J-Speaks: Pacers Newest Acquisition Following Physical

 

On Wednesday, the Indiana Pacers in a four-team deal involving the Brooklyn Nets, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers acquired who they feel will be big part of their future. Unfortunately, his debut will not happen anytime soon after what was found during his physical over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Pacers announced that their newest addition in guard/forward Caris LeVert will be on the shelf indefinitely after an MRI, which took place during his physical revealed a small mass on his left kidney, that was discovered prior to the Pacers finalizing the deal to acquire LeVert.

“On behalf of my family and myself, we ant to thank the Indiana Pacers for their support and guidance,” LeVert, 26 said in a statement. “We are grateful for their extreme thoroughness during the physical process and I am looking forward to joining the team and being a part of this great organization as soon as possible.”

Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said in his virtual news conference on Saturday that the organization is “super confident” LeVert, who was averaging 18.5 points and six assists in 27.8 minutes with the Nets this season will be able to return to the hardwood.

Pritchard also noted that once the Pacers learned of LeVert’s medical issue, the focus turned to trying to assist LeVert and making sure everything was planned out. He also said the team felt comfortable going forward with the deal once they received feedback from their medical staff, even though there is no set timetable for LeVert’s return to the court.

“I’m really looking forward for you guys to get to know him,” Pritchard said in his virtual presser when asked how they will be behind LeVert as he works on getting back on the floor. “We really look at character. Character means, it’s not BS for us. We take that stuff extremely serious.”

“If you look at what we have on our team and what are guys are doing now not just on the court but who they are off the court, you’d be very proud.”

Pritchard added that there were a couple of moments where the Pacers could have gotten out of the deal, but the Pacers owners in the Simon family decided to pull the trigger because they see LeVert as a player when he does come back that can be a major part of their future playing alongside All-Star Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon, and Justin and Aaron Holiday.

“Really kudos to those two guys [Herb and Chad Simon] for allowing us to kind of push through,” Pritchard said. “We talked about with the player, with Caris just, ‘Look, we’re going to be transparent through this whole thing. Whether we’re going to be in the trade. Whether we’re going to be out of the trade.’”

“But I can tell you, the best conversation I had with this other than the one I had with Herbie was telling Caris we’re in with you.”

The Pacers announced in the original version of the deal where they acquired LeVert and cash considerations from the Nets, sending two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo to the Rockets on Saturday. The Pacers also received a 2023 Second-Round pick from the Rockets (via: Milwaukee Bucks) and a future Second-Round pick from the Cavaliers in the deal.

In the revised version of the trade, the Pacers received $2.6 million from the Nets, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The trade became official following the Pacers practice in Los Angeles, CA at the close of last week. First-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren did confirm that while LeVert was away from the team he is “excited” for the chance of him being a part of the team.

“Obviously, I’m very familiar with him. Last year, played against him in the First-Round of the playoffs, where he was very hard to handle,” Bjorkgren, a former assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors said. “Very good player and very dynamic, so I’ve watched a lot of him, coached against him and now looking forward to having him on our Indiana Pacers team.”

To bring into focus the kind of player LeVert was against the Raptors as a member of the Nets in their opening-round series of the 2020 Playoffs, which they won in a four-game sweep, he averaged 20.3 points, 9.5 assists, and 5.8 rebounds, despite shooting just 37.3 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three-point range.

LeVert began the series with a double-double of 15 points and 15 assists with seven boards in the 134-110 loss in Game 1 on Aug. 17, 2020. He joined Hall of Famer and current assistant coach of the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers as the only players in franchise history with 15-plus points and 15-plus assists in a playoff game.

LeVert followed that up with a second straight double-double with 16 points and 11 assists, with six rebounds in the 104-99 loss in Game 2 two days later.

He finished his season strong with a playoff career-high of 35 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals on 11 for 23 shooting, including 6 for 9 from three-point range in the Nets 150-122 loss that ended their season.  

LeVert’s performance in the playoffs was a continuance of what he did following the All-Star break.

He was averaging 15.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists on 40.4 percent shooting pre-All-Star break last season. Those averages rose to 24.1 points, 5.3 boards and 5.4 assists post All-Star break on 43.1 percent shooting.

LeVert’s post All-Star break efforts also included averages of 25.0 points, five rebounds and 6.7 assists during the Seeding Game portion of the league’s restart at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL.

On Wednesday, the Indiana Pacers in a four-team deal with the Brooklyn Nets, Houston Rockets, and Cleveland Cavaliers said goodbye to Victor Oladipo and were about to say hello to a player they saw as a big part of their future in Caris LeVert. His debut however will be on hold for who knows how long because of a mass found on his left kidney.

The Pacers could have axed the deal but their front office led by President Kevin Pritchard has confidence that LeVert will overcome this hurdle and return to the hardwood better than ever, and help the Pacers become a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference.

“I’ve been in this business for a long time, 20-plus years. In this business, there are times you think to yourself. You get a little bit of goosebumps and you think, ‘You know what, the basketball gods are going to shine down on us for some reason. And I just think, I can feel it. I got a good feeling that this is going to be great for the long term,” Pritchard said about adding LeVert.

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 8/17/2020 3:30 p.m. “Brooklyn Nets Pregame,” presented by Fan Duel Sportsbook on Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) with Michael Grady and Jim Spanarkel and 4 p.m. Game 1 of First-Round “Brooklyn Nets versus Toronto Raptors,” presented by State Farm on YES with Ian Eagle, Sarah Kustok, and Michael Grady; 1/14/2021 www.nba.com story, “Nets Acquire James Harden In Blockbuster Trade;” 1/16/2021 www.espn.com story, “Indiana Pacers’ Caris LeVert Out Indefinitely After Small Mass Found On Kidney,” with contribution from ESPN’s Eric Woodyard; and https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/2991043/type/nba/year/2020.