Cavaliers swingman Caris LeVert has won the competition for the team’s starting small forward job and is slated to remain a starter for the “foreseeable future,” sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Third-year wing Isaac Okoro and fourth-year forward Dean Wade were LeVert’s primary competition for the role, according to Fedor, who notes that Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens and oft-injured Dylan Windler were also vying for the job.
The Cavs think LeVert brings the best blend of offense and defense to complement their young core starters in Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. Fedor writes that LeVert had a “transformative offseason” as far as conditioning goes, giving him a leg up on the competition.
According to Fedor, the Cavs also “strongly believe” that LeVert, who’s not known for his defense, is capable of defending the top perimeter scorer on rival teams. LeVert has mostly played shooting guard in the past, but has also played some point guard and small forward.
There was some concern that Okoro, who also had a strong offseason and reworked his shot, wouldn’t be enough of an offensive threat, and the hope is that he’ll play with more freedom as a reserve, Fedor adds. LeVert’s ability to break down defenses could make life easier for Garland and Mitchell, though his shooting is a little shaky.
Wade, who suffered a sprained right ankle during preseason, says he’s recovered from the injury and ready to play in tonight’s season opener at Toronto, Fedor tweets. Wade signed a three-year, $18.5MM extension last month to remain with the Cavs until 2026.
Cleveland acquired LeVert from Indiana in February ahead of the trade deadline, giving up a lottery-protected first-rounder (it didn’t convey in 2022 and is still lottery-protected this season) and swapping an early second-round pick (used on Andrew Nembhard) for a late one (the Cavs selected Luke Travers, who’s being stashed in Australia). The Cavs also gave up Utah’s 2027 second-rounder in the deal.
2022/23 is a big season for both LeVert and Okoro. LeVert is in the final year of his contract and will be extension-eligible until the end of the league year, while Okoro is eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer.
Wow. He would be amazing off the bench!!!!
LaVert would be better a 6th man
You need a leader on bench
Lakers start the season with broken bench
Comparable
Wolves are a better team than Cavs
One would think that the 29 million man Kevin Love would provide plenty of bench leadership. As far as ball handling they’ll stagger Mitchell and Garland so that one is usually on the floor anyway.
I like it. Cause with the the two bigs. They can make this work. Gives them more offense. And LeVert plays D.
Uhhh, I was really hoping he would come off the bench. He might be a decent defender but if the Cavs want to still have the 5th best ranked defense Okoro needs to be in that starting lineup.
League pass
I am watching 10 games tonight
Channel 1205 Cavs vs Raptors
1206
Magic vs Pistons
Thanks for the update
Yeah, Okoro should start…
LeVert is somehow a att/def balance choice more than Okoro, with a better size also. Cavs has Love and Rubio as bench leader, they don’t need another veteran to do this though.
If he lost the starting gig to the list of scrubs mentioned he should quit ball.
He’s better than all of those dudes combined. Not defensively but as an overall player. He just needs to stay healthy and play adequate defense.
haha kind of what I was thinking. I mean totally get the Okoro defense angle and that he might be a great 2nd unit scoring threat but like does it even really matter? He’s obviously someone the team thinks highly of trading a 1rd pick for him… and he’s a legitimate NBA starter who’s averaged 15-20 ppg the past several years. Whether he starts or comes of the bench he is obviously one of the best 5 players on the team and should be a scoring threat either way.