re: Pelicans offseason thread: Pels hire SVG/draft Kira Lewis, trade rest of picks

Yeah, digging a little deeper into his defensive reputation, he appears to be all over the place, but that may be expected with how often he's been injured.

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Fine-tuning that glance into undivided analysis will paint a very different picture of the 25-year-old’s fourth season; from February 1 onward, Caris – crown jewel of Sean Marks’ superstar-seducing rebuilding process – rose to the occasion as the Nets on-court leader, tossing up a cool 23 points, 5.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, 44 percent from the field and a supremely notable 41.5 percent from the three during that time. All the while, LeVert more than held down the fort defensively, as opponents shot just 42.2 percent from the field with the shooting guard defending – the lowest figure of any Brooklyn starter.

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Prior to February’s breakout run, Brooklyn was 3.4 points per 100 possessions better on defense when LeVert was off the floor (106.7 DFRT) versus on it (110.1) – that difference is akin to comparing the Clippers 5th-ranked defense to Dallas’s 17th-ranked D. Now, Brooklyn’s defense is actually 0.6 points (per 100) better with LeVert in the fold. Again, a hell of a turnaround.

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Though there are times the Nets can’t get out of their own way on offense, they’ve been among the NBA’s best on the other end of the floor. And Caris LeVert is the heart of that increasingly elite defense that’s going to have to be their path to victory.

“Absolutely. Absolutely. And I feel like myself I’m very capable of that, being the leader of that defensive core,” said LeVert, who has helped the Nets to the league’s third-best defensive rating since December. “I feel like when people see me locking in on defense, it kind of challenged everybody else to do the same thing. That’s kind of what I try to do out there.”

With Kyrie Irving out for the rest of the season, LeVert has helped lead the Nets to a 5-2 mark since he returned to the lineup. The starters have a stellar 98.6 defensive rating in that resurgence, with Saturday in Charlotte among their best performances yet.

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And apparently Zach Lowe said in 2018 that he sees LeVert as a future all defensive team player.

Then you find an article where Atkinson benched him at the end of games at the beginning of the season for defensive reasons. BUT, Dinwiddie was his replacement and he's darn good on that end of the floor.

I did stumble upon this in one of the articles though:

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In Atkinson’s first three years at the helm, Brooklyn has steadily improved in Defensive Rating, from 23rd to 21st to 15th last season. They’re seventh going into Monday’s game versus Orlando, and rising fast as the veterans help LeVert reach his defensive best.

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