs eventually decide to do for his role.
This is factoring in that Dean Wade has filled in his share of starts as a 3 this season when Lauri Markkanen has been out, and for defensive and catch-and-shoot purposes, until Markkanen is back from his ankle sprain, I’d favor that over Cedi Osman.
Wade seems to be a guy that plays well off of Darius Garland, along with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, and whether LeVert for stretches plays at the 2 or 3, in games he’s a supersub-type guy, is something Cleveland can guage by gameflow.
Perhaps the Cavaliers should insert LeVert again into the starting lineup in these next two games before the All-Star break, whether or not Garland is in; Garland is listed as probable on Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers currently.
Either way, in the next few weeks post-All-Star break, they should be able to feel out if they want him starting. That’s in the event Markkanen is ultimately back, which would seem highly likely after the All-Star break, as he is seemingly progressing tangibly.
After the Cavs get LeVert more acclimated, they’ll be able to guage whether they want him starting, and start to get their rotation more set
To reiterate, it’ll likely take some stretch of games, based on Bickerstaff’s comments via the aforementioned Dammarell, to see if it’s more sensible to have LeVert start or come off the bench more.
That’ll feasibly be a storyline to pay close attention to as we get further into the season, and the Wine and Gold gear up for a postseason push, where they’ll try to potentially get homecourt advantage in a first-round series.
Cleveland is currently sitting at the second seed in the Eastern Conference, and just one game back of the top-seeded Miami Heat; the standings have been changing day-to-day so often, however, and we’ll have to see how things shake out for the Cavaliers from here. Saturday night’s matchup is the Cavs’ first against the new-look 76ers of the regular season, to that point; they likely won’t have recent trade acquisition James Harden (hamstring injury) this go-round, though.
In any case, what is imperative is that the Cavs give LeVert enough opportunities to get his chemistry down with both Cleveland’s key offensive contributors, and in my opinion, it’d behoove the Cavs to also get him minutes with other regular rotation bench guys. And that’s definitely doable still, I believe. The likes of Kevin Love and Cedi Osman come to mind in that realm, for example, but we’ll have to see in regards to players such as Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade, especially when Markkanen is back.
Diddo for what plays out in relation to LeVert’s role going forward and as the team looks to solidify themselves in the postseason picture.
And depending on how things shake out/how he fits, in the offseason, the Cavs should have a better idea of what works with LeVert, and how they could involve Okoro still and hopefully (at least to me), one of the team’s best offensive weapons in Collin Sexton.
Cleveland does reportedly want to keep Sexton around in coming years, but it’s uncertain if he’ll end up being given a new deal, as he’s set to be a restricted free agent. I’d be all for that, it’s just tough to say right now what will transpire.