Caris LeVert’s role should clearly be off Cavs bench next season

When the Cleveland Cavaliers went out and acquired Caris LeVert via trade near the 2022 deadline in a deal with the Indiana Pacers, it seemingly spurred on a collective sigh of relief from Cavaliers fans.

LeVert, on the surface, appeared to be a very sensible player to go out and get. The Cavaliers, fortunately, did place a lottery protection on the first-round pick they included in the deal with Indiana, which Cleveland will retain this go-round with them missing the postseason. The same lottery protection applies in 2023; hopefully Cleveland makes the playoffs this next go-round, though, as a side note.

As far as LeVert’s play, he did have his moments, and I thought his passing did help the Cavaliers out tangibly. Nonetheless, he didn’t get much time to get into a rhythm prior to the All-Star break with Cleveland, and him then missing the first nine games post-All-Star break because of a foot sprain didn’t help as a scorer.

When it came to the results, LeVert had 13.6 points per contest in 19 appearances post-trade with Cleveland, which was a step down from the 18.7 he had averaged in 35 prior appearances with Indiana in 2021-22.

LeVert did again have some really nice moments in the scoring sense, he just couldn’t seem to get it going quite enough. I don’t want to completely grill the dude, though, considering he had the tough break coming out of the All-Star break, and the new situation mid-season wasn’t easy.

There are still things to like about LeVert, on a positive note, and I fully understood why Cleveland chose to trade for him, at the time, in particular. The Cavaliers did not have Collin Sexton much last season because of his meniscus injury, and Ricky Rubio’s ACL injury in late December didn’t help, either, obviously.

Next season, however, while there are rumors of him potentially playing elsewhere next season, and Sexton is set to be a restricted free agent this offseason, so a possible sign-and-trade could play out, I do still believe there’s a high likelihood Sexton is back and re-signed long-term.

Either way, Cleveland could seemingly still choose to go with a perimeter scoring presence such as Malaki Branham, Johnny Davis or Jalen Williams in the 2022 NBA Draft. We’ll have to see what eventually plays out on June 23.

But the gist is, to me, in the event Sexton is back, which I believe will play out, with Isaac Okoro in the mix either way, I still believe it’s evident LeVert should be coming off the bench. If Sexton is not back, I’d probably prefer Okoro in that scenario, however.

LeVert’s role should clearly be as a Cavs bench contributor next season.

To the last point, I still would more so expect Sexton to be back, given what he can provide for Cleveland when healthy.

In any case, regarding LeVert, it’s apparent that he should ideally be in a bench role next season, so he can have more playmaking and creation opportunities, in my opinion. As we alluded to, despite the scoring and shooting inconsistencies, LeVert did a solid job as a playmaker with Cleveland, with 3.9 assists per game, and for his career, has had 4.0 assists per contest as a secondary ball handler/wing.

Next year, he would seem to be more impactful in a bench role, when either Darius Garland or Collin Sexton is off the floor, so LeVert can work more on-ball, where he’s generally best-suited.

He did show some encouraging signs playing with Garland post-All-Star, but LeVert hasn’t had much consistency as a catch-and-shoot player, as evidenced by a career 33.3 percent three-point shooting clip with the Brooklyn Nets, then Indy and the Cavs, briefly. That plays into the rationale here, along with LeVert feasibly having more playmaking impact if he’s coming off the bench and not at the starting 2 or 3.

In those instances, LeVert could have more pick-and-roll opportunities, and in some stretches with Garland, could generate more off-ball opportunities for Darius, and could help get some quality looks on the interior for Evan Mobley/Jarrett Allen. The pick-and-pop game with Kevin Love could end up becoming a go-to, to some degree, also.

Now, although objectively, if LeVert is not extended this offseason, he could be an expiring trade chip this next season, or in the offseason. If that could enable the Cavaliers to potentially land a rumored trade target such as Jerami Grant or Harrison Barnes, with other pieces involved, I couldn’t blame Cleveland for going that route. LeVert’s extensive injury history is something the Cavs have to be factoring into a potential extension, too, for what it’s worth.

However, they did go out and get the 6-foot-6 LeVert, and it would be understandable for them to get him some more time to become acclimated with the team, and hopefully find his footing.

We’ll see what plays out in that regard, but if LeVert is around next season, to me, it seems apparent that he should clearly be in more of a bench role, where he can have a greater impact.