The Detroit Pistons have already been connected to a number of free agents this offseason and the latest is Caris LeVert, who most recently played with the Atlanta Hawks.
I do find these rumors somewhat amusing, as the Pistons and Nets are mentioned in just about all of them, which isn’t a coincidence considering they are two of the only teams with cap space.
As interesting as some of these names are, they often ignore the financial reality of the situation, especially in cases of guys like Myles Turner and Naz Reid. The Pistons don’t have the cap space to sign players of this caliber outright, so it would take a series of moves to get something like that done.
That isn‘t necessarily the case with Caris LeVert, who was named as possible Pistons’ target by Sam Amico of HoopsWire, who said there was “interest” in LeVert from both Detroit and Brooklyn.
LeVert has already played in Brooklyn, where he had his best individual seasons, and he also played for JB Bickerstaff in Cleveland before eventually being traded to Atlanta. LeVert played his college ball at Michigan, so there may be some mutual interest in a return.
The connections are there, but is LeVert a good fit?
Detroit Pistons free agency: Caris LeVert
LeVert is an interesting name for the Pistons, as he would offer another scoring option off the bench and give them a wing who can shoot the ball a bit from the outside, which is something they currently lack outside of Simone Fontecchio, who should be trade bait this summer.
LeVert hit 37 percent of his 3-pointers on 4.4 attempts per game this season between Cleveland and Atlanta, but LeVert does more than just shoot.
He’s a good rebounder at 6-foot-6 and can make plays from the wing, averaging 3.4 assists per game this season after averaging over five per game last season. He’d give the Pistons another big playmaker on the wing and LeVert is a decent defender who can guard a couple of spots, an area where he has improved drastically since his time in Brooklyn.
His catch-and-shoot 3-point numbers aren’t great (35%), but he shot 42 percent on pull-ups off the dribble and is still a guy who can get out in transition and use his athleticism to finish.
LeVert is a solid bench player who is going to give you 14-15 points a night and can contribute in a variety of ways, something the Pistons may covet after having too many one-dimensional bench players this season.
LeVert would also likely fit into the MLE if the Pistons wanted to use most or all of it on him, which would still leave them money to bring back at least one of their own free agents.
I’ve been saying all offseason that the Pistons need to tinker around the fringes more than disrupt their core at this point, and a guy like LeVert would represent that type of move.