NBA Rumors: Cavaliers Could Replace Cedi Osman With Caris LeVert As Their Starting SF Next Season
Since losing LeBron James in the summer of 2018, the Cleveland Cavaliers have turned from a legitimate title contender in the Eastern Conference into one of the worst teams in the league. However, despite suffering another huge disappointment in the 2019-20 NBA season, they still don’t have any plans to undergo a full-scale rebuild. Instead of trading their veterans and focusing on the development of their young players, the Cavaliers are planning to make moves that could strengthen their chances of returning to the playoffs next year.
According to Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, one of the dream trade targets for the Cavaliers in the 2020 offseason is Caris LeVert of the Brooklyn Nets. The Cavaliers may currently have Cedi Osman manning their wing, but with the way he performs on the court, he looks better serving as a reserve on a title-contending team than a starting small forward. To have a realistic chance of fully dominating the Eastern Conference and contending for a championship title next year, Swartz believes that Cleveland should strongly consider upgrading their wing by trading for LeVert this fall.
“LeVert would satisfy all these weaknesses in Cleveland, and the 26-year-old is still young enough to fit the timeline of the incumbent guards. Serving as the de facto point guard for a Brooklyn team missing Kyrie Irving and Spencer Dinwiddie in the playoffs, LeVert averaged 20.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 1.3 steals while hitting 42.9 percent of his three-pointers. With his size (6’6?, 205 lbs), age, playmaking and outside shooting, LeVert would be the perfect starting small forward for the Cavaliers.”
LeVert wouldn’t make the Cavaliers an instant favorite to bring home the Larry O’Brien Trophy, but his arrival in Cleveland could help them improve their offensive and defensive efficiencies that currently rank 25th and 30th, respectively, according to ESPN. LeVert would give the Cavaliers a very reliable scoring option, rebounder, playmaker, floor-spacer, and a great perimeter defender. If he meshes well with the core of Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Darius Garland, and others, the Cavaliers would undoubtedly become a team to watch out for in the Eastern Conference next year.
With the highly anticipated return of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to the court next season, there’s a strong possibility that the Nets would consider making LeVert available on the trade market this fall. However, if the Nets decide to use LeVert as a trade chip, it would only be in a deal that would enable them to land a superstar that would complement Irving and Durant.
