So far this season the Cleveland Cavaliers are doing well, and as of Tuesday morning are the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. They are first in opponents’ points per game with 107.2 and second in defensive rating with 110.4. They also have a net rating of +4.6, third-best in the NBA. The core of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen has performed well in the starting lineup. The small forward spot, however, has been a constant rotation of players.
One of these players has been Caris LeVert. LeVert is putting up 12.8 points and is shooting 41.8% from the field. Even with putting up these stats, however, he has mostly been the player on the Cavs who has been in a lot of mock trades. He is currently in the last year of his contract and is receiving around $18.8 million. Many people believe he should be traded so that the Cavs don’t lose him in the offseason. Others believe he should be traded due to LeVert being inconsistent at times in games.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could trade Caris LeVert, but there are reasons not to
There are multiple reasons to keep LeVert, however. For one, he has been a good fill-in when the Cavs are missing one of their starting guards due to injury. He has filled in for Darius Garland more times than not and has done well in the role. It is good to have a role player off the bench that can do that.
Secondly, LeVert is another scoring option. Some people probably see him as a “40-or-4-point” player. One game he might be scoring high, and then scoring low the next. That may look like a huge problem, but we need to remember that he isn’t the main scoring option. If he was, this would be a major issue. The Cavs have Mitchell and Garland to handle most of the scoring. That responsibility doesn’t lie in LeVert’s hands.
Lastly, letting him go might be a good thing. If Cleveland lets him go during the offseason, they will gain flexibility under the luxury tax to upgrade the roster in free agency. The Cavs will have more options for retooling if they feel the need to do so.
There are pros and cons to both options, trading LeVert or keeping him. Either way, the decision about LeVert is dealing with a player who is not crucial to this Cavaliers team.