The Cleveland Cavaliers are the winners of the trade deadline thus far, landing Caris LeVert from the Pacers in an effort to help win now.
LeVert, acquired without surrendering any of their young core, will join a Cleveland squad that has exceeded expectations so far this season. However, as well as they have played and with an outstanding culture built on their defensive identity, it is a team that desperately required LeVert’s services.
That’s because the team lost a significant contributor in Nov. 2021 when young guard Collin Sexton underwent season-ended surgery for a knee injury. Perhaps the most glaring issue with the offense was that the Cavs were suddenly without capable ballhandlers on their roster.
Cleveland is averaging 2.15 dribbles per touch, which is actually the 2nd-lowest mark among all teams in the Eastern Conference. It is also the fewest dribbles per touch any Cavs team has averaged in the seasons since tracking data first became available, via data courtesy from Second Spectrum, in 2013.
Among the 11 players on the Cavs who have logged at least 400 minutes (or about 16% of all possible minutes for the team) so far this season, Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio are the only players who have averaged more than 1.5 dribbles per possession. (For context, the league average is currently 2.2 dribbles per touch.)
But after Rubio suffered a torn ACL in Dec., Garland became the only capable dribbler in the rotation. Although the front office traded for Rajon Rondo to amend some of those issues, he turns 36 years old later this month and was likely more of a stop-gap than anything else.
New Cavs starting five:
Darius Garland
Caris LeVert
Lauri Markkanen
Evan Mobley
Jarrett AllenLeVert is averaging 18.7 points this season. He had 42 on Friday. pic.twitter.com/jpyCmI92oJ
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 6, 2022
Fortunately, this is an issue Cleveland’s front office addressed by trading for LeVert. The former Michigan standout is averaging the second-most dribbles (3.8) and seconds (4.2) per touch that he has ever recorded in his professional career.
In fact, the only players 6-foot-6 or taller who average at least as many dribbles as LeVert (minimum: 450 touches) are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luka Doncic, DeMar DeRozan, and Spencer Dinwiddie. With the same qualifications, the only other players who are averaging at least even 3.0 dribbles per touch are Cade Cunningham, LaMelo Ball, Paul George, Alec Burks, LeBron James, and Jimmy Butler.
There are a ton of reasons why a basketball team needs capable ballhandlers like LeVert, who can score in bunches. One of the most obvious, though, is to run the pick and roll.
Caris LeVert makes the Cavs better right away.
The future of wings in the league is stacked, so you need a guy who will be able to go shot for shot with those guys when it’s time. Caris can get you 20 through the offense. Cavs future is bright. pic.twitter.com/j5LI1xrQZa
— Ball Don't Stop (@balldontstop) February 6, 2022
Cleveland ranks as the third-worst in scoring when ball handlers finish pick and roll sets. Garland’s pick and roll set sets compose more than 42.0% of his offensive possessions and his efficiency ranks in the 66th percentile. But no other healthy player in their rotation has finished even 6.0% of possessions in the pick and roll — nor does any player’s efficiency even rank above the 30th percentile.
LeVert, however, has finished nearly 40.0% of his offensive possessions as the ball handler in pick and roll sets. He is averaging 0.96 points per possession on these opportunities, according to Synergy, which ranks in the 82nd percentile among NBA players.
Both as a scorer and as a playmaker, from their time together on the Brooklyn Nets, he already has established pick-and-roll chemistry with Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen:
Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen pick and rolls are gonna be fun to watch again in Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/uaNXLMOauh
— Jac Manuell (@JacManuell) February 7, 2022
Overall, before this trade, Cavs struggled to score when putting the ball on the floor. Cleveland has averaged 19.1 pull-up jump shot attempts per game, via NBA.com, which is currently second-lowest in the league and the lowest in the Eastern Conference.
LeVert, however, averaged what was a Pacers-best 6.4 points per game when shooting pull-up jumpers. Outside of Garland, no healthy player on the Cavs has even averaged 2.0 PPG.
When the postseason rolls around, you need guys like LeVert who can put the ball on the floor and consistently score. He has shown he is someone who can create a basket for himself and others, and if Garland was the only player on Cleveland capable of doing that, he would have faced some serious trouble in the playoffs.
