Caris LeVert doesn’t need a bigger role with the Cleveland Cavaliers

If one thing is for sure, Caris LeVert needs a lesser role for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I’m a big supporter of our brands here on FanSided. Everyone busts their collective humps to bring fans engaging and thought-provoking content. I especially rep our Cleveland counterparts quite a bit; Dawg Pound Daily, Away Back and Gone, and King James Gospel. They do good work, but like with all good families, just because I love them, doesn’t mean I agree with them all the time. That brings us to this latest article, which states that Caris LeVert should have a bigger role in the Cleveland Cavaliers system next year.

To be fair to the author, he listed three names who deserve a bigger role, and two of them I agree with. Those names are Lamar Stevens and Dean Wade. Stevens is a great combo-wing, but he isn’t someone you run plays through, just someone you hope can make plays when he can. Dean Wade isn’t a great three-point shooter but as a defender he’s impressive. His abilities to stretch the court and play solid defense around the rim make him a valuable piece.

But LeVert? If he’s on the next train out of Dodge, it won’t be quick enough.

Caris LeVert is not the missing piece to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ puzzle

This isn’t a personal vendetta. While I wasn’t high on the trade to get him, it was more because the team gave up Ricky Rubio and by extension his Bird Rights, making it harder to re-sign him in the off-season should they want to. I’ve always liked LeVert and thought he, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Jarrett Allen were going to be a great trio to watch in Brooklyn when they were all together.

That didn’t end up happening and we got two of the three. Yet, watching LeVert in Cleveland, some things became clear.

Firstly, he was basically acquired to replace Collin Sexton and Rubio in the lineup, but he wasn’t nearly as good of a ball-handler in the Cavs system as the other two. That really hindered his play-making abilities comparatively.

Secondly, while all three aren’t great three-point shooters, at least Rubio made up for that in lockdown defense and passing, while Sexton was extremely efficient as a mid-range scorer. Something LeVert wasn’t.

Lastly, LeVert, despite his size, was bad defensively. The team needed him to be better than he was and sure, maybe it takes longer time to adjust to a new scheme in the NBA than I realize, but in the end, he simply didn’t deliver when he was needed to.

The team needs to make a move to get another scoring wing and a backup point guard. The team would have to give up a Cedi Osman or a Lauri Markkanen to do that, and frankly, those are two pieces the team can’t afford to lose.

LeVert, on the other hand, is a piece that can be moved. Especially if Sexton re-signs and the team brings back Rubio.

Don’t give LeVert more time, the team was one of the NBA’s best prior to the injuries. Running it back in 2022-2023 makes more sense than trying to make LeVert fit in this system.