Now the Cavs absolutely have to trade away Caris LeVert

Cavs absolutely have to trade Caris LeVert: He doesn’t fit

Caris LeVert is a player of stark strengths and weaknesses. Without dealing in hyperbole, LeVert is an on-ball offensive player with solid scoring and playmaking abilities. He is also a mediocre-at-best 3-point shooter, a bit of a ball-stopper and a 6’6″ sieve on the defensive end.

Given that on-ball creation is the most difficult skill to find in the NBA, making it one of the most valuable, LeVert certainly has value to a lot of teams. Yet the reality is that the Cavs don’t need that skillset as they may have a week ago. Between Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs have plenty of on-ball creation and playmaking, with Evan Mobley hoping to develop into that group over time.

Starting LeVert at the 3 would therefore be a disaster. While there is some value to LeVert being able to attack a defense’s weakest perimeter defender, if the ball is in his hands it categorically is out of the hands of this team’s other stars. If LeVert doesn’t have the ball, his poor shooting (31.3 percent from deep last year, 33.3 percent for his career) becomes more of an issue.

What about deploying LeVert off the bench? That’s certainly an option but has multiple drawbacks as well. When Ricky Rubio returns the Cavs will have three high-level guards to rotate, all of whom are better options with the ball in their hands than LeVert. In the playoffs the Cavs would be best off only playing those three on most nights, leaving little room for LeVert. The other issue is that playing LeVert off the bench decreases his trade value, making it harder to move him by the trade deadline.