Could LeVert’s play in Cavs W over PHI give him a boost? We’ll see, but it’s a start

Caris LeVert has had some very productive outings for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, and some underwhelming ones.

With the offseason trade acquisition of Donovan Mitchell, and Darius Garland having already been in the fold, that’s not been inconceivable to have envisioned, either. On the year thus far, LeVert has had 11.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per contest, and has connected on 38.7 percent of his three-point attempts.

Objectively, there have been some struggles for LeVert to find a rhythm at times, and in instances where Garland and Mitchell have been on the floor with him, that’s been somewhat understandable. LeVert is a player that historically has had the ball in his hands plenty of the time, and he’s been a key pick-and-roll player, in the scoring and playmaking sense.

Nonetheless, it wasn’t necessarily surprising that eventually, LeVert was shifted to a bench role, where he has been in his last four appearances for Cleveland. LeVert seemed to be a in rut, to some degree, and from a defensive standpoint, Lamar Stevens filling in for LeVert as Cleveland’s starting 3 seemed sensible, and Dean Wade (knee soreness) had been temporarily out.

LeVert unfortunately would recently miss four of the Cavaliers’ recent games because of an ankle sprain, which wasn’t ideal, either. But, on the plus side, LeVert made a big difference for the Cavs on Wednesday night, and had it going versus the Philadelphia 76ers in a blowout victory at home.

In that outing, LeVert registered a team-high 22 points, hit three of his four three-point attempts, and had tacked on six rebounds and four assists. He was eight-of-11 from the field overall, which was a welcomed sight following his two-of-nine shooting performance in Cleveland’s disappointing loss at the Toronto Raptors on Monday night.

Perhaps Wednesday’s game can propel LeVert forward.

Could LeVert’s performance on Wednesday in a Cavs win over the Sixers give him a boost? We’ll have to see; it’s a start.

LeVert has had struggles at times this season, and while he has shown that he can be a capable catch-and-shoot player, he’s had some problems establishing rhythm playing alongside other multiple shot creators in stretches. And for a player that’s been relied upon to create for himself, and also others as a secondary playmaker, and occasionally de facto primary playmaker, that’s been understandable.

However, though one is in the right to potentially have doubts about LeVert meshing for extended stretches with both Garland and Mitchell, LeVert could be more viable in a more set-in-stone bench role.

Him seemingly wanting to be coming off the bench, via Danny Cunningham of ESPN Cleveland, was telling in that regard, too, and it’s not difficult to foresee why he desired to do so in coming to J.B. Bickerstaff about that. As Cunningham’s report stated, LeVert said that was “kind of mutual.”

LeVert had a great outing against the Sixers, but realistically, despite the Cavs being without Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love, Philly was once again without James Harden and Tyrese Maxey, and one had to take Wednesday’s 113-85 win for Cleveland with a grain of salt. Joel Embiid appeared to be gassed, to some extent, too.

Also, even prior to him missing time with the aforementioned ankle sprain, LeVert did have just 4.0 points per appearance in his games coming off the bench prior to Wednesday’s contest.

Point being, there has to be further evidence that he can figure things out game-to-game from here in doing so. That includes LeVert finding ways to be more efficient inside the arc, as he’s connected on only 37.3 percent from two thus far this season, of which have constituted 61.1 percent of his shot attempts.

But, with him in possibly more of a set bench role with him some at the 2 and 3, with him playing with the likes of Lamar Stevens (when he’s back from non-COVID illness) and/or Dean Wade some for defense, that could help LeVert to some degree for stretches as well. Cleveland, in those said instances, could feature LeVert a bit more, feasibly.

Now, the likes of Cedi Osman should have his opportunities still, too, and even with him in a rough patch of games of late, Osman is still have more than capable of going off in his own right; he can be an energizer, to that point. Furthermore, when Kevin Love returns from injury, Cleveland may have to recalibrate a bit.

So, can his performance on Wednesday against the Sixers maybe give Caris a boost? We’ll see; it’s again a start.