Veteran Backup Guard Signs With the Detroit Pistons
During the 2023 offseason, Caris LeVert re-signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. This was on a two-year deal worth $32 million. The Cavaliers entered the 2023–24 season with playoff ambitions, building on a promising 2022–23 campaign. LeVert began the season in Cleveland, playing a valuable sixth-man role, but was traded midseason to the Atlanta Hawks in a move designed to address roster depth on both sides.
With LeVert in the mix, Atlanta made a late-season push. Luckily, they finished the regular season with a 40-42 record, good enough for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks competed in the Play-In Tournament but were eliminated before reaching the first round of the playoffs. Now heading into the 2024 offseason, LeVert has once again hit the free agent market. Today, it was just reported that he signed with the Detroit Pistons on a two-year $29 million deal.
Originally drafted 20th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, LeVert was traded to the Brooklyn Nets on draft night. He played four and a half seasons in Brooklyn, carving out a reputation as a smooth scorer and playmaker, before being traded to Indiana for the four-team James Harden deal in 2021. After a year with the Pacers, LeVert was sent to Cleveland in 2022, where he spent nearly two full seasons before his 2024 trade to the Hawks.
In 68 total games this season between the Cavaliers and Hawks, including 27 starts, LeVert averaged 14.0 points, 5.1 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from three. One of his best performances came on December 23rd, when he dropped 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting in a 118-113 overtime win against the Chicago Bulls, adding five rebounds and four assists. He can be a starter for you on some nights, but is key for any bench player who needs versatility offensively as a microwave scorer, especially if he hits his three-point shot at an average or slightly above it off the ball. Now 30 years old, LeVert will look to bring his steady offensive production and veteran presence to the Detroit Pistons.
