The trade that brought Caris LeVert to the Indiana Pacers took a bit of time to marinate as he missed roughly two months prior to his debut with the team. Since he stepped into the lineup, LeVert has been a prominent starter and scoring option for a team that has needed that kind of creator.
Victor Oladipo was supposed to be the building block for the Pacers up until an injury derailed his progress and left the team with a very solid backup plan in Domantas Sabonis. Domas has been incredible for the Pacers this season and earned his second All-Star appearance in as many years but is he the key to Indiana’s future?
The Indiana Pacers could shift focus to build around Caris LeVert
With all respect to Sabonis and even Myles Turner, it is fair to question the idea of building around a big man when the league is predicated on creating shots and scoring from the perimeter. This is not to say the big men are not important or worth keeping around but rather a question of whether they can be the focal point of a winning team.
Across the league, teams have started to stray away from conventional big men. Aside from Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid, there aren’t too many guys who can be the best option on a playoff team while also being the starting center. Sabonis, who is a great player in his own right, is still quite a bit away from being in that echelon of player.
With Caris LeVert’s ability to score at a high clip from all over the floor, it would make sense to make him the focus of the offense. He may not be the exact on-ball point guard that Indiana is searching for but his three-level threat is undeniable.
Yes, there are still questions about his consistency as a dominant scorer that is aided by his strong performances followed by quiet nights. But that does not mean LeVert is not impactful on offense. He is often a driver and scoring threat that opens things up for those around him. Sabonis and even Malcolm Brogdon can do this as well at times but Caris is a much more polished scorer.
I don’t think the Pacers will just give up on running things through Domas by any means but I do think it is worth consideration. There are so many things that Caris does that Domas cannot do, and the same goes the other way. But with two bigs already in the lineup, this is going to create more of a divide between Myles and Domas supporters.
While I think the two-big experiment needs to come to an end in some capacity, whether they trade one of them or move one to the bench, I’m not trying to push any sort of narrative that either guy should be gone in particular. If we see a strong end to the season from Caris, it will be interesting to see how the team shapes up for next season.