My Sophomore Crush: I’m told Caris LeVert might be special

It’s summer — popsicles, beaches, campfires and summer love. As the heat rises, time slows and crushes develop. We’re leaning into that amorous mood this week at The Step Back, sharing our sophomore crushes. Last year may have given us an uninspiring rookie class, but we’re feeling pretty enamored with the future.

I’m told that if not for a series of leg injuries during his four years at the University of Michigan Caris LeVert would likely have been a lottery pick. The 6-foot-7 wing was a scorer and primary shot creator, finishing at the rim, setting up his teammates and hitting over 40 percent of his 3-pointers. But injuries are injuries, questions are questions, and Caris LeVert fell to the No. 20 pick in the draft where the Brooklyn Nets snapped him up.

I still have a lot of questions about LeVert.

Can he grow into a plus defender? He was pretty darn aggressive last season, and mildly effective in an area where most rookies struggle. LeVert is not explosive and was still clearly rediscovering his rhythm and timing after missing the better part of his last two collegiate seasons with those injuries. But he’s long and smooth, and certainly looks the part of a disruptive wing defender.

Can he be a consistent outside shooter? LeVert was prolific from behind the arc in college, shooting 41.6 percent on about 4.4 attempts per 36 minutes. His delivery is a little slow (languid, if you’re nasty) and he never quite looked steady from the outside as a rookie. He finished the year having made 32.1 percent of his 3s — 34.6 percent on catch-and-shoot and 29.4 percent of his pull-ups. Based on the numbers from his final two injury-shortened seasons at Michigan, and this model, LeVert would project to be roughly a 37 percent 3-point shooter in the NBA. Do we trust those stats or this tape?

Can LeVert be a secondary ball-handler? This is among the most interesting of his potential attributes, at least combined with his size, shooting and defensive potential. LeVert averaged 5.6 drives per 36 minutes last season — roughly as many as Paul George or Devin Booker. He shot 55.0 percent on those drives — about the same as James Harden or Kyle Lowry — and recorded an assists on 11.1 percent of them — about the same as Jeff Teague or Goran Dragic.

You can’t help but be impressed by LeVert’s smoothness when you watch him play. Even the standard collection of rookie mistakes — inattentive defense, a wild runner that goes off the side of the backboard, a 3-pointer that comes up six inches short — don’t have quite the same bumbling new-fawn-learning-about-his-body feel that so many rookies seem to exhibit.

Next: My Sophomore Crush -- Get ready for Point Ben Simmons

I don’t know if Caris LeVert is going to be a good basketball player. I know that he has all the tools and, seemingly, two healthy legs. Next season, he’ll probably start on the wing next to D’Angelo Russell and Jeremy Lin and get a chance to start answering some of my questions. I could not be more excited to see what happens.