Cleveland is perhaps the biggest surprise of this season and the franchise intends to continue doing so. Well established in the Top 6 in the East, the Cavs will try to refine the workforce at the deadline to try a run in the Playoffs. A name has been circulating a lot in recent days to reinforce the back lines of JB Bickerstaff’s men, it is that of Caris LeVert.
“Tonight I can’t go out, Cleveland is playing and I can’t miss it.” Typically the kind of sentence that was impossible to pronounce last October and which is far from disconcerting today. Indeed, with 29 wins and 19 losses within 1.5 games of first place, we can legitimately say that the Cavs play well at the basket ball, all under the impetus of an emerging star: Darius Garland. He who will be – normally – All-Star, sends 20 points and 8 cushy assists. He even just chained a fifth game in a row with 10 assists or more, the first to do that in Ohio for a certain… LeBron James. Jarrett Allen is a real revelation, Kevin Love smiles for the first time in 3 years, Lauri Markkanen can play at position 3 and Evan Mobley is too good to be true. Cleveland’s season so far has been perfect…or almost. On December 29, NBA“>Ricky Rubio was injured quite seriously and we quickly learned that he would not play again for the season. A real blow for the franchise and for the player who had 13 points, 6.6 assists and who perfectly completed an orphaned backcourt of Collin Sexton… also injured. For the moment, Darius holds the house but it is not with Rajon Rondo that he will take this team to a new level.
???? The Cavs are in pole position to recover Caris LeVert by February 10.
A transfer base around Ricky Rubio is starting to take place, to see if other teams will show up on the file, but Cleveland has been working the Pacers for a long time. pic.twitter.com/CUQES4jHeK
– TrashTalk (@TrashTalk_fr) January 24, 2022
To help him, Cleveland found the chosen one of his heart in the person of Caris LeVert, a prolific scoring back (18.5 points) and capable of creating for others (4.2 assists). He could be the ideal complement next to a Darius Garland in distributor mode, while Booba’s friend takes care of get buckets ! To steal the back of the Pacers in “we’re going to blow everything” mode, the Cavs will probably have to integrate Ricky Rubio into the transaction. A sad end for the Spanish point guard but his expiring contract offers him great value in the eyes of a rebuilding franchise. Barring a cataclysm, Cleveland should avoid the play-in, and assembling a Garland-LeVert backcourt is relatively exciting. It scores strong, it plays smart, even if Caris has a bit of an average shooting selection… and it doesn’t defend the lead, either way. In this case, JB has options with Isaac Okoro or even Rajon Rondo. This team with LeVert can play scarecrows in the Playoffs but the lack of experience, and the fact that the Pacer is an upgrade but not a top player either, means that thehe Cavs are still a notch below the Heat, the Bucks, the Nets, the Bulls or even the Sixers, who each have at least one player in their squad who can take the game on their own and destroy the opposing team. Even if Darius Garland seems to take this kind of path, it seems to date a little short … And we will close our mouths when he takes out the Bulls in the first round by turning 30/10.
The Cavs’ season is as good as the face of Natalie Portman and the contribution of a Caris LeVert could really make them progress… But up to what point? Passing a round in the Playoffs would already be a great progression and it would validate Cleveland’s dream season. See a Caris trade as a chance to go scratch the bazouze? We are not there yet.
