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The Cleveland Cavaliers would’ve been better off without Caris LeVert

By Chad Porto

Mar 17, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) warms up before the game between the Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Caris LeVert (3) warms up before the game between the Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have re-signed Caris LeVert

The Cleveland Cavaliers needed to make some upgrades this offseason, but instead of that, brought back one of the bigger albatrosses holding the team back. The Cavs agreed to re-sign Cris LeVert to a two-year, $32 million deal. This deal brings back LeVert, who plays a lot of shooting guard and small forward for the Cavs. This also helps secure the bench for the next few seasons.

The problem with re-signing LeVert is simple, he was among the reasons the Cavs sputtered on offense. While he averaged 12 points and just shy of four rebounds and four assists per game, he wasn’t very effective.

While he wasn’t nearly as bad as Donovan Mitchell, LeVert wasn’t very effective with his assist-to-turnover ratio. To be fair, neither was Darius Garland either, making this a case where the team has a whole need to do a better job at protecting the ball.

And despite averaging solid numbers from the field, LeVert had a worse true shooting percentage than Cedi Osman, a player deemed “inconsistent”. And while Osman may have been, so was LeVert. They were 20 percentage points off from one another, Osman was better in the side arc by 20% and LeVert was better than Osman outside the arc by 20%.

They were so very similar in so many ways and were essentially the same player. Yet, according to advanced metrics like offensive box-plus minus, Osman was the better offensive player.

Caris LeVert’s value to the Cleveland Cavaliers should be as a trade asset

The Cleveland Cavaliers really shouldn’t have brought back LeVert, but they did, so here we are. He did take less money to come back, but that doesn’t mean much, as other teams may have been offering much less. There was no real market for LeVert that we heard about.

So due to the short and affordable contract, the Cavs may be able to turn his deal into something more hefty going forward. The team will be able to trade LeVert by the trade deadline should they choose, and if the Cavs need help on offense, could use his contract as a chip to help make a deal happen.

Next. 3 reasons why Dylan Windler never broke out for the Cleveland Cavaliers. dark

  • Published on 07/05/2023 at 23:30 PM
  • Last updated at 07/05/2023 at 23:30 PM
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