Cavs’ Caris LeVert will be valuable PnR scoring option for stretches

With the injuries to the Cleveland Cavaliers guards this season, it was hardly surprising when the Wine and Gold dealt for Caris LeVert in a trade with the Indiana Pacers the weekend before last. The Cavaliers have been without Collin Sexton for the vast majority of the season to this point, and as of late December, Cleveland was without Ricky Rubio.

As a result, the lack of shot creation and consistent penetration from the backcourt put an added onus on Darius Garland, and while he’s taken a significant leap in Year 3, it was apparent that the Cavs needed more backcourt/wing help.

Now, it will take some time for LeVert to get his footing with his new squad, and new set of teammates, but early on, we’ve seen some of his shot creation on display. There’s been ups and downs for LeVert thus far, as he’s had 13.3 points and 3.8 assists per contest in four games with Cleveland; his effective field goal shooting clip has been only 43.1 percent, though.

It will be somewhat fluid as to whether or not Cleveland will end up featuring LeVert regularly as a starter or as a bench supersub-type player as well; regardless, he’ll get a steady diet of minutes with Cleveland’s significant contributors. He has averaged 31.0 minutes of play in his four games with the Cavaliers, for context.

What’s a clear way LeVert can provide an added element for the Cavaliers for stretches following the All-Star break, and hopefully in a postseason run, is him as an added pick-and-roll option. That’s in relation to how he can be an additional quality pick-and-roll scorer, and in turn, playmaker off that, too.

As he becomes more comfortable with the Cavs, LeVert should be a quality second PnR option for stretches.

It’s again unclear as to whether LeVert will end up accompanying Garland in the starting lineup regularly or being a supersub-type guy that eventually plays starter’s minutes anyhow. At the moment, I’d probably expect LeVert to come off the bench more to start games; to me, that’s somewhat immaterial.

Regarding LeVert’s skill set, though, while there are definitely instances where you would like the dude to let things come to him from movement, similarly to the injured Sexton, the Cavaliers went out and traded for LeVert for his on-ball abilities.

And in that realm, as we’ve seen in some instances early on, the Michigan product and Columbus native (ironically) can provide Cleveland with another viable PnR scoring option fairly regularly aside from Garland. We saw some of that in the mid-range pull-up game from Rubio, and when he’s healthy, even with some inconsistencies at times, Sexton is more than capable of producing as a pick-and-roll scorer, and his secondary playmaking off that improved last season.

In LeVert’s case, his shooting has been spotty so far with Cleveland, however, it’s been a four-game sample, and on the plus side, he has at least often gotten good looks. Some of those just haven’t been going yet, and I would think as he gets more comfortable with his teammates, LeVert will get rolling.

Caris is a player that can function in stretches as a key PnR scoring presence, whether it’s probing the defense to get to floater looks, or with him getting to pull-ups. That was on display from him over the years back with the Brooklyn Nets before he was dealt to Indiana early on last season, and for the Cavs, he can ease the PnR shot creation, and to some extent, playmaking workload for Garland.

Along with the pull-ups/side step looks and floaters, we’ll see LeVert be a valuable driving presence that is far more polished than Isaac Okoro; Okoro is just in his second season, in fairness. But in LeVert’s case, he’s been 10th in the league in drives per game this season, has been seventh in driving points per game, and has shot a respectable 49.7 percent on those looks, all per Second Spectrum.

Throughout middle stretches, and in crunch time, Cleveland will want LeVert attacking the rim, in that regard, and when Lauri Markkanen is back, his shooting/spacing presence should help LeVert, among others, as a catch-and-shoot option to kick it out to. Markkanen is progressing in relation to his recovery from a high ankle sprain, also, and is reportedly ramping up his workouts, for what it’s worth.

Now, LeVert’s not the driving passer Garland is; he’s still capable, though, and Caris can hit skip feeds and cutters from the perimeter. And I’d imagine as he gets more comfortable playing with Kevin Love, we could see some nice pick-and-pop connections playing off of LeVert’s driving presence.

Anyway, to drive it home, LeVert being a quality second PnR scoring option should pay off for Cleveland the rest of the regular season, and I do believe he can help the club in postseason play in that regard, provided they get him further acclimated. I’m also factoring in how the Cavs should be able to work him into the offensive system still as a cutter and off-ball presence, too.