A handful of players are sitting out the NBA restart, especially for the Nets, but their roster isn’t totally depleted of the star power that they’ll need to make some noise in Orlando. They still have Caris LeVert.
This season it’s been heavily debated who the top stars are (especially who gets that third-most talented spot) on this young and versatile team, when healthy of course. So, we already know Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant are the top two players for Brooklyn. That’s not even debatable. Between the two there are three NBA championships, 16 NBA All-Star appearances, three All-Star Game MVPs and seven NBA Finals appearances.
Throughout the season though there has been a lot of back and forth between whether Spencer Dinwiddie or Caris LeVert is the next most talented on the roster. Well decide for yourself. Dinwiddie this season averaged 20.6 PPG, 6.8 APG and 3.5 RPG in his sixth year. He’s started in 49 games out of the 64 he’s played in this season. LeVert this season is averaging 17.7 PPG, 4.1 APG and 4.1 RPG in his fourth year. He’s started in 25 games out of the 39 he’s played in this season.
With KD, Kyrie and Dinwiddie sitting out of the NBA restart in Orlando though, LeVert will have no choice but to play multiple roles for Brooklyn as they try to have a successful playoff run.
He’ll be relied upon heavily for his scoring (especially in late game situations), passing (hopefully taking advantage of the doubles that teams will throw at him), rebounding as two notable bigs in DeAndre Jordan and Nicolas Claxton will be sitting out as well.
Going by how LeVert was playing when the season was suspended it’s fair to expect him to keep it up as a result of training camp and the seeding games he’ll partake in. In March he was averaging 27.4 PPG, 6.0 APG and 6.4 RPG, including a triple-double posting 27 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the Spurs.
All things considered, the only question is whether or not the four-year guard can not only meet but exceed expectations in his new leadership role.
“I think it’s just being myself. The guys are very familiar with me, familiar with my game [and] what I do on the court,” said LeVert. “Just go out there, try to do what I do, talk guys through certain situation and things like that, but just let guys be themselves. There’s definitely more responsibility. More freedom out there as well. It’ll be definitely fun. We got some new guys on the team to integrate into the offense and things like that. So, everyone’s learning each and every day so it’ll be an experience for everybody for sure.”
