Indiana Pacers Season Review: Grading Caris LeVert in 2021-22

The Indiana Pacers lost Caris LeVert via trade right before the NBA trade deadline. A quick tenure in Indiana as the trade piece in return for Victor Oladipo. He wasn’t a Pacer for long, but his two seasons in Indiana felt much longer for fans of the team.

Caris played in 39 games for the Pacers this season and started in seven of those games. He also averaged 31 minutes a game in that time.

Caris LeVert’s season stats: 18.5 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.8 RPG, while shooting 32.3% from three and 44.7% from the field.

What went right for LeVert throughout this down season with the Indiana Pacers?

Getting healthy on the court.

It was big news when the Pacers traded for LeVert and his physical found cancer in his back that would later be removed. He miss some time after the first trade, and after a strong training camp, it was revealed that he had a stress fracture in his back.

After missing the first six games of the season, Caris was able to return to the court. Although he had some shooting struggles, he averaged 17.2 points a game in his first five of the season. He wouldn’t miss substantial time again until entering COVID-19 protocols where he missed five consecutive games.

In early Feb, LeVert scored his season-high 42 points against the Chicago Bulls right before being traded.

LeVert’s athleticism and feel are fun to watch on the court when he can put it together. When he is in rhythm he is tough to defend and this game in Chicago was one of those games. He was 19/26 from the field along with eight assists in his 40 minutes of play.

He played in 58 games this season between the two rosters he was a part of which is the highest amount since his second year in the league. He played in 71 games that season in 2017-18.

LeVert led the team in field goals attempted per game with 15.9 while being the team’s fifth-highest points per game contributor at 18.7. This was a much better passing season for him as well, averaging 4.4 assists.

He was often playing the point before being traded due to a Brogdon injury or a lack of production from Brad Wannamaker. Lance Stephenson helped as well in that department, but Lance would outlast LeVert.

Caris needed to be a complimentary piece to a star that the Pacers didn’t have outside of Domantas Sabonis. His ball-dominant nature cut his time in Indiana short as the Pacers realized restructuring the roster was a must.

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What went wrong for LeVert this season?

Being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It became obvious this season that LeVert’s style of play didn’t fit well under the Rick Carlisle system. With standout rookie Chris Duarte showing out in his first year, the front office made a decision to move on from LeVert in a down season for Indiana.

The team traded him for essentially a first-round pick that was lottery protected, which the Indiana Pacers thought would convey this season. Unfortunately, that is not the case and Indiana fans will have to root for the Cavs to make the playoffs next year if they want to keep that pick in the first round.

LeVert became a Cavalier as that team was in need of guard help to get them a push for the playoffs. Caris would miss nine games dealing with another injury which would be a stretch of six losses in those nine games.

Cleveland fell into a play-in spot and then fell out of playoff contention and the first-round pick the Pacers thought they would have this year is no more until next season. After the trade, LeVert would only score 20 or more points twice in his 19 games in Cleveland. One of those games was against the Pacers.

Nonetheless, Caris is a great guard whose time with the Indiana Pacers was like a box of chocolates, you know the rest. I will be interested to see what he brings to the Cleveland Cavaliers next season.

Grade: C