Cavs’, Pacers’ Updated Roster, Starting Lineup, Salary Cap After Caris LeVert Trade

Michael Hickey/Getty Images

Caris LeVert put on a show while dropping 42 points during Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.

It turns out that’s reportedly his final game for the Indiana Pacers.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Pacers are trading LeVert and the 2022 second-round pick they had from the Miami Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ricky Rubio, a lottery-protected 2022 first-round draft pick, a 2022 second-round draft pick via the Houston Rockets and a 2027 second-round draft pick via the Utah Jazz.

According to Spotrac, the Cavaliers now have $134.4 million in total cap allocations, while the Pacers check in at $136.7 million in total cap allocations.

Here is a look at Cleveland’s overall roster and a projected starting lineup:

Roster

• Jarrett Allen, C
• Caris LeVert, G

Projected Starters

PG: Darius Garland

SG: Caris LeVert

F: Isaac Okoro

F: Evan Mobley

C: Jarrett Allen

Here is a look at the Pacers’ overall roster and a projected starting lineup when Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner are healthy and return:

Roster

• Goga Bitadze, C/F
• Ricky Rubio, G

Projected Starters

PG: Malcolm Brogdon

SG: Chris Duarte

SF: Justin Holiday

PF: Domantas Sabonis

C: Myles Turner

While there are plenty of moving parts in this trade, LeVert is the main piece.

This further signals that the Cavaliers are serious about contending in the Eastern Conference as one of the biggest pleasant surprises in the league. They are 32-21, which is good enough for the No. 4 seed in the standings and just 1.5 games behind the top-seeded Miami Heat.

They are also playing without the injured Collin Sexton, making their play all the more impressive as they battle for positioning in a loaded and tight East.

Sexton’s injury makes the acquisition of LeVert all the more important, as he represents another scorer who can play off the ball alongside Garland and take advantage of the spacing created by the litany of bigs Cleveland can put on the court at one time between Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen.

Expecting him to drop 40-plus points like he did in Friday’s game is likely asking too much, but the Michigan product is averaging 18.7 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 32.3 percent from three-point range.

He can take the scoring pressure off Garland’s shoulders on the perimeter, work in pick-and-rolls with the bigs as someone who can handle and distribute as needed, and take over as a primary scorer on nights he is dialed in offensively.

This makes the Cavaliers all the more dangerous for presumed contenders such as the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers.

As for the Pacers, this is shaping up to be a lost season at 19-35.

The draft capital will help accelerate a rebuild, and they are certainly a team to keep an eye on for more potential trades as Thursday’s deadline approaches.