Brooklyn Nets: Making sense of Caris LeVert’s hot start

Defense

This is the more questionable part of LeVert’s game. At 6’7″ and 203 pounds, he’s tall enough to switch 1-4 comfortably. That should help cover for the deficiencies of others on that end, such as Russell and Joe Harris.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case in 2018-19. LeVert has a -2.6 defensive box plus-minus to date, which is a defensive statistic that measures one’s impact against the rest of the league.

His on/off splits tell the same story; opponents have scored 17.6 more points per 100 possessions against Brooklyn with LeVert on the floor. Those numbers will mediate over the course of 82 games, but he’s a general liability as of now.

Part of this is probably due to his workload on the offensive end. Having a 27.8 percent usage rate will certainly drain one’s energy for the less glamorous end. Ditto for his 13.3 shots per game. Such a burden might even increase; Greg Logan of NewsDay thinks so:

If that theory holds, LeVert is less likely to regain his defensive prowess. Considering the team’s overall inadequacy with preventing points, that could be a problem down the line.

Regardless, LeVert’s talent on defense exists, unlike many of his teammates. Akin to last season, it all comes down to him putting it together. He’s already done that on the other end of the floor; hopefully he completes that puzzle.

For now, Caris LeVert looks like everything the Brooklyn Nets hoped for in one of the lead guards; he just happened to be the one the majority of the fanbase least expected. If he continues to improve some very fixable flaws, he can solve the alpha problem faster than anyone could’ve hoped for.