The Cleveland Cavaliers took blow after blow to its shot creation last season, losing Collin Sexton 11 games into the season and Ricky Rubio a month later. Again and again the Cavs were reduced to leaning heavily on Darius Garland to generate any offense at all. It is to Garland’s credit that he shined despite that burden, but heading into the trade deadline it was clear he needed help.
Even so, it was a surprise that the help the Cavs sought out was Caris LeVert. The team locked in on LeVert and engaged in aggressive trade negotiations with the Indiana Pacers, reportedly out-bidding the New York Knicks to secure the deal. The trade included a pair of premium picks and the expiring contract of the injured Rubio, and thus LeVert became a Cavalier.
With just a few weeks of healthy games with the Cavs, the data is limited on Caris LeVert. From what we do have, how did LeVert do this season?
LeVert was brought in to alleviate the play creation burden on Garland, allowing him to occasionally move off-ball, and to carry the offense when Garland sat. Given his size at 6’6″ there was hope he could play either wing position, and indeed he got starts at shooting guard and small forward down the stretch for an injured Cavs squad.
How did LeVert do during his limited stint with the team? We are looking to evaluate his play on the court, not the asset management of the trade that brought him in. Did LeVert gel with his teammates and does he look like a fit with this roster moving forward?
Cavs Player Grades for Caris LeVert: Offensive Production
The raw numbers for Caris LeVert on offense are shaky right off the bat. He played in 19 regular-season games for the Cavs and averaged a pedestrian 13.6 points per game, which over a whole season would have been his worst mark since his second season with the Brooklyn Nets. He shot 43.5 percent from the field, just 31.3 percent from deep on limited attempts, and only dished 3.9 assists per game.
To his credit, however, the raw stats don’t tell the whole story. LeVert’s mere presence on the court helped the Cavaliers on offense, as suddenly defenses couldn’t key onto Darius Garland as heavily. Replacing a player such as Isaac Okoro or Lamar Stevens in lineups juiced the versatility of the offense, even if LeVert didn’t convert well when he did choose to shoot.
According to Cleaning the Glass, a website that filters out garbage time, Caris LeVert played 567 minutes for the Cavaliers and the offense was 5.1 points per possession better when he was on the court. The Cavs’ turnover rate plummeted and their free-throw rate skyrocketed, even if they didn’t necessarily shoot better.
Lineups specifically with both Caris LeVert and Darius Garland had a 118.4 offensive rating, a mark that would have led the league; the top-ranked Utah Jazz had just a 116.7 offensive rating. We’ll dig into what the Cavs gave back in just a moment, but clearly the idea that LeVert could help this offense perform at a higher rate was correct.
In summation: LeVert was inefficient scoring the basketball, but his overall impact on the offense was positive. Would LeVert or another player been more of a help if their shots had gone in? Absolutely. But LeVert’s reputation and ability to push the defense into rotation helped Garland and others have space to score.
Unfortunately, when the Cavs needed him to score the most he was unable to do so. In the Cavs’ two play-in games LeVert shot just 9-for-25 (36 percent); yet even then he totaled 12 assists and the Cavs were a cumulative +2 in his minutes. It’s a mixed-bag for LeVert, but certainly not as bad as his cold shooting suggests.
Grade: B
Cavs Player Grades for Caris LeVert: Defensive Impact
Parents, you may want to shield your children’s eyes while reading this next section. Caris LeVert, a wing with good size and strength and insulated by good defenders behind him on the back line, should have been able to at least hold up defensively. Instead, his work on that end of the court was an unmitigated disaster.
In the 567 minutes that LeVert played in Cleveland the defense gave up an extra 7.5 points per 100 possessions. For reference, that was the difference between the No. 1-ranked defense (the Boston Celtics) and the 25th (Washington Wizards) this season. That insanely negative impact by LeVert ranked in the fifth percentile of all players; that is, only four percent of players were less damaging on that end than LeVert.
We cited on the last slide that when LeVert and Garland shared the court the Cavs scored at a league-best rate; unfortunately, their shared defensive rating in such minutes was 116.0, which would have ranked 27th in the league, just ahead of the Indiana Pacers.
LeVert gets caught on screens easily, he doesn’t generate many turnovers and he rarely succeeds in boxing out his man, especially when he is playing at the 3. He was barely an inconvenience to opposing scorers; when LeVert was the primary defender opponents shot 3.8 percent better than expected, overall hitting 50.5 percent of their shots against him.
There isn’t anything good to say here. The Cavs largely swapped out defense-first wings in Isaac Okoro and Lamar Stevens to give minutes to Caris LeVert, who simply swung the pendulum in the other direction.
Grade: D
Cavs Player Grades for Caris LeVert: Overall Grade
When Caris LeVert took the court with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he improved the offense by 5.1 points per 100 possessions…and increased opponent scoring by 7.5 points per 100 possessions, again per Cleaning the Glass. That -2.5 differential ranked LeVert in the 38th percentile in the league.
He absolutely fit the proof of concept as a bigger playmaker; his assists percentage was strong for a wing, and he reasonably operated as the backup point guard. The offense played better with him on the court, and Darius Garland thrived with the help. Yet LeVert gave it all up and more on the defensive end, and combined with his absolutely chilly shooting (19th percentile among wings in points-per-shot-attempt) he was a net negative for the Cavs.
Here is the coup de grace stat. Part of the need LeVert was supposed to address was the Cavs’ ability to survive without Garland on the court. With LeVert on the court and Garland off, the Cavaliers were outscored by 20.1 points per 100 possessions, a mark that ranked in the 2nd percentile leaguewide. Without Garland there, LeVert couldn’t carry this team anywhere, on either end of the court.
That’s the nightmare reality for the Cavs moving forward. Perhaps LeVert will settle in with a full offseason on the team, get more comfortable with his teammates, and find his niche running the bench offense. He will likely shoot better next season.
The reality remains that LeVert was a net negative for a team that desperately needed a positive to help boost it into the postseason and they didn’t get one. All of the caveats of injuries and midseason trade aside, LeVert hurt the Cavs when he was on the court.
Grade: C-