Over the offseason the Brooklyn Nets and Caris LeVert inked a deal to extend his future with the team for another three seasons
Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets spent their summer securing a pivotal piece of their future by signing guard Caris LeVert to a three-year, $52.5 million contract extension.
Fresh off his incredible playoff performance, where he averaged 21.0 points and 4.6 rebounds, while shooting 49.3 percent from the field, and 46.2 percent from three on 5.2 attempts, the Nets saw this as an opportunity to establish their core moving forward. With that All-Star level production, the Nets front office made extending LeVert a top priority before heading into the new season.
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"“Caris personifies what it means to be a Brooklyn Net, and we firmly believe his best basketball is in front of him. The growth he has displayed in his first three seasons is a testament to his tireless work ethic, along with an unrelenting will to maximize his talents and achieve team success. Our entire organization is excited to continue to have Caris as of one the leaders of our program moving forward.” – Nets GM Sean Marks"
This season, the 6-foot-6 guard is averaging 15.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists, on 40 percent shooting. His play throughout the entire season hasn’t been necessarily great, but considering his right leg injury, that forced him to miss 25 games, coupled with his lack of touches when he first returned, then you can see that there were substantial barriers in his way.
However, over his last five games he’s had scoring outputs of 29, 23, 37, 11, and 20. In those games the Nets are 4-1. Moreover, in the six games he’s played in February, he’s averaging 21.0 points while shooting 46 percent on 16.7 attempts— the most attempts he’s averaged in a month.
The early portion of the season proved to be quite overwhelming for the product out of Michigan, making fans all over contemplate if giving him an extension was the right choice. With that being said, Caris LeVert and the Nets have rebounded quite nicely and they continue to prove that Sean Marks made the correct call by giving LeVert the extension he deserved.
In the first year of his extension he’ll earn up to $16.2 million, then in his second year it’ll raise $17.5, and then on to $18.8. In his first year of the deal he’ll be ranked 15th among all shooting guards. The next year when he earns $17.5M he’ll rank only behind Rudy Gobert($22.5M) for a player selected in the 20’s of a NBA Draft, per Bobby Marks.
Caris LeVert has now been trusted by his organization to steadily improve from year-to-year. And now more than ever, with Kyrie Irving out indefinitely with a re-aggravated right shoulder injury, LeVert will remain in his increased role that he has flourished in recently.
Despite a few hiccups, the 25-year-old is beginning to consistently show flashes of his value and undeniable talent. Moving forward, the Nets front office made an executive decision and acquired a perennial star worthy of his deal.