3 best draft steals in recent Nets history
By Mike Luciano
2. SG Caris LeVert, 20th overall, 2016
Purely based on talent, LeVert should not have been available at pick No. 20 for Brooklyn. A 6-7 guard that can handle point guard duties, get white-hot from three-point range, and glide to the rim, injuries limited LeVert to just 33 games in his last two years at Michigan. Despite the injury risks, Brooklyn needed to take some risks if they wanted to get back to contention, and going all-in on LeVert was a gamble that has paid off in spades for the Nets.
After trading Thad Young to the Indiana Pacers for this pick, the Nets were able to draft a franchise cornerstone that is coming into his own as the tertiary scorer behind Kevin Durant, with whom he works out frequently, and Kyrie Irving. Over the course of his five-year career with Brooklyn, LeVert has evolved from an intriguing wing on some of the worst teams in the league to a capable scorer that would share the load with D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie to a legitimate third option on a title contender that put up 51 points in a single game.
Considering that players like Guerschon Yabusele, Wade Baldwin, and Henry Ellenson, none of whom are on an active NBA roster at the moment, were picked ahead of him, Brooklyn has to be pleased with the fact that the rest of the league screwed up in such a dramatic way.