Caris LeVert reminds Brooklyn Nets of his upside during Summer League

As the Brooklyn Nets continue to rebuild this offseason, Caris LeVert’s performances of late should remind the franchise of his potential and upside.

The Brooklyn Nets are finally free to go about improving their roster as the Otto Porter Jr. situation has been laid to rest.

In an Eastern Conference where nearly half the teams are just about in rebuild mode, the Brooklyn Nets find themselves in decent position.

As a fan of either New York franchise at this point for the Nets or the Knicks, it should be understood the rebuild isn’t to win for today; this is for the long haul.

From what has been seen of the Nets in Summer League play, it seems their young talent pool continues to grow and develop.

Caris LeVert for the potential long haul?

Caris Levert was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the first round as the 20th overall  pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. He was moved to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade for a future second round draft pick and Thaddeus Young.

During the 2016-17 regular season, LeVert appeared in 57 games and started 26 of them while posting fair numbers for his rookie season. He shot 42.0 percent from the field and 32.1 from beyond the arc, averaging 8.2 points over roughly 21 minutes per game.

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While he is young and still lacks experience, LeVert’s upside is potentially larger than some may realize. Taking advantage of being able to participate in this year’s Summer League is certainly a plus.

Caris LeVert missed last year’s Summer League and the first 20 games of the regular season due to a foot injury.

However, this year is a different story as the Brooklyn Nets push forward.

Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Levert has scored 57 points over the last four games and is shooting a total of 21-for-47 from the field. — not all that bad until you consider his three-ball is non-existent at best, which leaves reason to worry at first.

He is shooting 2-for-19 currently, and during the second Summer League game he took seven of those attempts and missed each one. This is a curveball and is way off from his previous season’s marks.

Where Caris LeVert fits with the Nets

On a game-to-game basis, Caris LeVert even seems to fit better in the long-term than teammate Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who started 50 games last season.

Although RHJ is performing fairly similarly to LeVert during Summer League, he does not seem to jell with the Nets’ offensive style going forward.

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Jefferson is shooting 14-for-31 from the field, scoring 31 points over four games. Meanwhile, he is not an option as an outside threat. With just three attempts over four games, Jefferson has zero makes.

While the Brooklyn Nets have potentially 10 guards or wings on their current roster and seem short on size, LeVert still stands out. He is arguably more than capable of stretching the floor playing at the 1 or 2 spot and the Nets should work off that flexibility.

The Brooklyn Nets seemed to simply operate better when he was on the court last season. He started only one game before the All-Star break the Nets went 9-47. When LeVert started every game afterward, the Nets showed improvement finishing 11-15.

While it is still just Summer League play, his accuracy from beyond the arc must improve for him to become a respected threat on a Brooklyn Nets rebuild.

Next: 2017 NBA free agency tracker - Grades for every deal so far

Doubts may linger for Brooklyn Nets fans, but Caris LeVert continues to develop and improve into a core player for the future.