Caris LeVert is starting to find his balance with the Cavs

There’s been inconsistencies for the Cleveland Cavaliers as a team in general since the All-Star break, injuries aside, and it’s been somewhat disappointing to see the team hit road bumps since late February.

Not having Jarrett Allen for an extended period hasn’t helped, among other injuries at times, but there have still been positives in recent weeks, and fortunately, Allen (fractured finger) and at least Evan Mobley (ankle sprain) could potentially be back soon. Mobley could reportedly be back on Friday night at the Brooklyn Nets; we’ll have to see.

As far as other positives lately, though, while there’s been ups and downs, it does appear as if Caris LeVert is starting to find rhythm game-to-game with the Cavaliers. Yes, I know that at times, he’s seemingly self-starting, but to some extent, the Cavs do need him to create for himself to lead to solid shots, and to take some pressure off of Darius Garland for stretches.

That’s just naturally going to happen; that being said, LeVert has helped more of late as a secondary playmaker as he’s gotten more time in with the Cavs. That balance has been a positive takeaway from recent games, in my opinion, and hopefully that can play out more in maybe the next two games and in the play-in tournament/ideally postseason.

There’s undoubtedly been some lumps, but LeVert is starting to find his balance with the Cavs.

Since LeVert was acquired via trade near the deadline from the Indiana Pacers, it’s taken time to get him settled in with the Wine and Gold.

In his time with the Cavaliers thus far, LeVert has had 13.9 points per outing on 51.0 percent true shooting, with him hitting 34.4 percent from three-point range. He’s had 3.8 assists per game in 17 appearances with Cleveland as well, to an average of 1.8 turnovers.

There’s been some lumps, as we noted, and at times, he’s looked out of sorts, and has seemingly attributed to stagnant offense in set play.

That being said, while there still are instances where he’s going to take some tough shots, just like Collin Sexton when he’s in there, both of those guys can create for themselves a fair amount as drivers and pull-up threats in the mid-range, and the Cavs need that.

On the plus side, though, and I credit Sexton’s growth in this area, too, before he was injured early on, LeVert seems to be finding his balance more with the Cavaliers over his time with them. He looks to be finding his spots more in how to play off of Darius Garland, which has led to more quality catch-and-shoot looks from deep, where he’s more capable than on-ball, and LeVert has found more spots to attack himself.

In his last 10 appearances, seven of which have been starts, he’s averaged 14.7 points per outing on 55.7 percent true shooting. That’s to go with 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 30.1 minutes in that stretch.

Granted, there have been off games, and some probably weren’t thrilled with 11 points and only eight shots at the Orlando Magic on Tuesday for him, in a crushing loss, with KJG’s John Suchan being one of them. LeVert’s 32-point performance versus the Dallas Mavericks last week in a loss was, by the skeptics, all for naught, too, as he was a minus-18 in that outing. A few key clunkers have really hurt his plus-minus splits in this 10-game stretch, for what it’s worth, as he’s a minus-7.5 in that span.

However, to me, as he’s gotten more time with Cleveland and since his return from the foot sprain, it seems as if LeVert’s finding his balance between playing off of Garland more, self-creation and helping more as a ball-mover. In two of Cleveland’s past three before the L to Orlando, LeVert did have seven and six assists in a close loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday and in a convincing win at the New York Knicks on Saturday.

From my perspective, while the Cavaliers need a big game from him ideally at one of his former clubs in the Nets on Friday in a crucial game for play-in seeding, generally, LeVert’s balance of late has been a positive sign.

For this team to potentially navigate through the play-in and make a possible postseason run, he’ll need to be consistent in that regard. And that is key moving forward, if LeVert were to stick around long term/be extended.