# Caris LeVert
**Caris Coleman LeVert** (born 1994) is an American professional basketball player who plays as a guard for the [Milwaukee Bucks](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee-bucks) of the [National Basketball Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-basketball-association) (NBA). Listed at 6 feet 7 inches (2.01 m) and 205 pounds (93 kg), he was selected 20th overall in the 2016 [NBA draft](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-draft) by the Indiana Pacers and has since played for the Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, and Bucks.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) • [2](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-growing-up-levert-221228)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1994, USA; 6'7" (2.01 m), 205 lb (93 kg)[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) |
| Draft | 2016 NBA draft, first round, 20th overall, by the Indiana Pacers[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) |
| College | University of Michigan; All-Big Ten second team as a sophomore[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) • [3](https://www.nba.com/nets/news/2016/07/07/caris-levert-is-ready-to-work-in-brooklyn) |
| NBA teams | Brooklyn Nets, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) • [4](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/02/12/cavs-corner-week-16-deandre-hunter-trade) |
| Health event | Underwent surgery to treat cancer shortly after the January 2021 trade to Indiana[5](https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/player-review-2021-caris-levert) |
| Scoring marks | 17 career games of 30 or more points, three with Cleveland; four career games of 40 or more points[6](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2024/03/240316-clehou-notes.pdf) • [7](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2023/04/2023-playoff-guide.pdf) |
| Current team | Milwaukee Bucks, #12, guard; 10 seasons of NBA experience[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) |
## College career at Michigan
LeVert attended Pickerington Central High School in Ohio, a program better known for football that had produced eight NFL players; in 20 years he was the school's only basketball player to receive a Division I offer, and he led the team to its first state title.[2](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-growing-up-levert-221228) He grew from 6 feet 5 inches as a Michigan freshman to a taller frame between his sophomore and junior years.[2](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-growing-up-levert-221228)
At the University of Michigan he broke out as a sophomore with early-season games of 20 points against Duke and 24 against Wisconsin on the way to All-Big Ten second team honors.[3](https://www.nba.com/nets/news/2016/07/07/caris-levert-is-ready-to-work-in-brooklyn) Foot injuries then cut short his final two college seasons. He broke his left foot on the final play of the Northwestern game, ending a season after 18 games in which he had averaged 4.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals, career bests in all four statistical categories.[8](https://mgoblue.com/news/2015/4/21/mens-basketball-kornacki-levert-discusses-why-he-decided-to-stay-the-course-at-michigan) The day before the 2016 draft he published a first-person letter in The Players' Tribune arguing to NBA general managers that he could recover from those foot injuries.[3](https://www.nba.com/nets/news/2016/07/07/caris-levert-is-ready-to-work-in-brooklyn)
## NBA career
**Brooklyn Nets.** Indiana drafted LeVert 20th overall in 2016 and traded his rights to Brooklyn that summer in the deal that sent [Thaddeus Young](https://www.edgepedia.org/thaddeus-young) to the Pacers.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert) • [9](https://as.com/us/us/2016/06/24/masdeporte/1466783722_663580.html) In Brooklyn he developed into a primary ball-handler. An NBA.com film study noted that over two injury-interrupted seasons he shot 40-for-135 (29.6%) on catch-and-shoot three-pointers, and that his 0.82 points per possession as a pick-and-roll ball-handler ranked 43rd among the 49 players averaging at least five such possessions per game.[10](https://www.nba.com/news/film-study-brooklyn-nets-caris-levert) When Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and [Spencer Dinwiddie](https://www.edgepedia.org/spencer-dinwiddie) were all unavailable for the 2020 Orlando restart, LeVert carried the largest offensive role on the team.[11](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9ffe0f1137a680c2c08250/t/5f0f0a7434a16b5476b1f4be/1594821242326/QDE_071520%2Bdigital.pdf)
**Trade to Indiana and cancer surgery.** In January 2021 LeVert was traded to the Pacers as part of the four-team blockbuster that sent [James Harden](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-harden) to the [Brooklyn Nets](https://www.edgepedia.org/brooklyn-nets). He learned of the trade only on arriving at the arena with the Pacers, and the physical examination that followed the deal found a medical condition that reporting described as one that "may have saved his life".[12](https://www.nba.com/news/caris-levert-thrilled-to-join-cavaliers-championship-chase) The trade went through, and LeVert underwent surgery to treat the cancer shortly thereafter.[5](https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/player-review-2021-caris-levert) He returned to play that season and, in the Pacers' own review, played well, developing two-man-game chemistry with All-Star forward [Domantas Sabonis](https://www.edgepedia.org/domantas-sabonis) and sharing the backcourt with Malcolm Brogdon before Brogdon's injury.[5](https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/player-review-2021-caris-levert)
**Cleveland Cavaliers.** At the February 2022 trade deadline [Cleveland](https://www.edgepedia.org/cleveland) acquired LeVert from Indiana for Ricky Rubio, a first-round pick, and two second-round picks, reuniting him with former Brooklyn teammate [Jarrett Allen](https://www.edgepedia.org/jarrett-allen).[13](https://www.nba.com/news/cavaliers-pacers-caris-levert-ricky-rubio-trade) His 41-point game that season was the most he had scored since joining the Cavaliers and the fourth 40-point game of his career.[7](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2023/04/2023-playoff-guide.pdf) Cleveland re-signed him as its sixth man in July 2023, and he served as a key reserve on the 2023-24 team that won 51 games.[14](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2023/07/06/cavs-free-agency-nba) • [15](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2023/10/25/2023-2024-cleveland-cavaliers-season-primer) Across his career he has scored 30 or more points 17 times, three of those games with Cleveland.[6](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2024/03/240316-clehou-notes.pdf)
**Atlanta, Detroit, and Milwaukee.** At the February 2025 trade deadline the Cavaliers, then 43-10 and holding the NBA's best record, sent LeVert and [Georges Niang](https://www.edgepedia.org/georges-niang) to the [Atlanta Hawks](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlanta-hawks) for forward [De'Andre Hunter](https://www.edgepedia.org/deandre-hunter).[4](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/02/12/cavs-corner-week-16-deandre-hunter-trade) In July 2025 LeVert signed a two-year contract worth nearly $15 million annually with the Detroit Pistons, a team that had won 14 games in 2023-24 and 44 games the following season to earn the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.[16](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/02/83/08/15022/2025-07-02.pdf) In July 2026 the Pistons traded him, along with two second-round picks, to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert)
## Playing style
LeVert is a multi-positional guard whose size and length, a reported 6-foot-10 wingspan, support a versatile offensive role with secondary playmaking.[17](https://basketballbeacon.com/caris-levert-player-profile-stats/) His best stretches have come with the ball in his hands; NBA.com's film study of his Brooklyn years framed his offensive value around pick-and-roll creation and ball-handling volume, while flagging his catch-and-shoot three-point shooting as the main limitation to playing off the ball next to star scorers.[10](https://www.nba.com/news/film-study-brooklyn-nets-caris-levert) Injuries have repeatedly interrupted his seasons, a pattern noted throughout his Brooklyn, Indiana, and Cleveland tenures.[10](https://www.nba.com/news/film-study-brooklyn-nets-caris-levert) • [5](https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/player-review-2021-caris-levert)
## Career highlights
- Fourth-year breakout with the Nets as the team's top scoring option entering the 2020 Orlando restart.[11](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9ffe0f1137a680c2c08250/t/5f0f0a7434a16b5476b1f4be/1594821242326/QDE_071520%2Bdigital.pdf)
- 41 points with Cleveland, his most as a Cavalier and his fourth career 40-point game.[7](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2023/04/2023-playoff-guide.pdf)
- 17 career games with 30 or more points.[6](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2024/03/240316-clehou-notes.pdf)
- Ten NBA seasons across six franchises as of 2026.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert)
## References
1. [Caris LeVert player page, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/player/1627747/caris-levert)
2. [Growing Up: Caris LeVert, Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/cavaliers/news/features-growing-up-levert-221228)
3. [Caris LeVert is Ready to Work in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Nets, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/nets/news/2016/07/07/caris-levert-is-ready-to-work-in-brooklyn)
4. [Cavs Corner, Week 16: Welcome De'Andre!, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2025/02/12/cavs-corner-week-16-deandre-hunter-trade)
5. [Player Review 2021: Caris LeVert, Indiana Pacers, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/pacers/news/player-review-2021-caris-levert)
6. [Cleveland Cavaliers game notes, March 16, 2024, NBA.com](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2024/03/240316-clehou-notes.pdf)
7. [Cleveland Cavaliers 2023 playoff guide, NBA.com](https://cdn.nba.com/teams/uploads/sites/1610612739/2023/04/2023-playoff-guide.pdf)
8. [Kornacki: LeVert Discusses Why He Decided to Stay the Course at Michigan, MGoBlue](https://mgoblue.com/news/2015/4/21/mens-basketball-kornacki-levert-discusses-why-he-decided-to-stay-the-course-at-michigan)
9. [Todos los movimientos en la jornada del draft NBA 2016, AS](https://as.com/us/us/2016/06/24/masdeporte/1466783722_663580.html)
10. [Film Study: How Caris LeVert impacts the Nets' offense, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/film-study-brooklyn-nets-caris-levert)
11. [Orlando restart preview featuring Caris LeVert, squarespace PDF](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b9ffe0f1137a680c2c08250/t/5f0f0a7434a16b5476b1f4be/1594821242326/QDE_071520%2Bdigital.pdf)
12. [Caris LeVert thrilled to join Cavaliers' championship chase, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/caris-levert-thrilled-to-join-cavaliers-championship-chase)
13. [Cavaliers acquire Caris LeVert in trade with Pacers, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/cavaliers-pacers-caris-levert-ricky-rubio-trade)
14. [Breaking down the Cavs' stellar offseason, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2023/07/06/cavs-free-agency-nba)
15. [2023-24 Cleveland Cavaliers season primer, Axios Cleveland](https://www.axios.com/local/cleveland/2023/10/25/2023-2024-cleveland-cavaliers-season-primer)
16. [Lake City Reporter, July 2, 2025, sports page](https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/02/83/08/15022/2025-07-02.pdf)
17. [Caris LeVert Player Profile, Basketball Beacon](https://basketballbeacon.com/caris-levert-player-profile-stats/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › Current NBA players › Shooting guards › Established NBA veterans*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license