After a setback during the 2018-19 season, a finally healthy Caris LeVert is ready to make an impact in year four with the Brooklyn Nets.
After losing most of last year’s regular-season to an injury, exciting Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Caris LeVert never really got the opportunity to establish himself as a breakout player. LeVert put up modest averages of 13.7 points on 42.9% from the field, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists.
Early on, it appeared he was well on his way to taking down the Most Improved Player award. However, it wasn’t until the Nets first-round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers that LeVert really showed star power, scoring 20-points or more during three of the five total games.
Well, after a full summer of work and a $53 million dollar extension later, LeVert told the New York Post‘s Brian Lewis that he’s back to himself.
“Last season, I experienced a lot of emotions in basketball, from the highs to the lows, from game-winners to being scoreless. I feel like I really grew as a player in a lot of those moments, especially coming back from injury. Going forward now, I feel like I’m back to myself.”
It appears Caris wasn’t the only one who felt that way within the Nets locker room. His head coach, Kenny Atkinson, spilled positive words to the press about LeVert’s opportunity to shine.
“I think [his ceiling’s] really high,” Atkinson said. “I just remember those first [14] games, we’ve all seen, this guy’s ready to make an All-Star jump before he got hurt. He was really dominating, and in the playoffs, he was starting to hit his stride. You could argue he was our best player in the playoffs. There’s some noise in there. There’s guys that want to be great and guys who are desperate to be great, and he’s in that desperate category. There are only a few guys like that.”
LeVert’s growth will be one of the — if not THE — biggest X-factor going into next season. If he can continue to grow his passing game, his creation can open up ample off-ball opportunities for new Nets point guard Kyrie Irving. Not to mention, LeVert has the opportunity to take over as clubhouse leader of the defense. Of any player on the roster, he and David Nwaba bring the most to the table as all-out defensive savages.
We already know what he is on a baseline: an all-world bucket-getter. Now it’s about developing other parts of his game.
