{"id":131542,"date":"2025-03-30T05:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T09:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=131542"},"modified":"2025-03-30T05:36:25","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T09:36:25","slug":"impending-hawks-free-agent-caris-levert-re-sign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/30\/impending-hawks-free-agent-caris-levert-re-sign\/","title":{"rendered":"Impending Hawks Free Agent Looking To Re-Sign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atlanta Hawks wing Caris LeVert<\/a> was once one of the most highly touted young players in the NBA. So much so that he was being called Baby Durant<\/em>. Even still, there were questions about whether he could fill De\u2019Andre Hunter<\/a>\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n

Whether Hunter met the expectations of a former fourth overall pick, he was a key figure for the Hawks. At 6-foot-8, he could guard multiple positions and score in a variety of ways. This season, he had put himself in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hawks\u2019 Caris LeVert Looking To Re-Sign As Free Agent<\/h2>\n

LeVert recently spoke to HoopsHype insider Michael Scotto in a wide-ranging interview<\/a>. Among the topics that he discussed was his desire to re-sign with the Hawks when his contract expires this summer:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d he says. \u201cI love this situation that I\u2019m in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this team. The staff has welcomed me with open arms. I didn\u2019t really know Quin (Snyder) previously before coming here. Obviously, I\u2019ve admired his style from afar for a long time. Antonio (Lang), Ekpe Udoh, and Ron Nored on the staff I\u2019ve had relationships with, so I feel pretty comfortable here. Like I always tell them, I\u2019d love to re-sign here. My focus right now is the rest of the season and making the playoffs. It\u2019s definitely something I\u2019d want.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With that in mind, due to who they had to part with<\/a> to acquire him, Atlanta likely wants to bring him back.<\/p>\n

Caris Counter<\/h3>\n

Because he\u2019s Hunter\u2019s replacement, it\u2019s only right to look at LeVert\u2019s offensive numbers.<\/p>\n

In 18 games with the Hawks, LeVert is averaging 15.1 points on .486-.343-.714 shooting splits. He\u2019s scoring 1.00 point per possession on isolation attempts, with an effective field goal percentage of 50.0. He\u2019s scoring 1.32 points per possession as the pick-and-roll ball-handler, with an effective field goal percentage of 58.0.<\/p>\n

His 3s aren\u2019t dropping like they were before the trade though. LeVert was converting 40.5 percent of his 3s with the Cavs this season. His 3-point percentage dropping more than six points post-trade is somewhat inexplicable. A harsh critic might even say it\u2019s inexcusable.<\/p>\n

That being said, LeVert\u2019s 3-ball is truly hit-or-miss. His streakiness is actually a defining characteristic of his game. Since 2019-20, he has as many seasons shooting above 36 percent from 3 as he has shooting below 33 percent from 3.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, he does have the highest plus-minus (+4.5) in the Hawks\u2019 rotation. In fact, his plus-minus is more than 11 times higher than Trae Young<\/a>\u2019s (+0.4). Given the season that Young has had, that\u2019s saying something.<\/p>\n

Mo\u2019 Money, Mo\u2019 Problems?<\/h3>\n

Aside from the tax implications, money\u2019s technically not going to be an obstacle to bringing LeVert back. Following his trade to Atlanta, the Hawks now have his Bird Rights. Consequently, they could actually offer him a richer contract than any other team.<\/p>\n

Yet, Atlanta is unlikely to write him a blank check. Players like\u00a0Hunter and Clint Capela<\/a> were on the trade block for years, primarily due to their salaries. Both have made or will make under $25 million annually on their current contract. With Jalen Johnson<\/a>\u2019s extension about to kick in, they\u2019ll likely only be more cap conscious.<\/p>\n

Will that leave LeVert on the outside looking in?<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Atlanta Hawks wing Caris LeVert was once one of the most highly touted young players in the NBA. So much so that he was being called Baby Durant. Even still, there were questions about whether he could fill De\u2019Andre Hunter\u2019s shoes. Whether Hunter met the expectations of a former fourth overall pick, he was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":131575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1608,62,3,4721],"tags":[1070,1875,297,1382],"class_list":["post-131542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hawks","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","category-trade-rumors","tag-caris-levert","tag-deandre-hunter","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131542"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131577,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131542\/revisions\/131577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}