Adrian Wojnarowski: Sources: Minnesota hiring ROC Nation agent Joe Branch as assistant GM. Branch completes a front office transformation under Gersson Rosas. Branch’s clients included Caris LeVert, Justise Winslow and Josh Hart. His resume includes Nike, league office and Northwestern basketball.
Caris LeVert Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G
Born: 08/25/94
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:200 lbs. / 90.7 kg.
Salary: $2,625,717
Born: 08/25/94
Height: 6-7 / 2.01
Weight:200 lbs. / 90.7 kg.
Salary: $2,625,717
But only one year later — the 2021-22 season — things get hairy. Allen’s first veteran contract will kick in. Dinwiddie can decline a $12.3 million player option and reenter free agency in the summer of 2021 if he’s confident he can get a fatter deal. LeVert’s deal rises every season, per contract details obtained by ESPN.com. Deals for Harris and Prince might too if Brooklyn re-signs them. All of a sudden, the Nets could vault something like $25 million over the tax — triggering a tax bill approaching $50 million. Even obscenely wealthy owners might blanch at that.
Jeff Siegel: Official numbers are in for the Caris LeVert extension: 16.2M in 19-20 17.5M in 20-21 18.8M in 21-22 No options, no non-guarantees, just a three-year extension. Full Brooklyn cap sheet: earlybirdrights.com/salary-cap/bkn
Stefan Bondy: The Nets announce their contract extension with Caris LeVert. Sean Marks: “Caris personifies what it means to be a Brooklyn Net, and we firmly believe his best basketball is in front of him.”
Stefan Bondy: A source confirms Caris LeVert’s three-year, $52.5 million contract extension with the Nets. There are no options in the deal and LeVert will become a free agent in the summer of 2023.
Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert has agreed to a three-year, $52.5 million contract extension, league sources told ESPN. LeVert, who turned 25 on Sunday, was eligible for his rookie extension as a member of the NBA’s draft class of 2016.
Bobby Marks: One thing to keep in mind re: Caris LeVert and questioning why he did not wait until next summer (or push for a higher number). Since his junior year at Michigan, LeVert has played 18, 15, 57, 71 and 40 games in 5 seasons. Hard to turn down $50M+ in guaranteed money.
Caris LeVert lands extension from Nets
Adrian Wojnarowski: Brooklyn Nets guard Caris LeVert has agreed to a three-year, $52.5 million contract extension, league sources tell ESPN. LeVert turns 25 today.
Bobby Marks: The $17.5M per year average ranks only behind Rudy Gobert ($22.5M) for a player who was selected in the 20’s of the NBA Draft and signed a rookie extension. LeVert will become an unrestricted FA in 2023 when he is still in the prime of his career at 28-years old.
Bobby Marks: With the 2019-20 NBA Schedule now announced, Mon. Oct. 21 @ 6PM ET. is the deadline for a player to sign a rookie extension. There are 17 players eligible, headlined by Pascal Siakam, Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown, Caris LeVert, Domantas Sabonis, Dejounte Murray and Buddy Hield.
Anthony Puccio: Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert hooping in Cali. Several Nets players have been out there this past week… LeVert said Irving orchestrated the workouts. #Nets (📸 @ David_sosna IG) pic.twitter.com/zobJ1WT0Jv
Q: Do you see Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie as good fits with Kyrie Irving because of their versatility? A: Definitely; their versatility and that they can guard multiple positions. The way the league is trending now, it’s a positionless league. You can go with those three guys, and KD, as you’re 1, 2, 3, 4. And they’re all interchangeable. All of them can bring the ball up the floor, all of them can defend multiple positions. All of them can be placed in pick and roll reads. All of them can play catch and shoot because they all can shoot the ball very well. It’s pretty dynamic. I won’t say that it’s Golden State-esque yet. But that’s what makes Golden State so special. Klay Thompson can catch and shoot, Steph Curry can catch and shoot. Kevin Durant can catch and shoot. But you can also put the ball in their hands. Back in the day, you could either catch and shoot or you’re really good at creating off the dribble. There wasn’t this combination. And then the fact that they want to get after it defensively as well, Spencer’s a really good, cerebral defender. Caris LeVert is a good defender. It can be really scary, it can be scary.
LeVert says he found out about Durant’s decision like everyone else did by checking KD’s Instagram page. Both Irving and Durant signed four-year deals with the Nets, something LeVert says he wasn’t “super surprised” about. “I think when the news came out, I was just chillin’. I was at the crib. I kind of figured out the same way everybody else did on Instagram,” LeVert said on ESPN’s The Jump. “But I wouldn’t say I was super surprised. With all the rumors and everything going on, it’s kinda hard to know it’s real, but it’s definitely exciting.”
Wilson Chandler: “We have so many great young players. is amazing and was looking so good before his injury and then came back strong too. Allen is a great defensive player, a great rim protector. Spencer is amazing and should’ve been in the race for Sixth Man of the Year. Taurean is really talented. A lot of the great pieces that we have around are guys who will just continue to grow.” Garrett Temple: “Kyrie just turned 27, so he still has another four or five years in his prime. The rest of the guys are so young – Spencer, Joe, Caris (who’s a really talented young guy), Jarrett. Then, you add in DeAndre, who’s a great vet, and KD coming back next year… There’s a lot to look forward to with this team.”
27 Jul
18 Jul
In mid-April as the Nets were in the midst of a playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, a high-ranking source close to the Nets told ND that Durant was “seriously considering” the Nets. The same source discussed how Durant was intrigued by the idea of playing with Caris LeVert. LeVert said he didn’t pressure KD, but they did talk. “We have a good friendship, but I never really pressured him about it or that type of stuff. When he got hurt I reached out, kind of made sure he was OK and everything like that. But obviously he knows that he’s a great player, he knows that I would love to play with him. But I kind of left him alone with that stuff.”
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving: “Very excited, on both ends. I feel like we got a lot better as a team. You hate to see somebody like D’Angelo go. He was great for our organization. One of my best friends as well. But good to see him get paid, good team as well.”
01 Jul
Billy Reinhardt: Woj: “With Kyrie, the reason he has gravitated over time to Brooklyn is the infrastructure that’s in place there.” Mentions Spencer Dinwiddie, Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, and Jarrett Allen as core pieces that are attractive to Irving.
Remember LeVert’s words, “Whatever happens, happens” when asked about free agency. It wasn’t said in a cryptic way, but it’s the truth. Anything can happen at any time. The Nets are in a position to get big free agents and/or make a splash trade, specifically for Anthony Davis. However, sources say that while the Nets are engaged in talks with New Orleans, they’re reluctant to give away their young, foundation pieces. That would be Caris LeVert himself. Furthermore, NetsDaily learned that despite Durant’s injury, the Nets are expected to continue their pursuit of KD next month.
But for Caris LeVert, even if Brooklyn misses out on their top targets, they can still be competitive next season. In an appearance on “The Woj Pod,” LeVert told host Adrian Wojnarowski that the Nets can build on their current roster if they miss out on the marquee names in free agency. “I think Sean [Marks] and Kenny [Atkinson] have done a great job of building this team up, and we trust them 100 percent with what they’re doing this offseason, with what they have to do with decisions they have to make,” LeVert said. “But obviously if we don’t get any free agents, we’re a young team, you know, a competitive team, we’ve built great chemistry together, we had a taste of the playoffs, we had a test of, not really failure, but we got beat. We got beat pretty bad in the playoffs, and I think it left a bad taste in our mouths, and I feel like this offseason is gonna feel a lot like last offseason where we got something to prove.”
26 Apr
Kristian Winfield: Jimmy Butler on Caris LeVert: “The kid can play. That’s for damn sure. … He’s a really talented basketball player and he’s a key part to what they do. That’s for damn sure.”
Nets Daily: From Nets PR: Caris LeVert has scored 25 points today after tallying 26 points in Game 3. LeVert is the first Net to score 25+ points in consecutive postseason games since Vince Carter in 2007 (three straight).
Jamal Crawford: My youngin @Caris LeVert Is serious!
Anthony Puccio: “He definitely deserves more minutes and I think you’ll see him get more tonight.” – Kenny Atkinson on playing Caris LeVert more
Stefan Bondy: Caris LeVert on Embiid and Simmons laughing while discussing elbow to Jarrett Allen’s chin — “We didn’t really like that. We thought it was disrespectful.”
Whenever this run ends—during or after Brooklyn’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs—there’s at least one key contributor who isn’t likely to land in the footnotes, and can’t currently be found in the team’s directory. His name is Stefan Weissenboeck. “Stefan is different than a lot of coaches I’ve had,” Nets wing Caris LeVert tells CloseUp360. “He focuses on balance, even on how you grab the basketball, to how long my nails are. He’s detail-oriented. That’s why I like working with him. He’s a great instructor and teacher.” “I think I have improved the form of my shot. He has helped me become confident in how I shoot,” Brooklyn big man Jarrett Allen says.
Bryan Fonseca: Asked Caris LeVert about Kenny Atkinson saying he played like his early season self today. Caris says he has felt that way for about two weeks and explains why. #Nets #NBA @NetsDaily @CarisLeVert
Both Carroll and LeVert are comfortable with starting or coming off the bench on a game-to-game basis. “At this point in my career it doesn’t matter,” Carroll said. “As long as I’m playing and getting my minutes, I don’t care if I start, don’t start.” At first Atkinson was reluctant to start Carroll. “One of the reasons I was hesitant to do it was DeMarre was in a good place coming off the bench. You think of the team first obviously, then you think of the individual, so you’re constantly balancing that,” Atkinson said.
“It’s pretty cool,” LeVert said before the Nets eliminated the Lakers from playoff contention with a 111-106 win. “It speaks to not only what we’ve done this season as a team, but to what D’Angelo has done on the court and also being a leader off the court that guys like Kevin Durant want to be close to him and a part of what he’s doing. I don’t think superstars, especially Kevin, want to be the one who has to carry the whole team, the full load on his own. He’s in his 30s now, so he definitely wants to go to a team that has a good core, has a good culture, has good guys on the team, and we fit all those categories.”
Caris LeVert: “[Russell’s] played at an All-Star level. Everybody wants to play with a great point guard, a great floor general, and he’s put himself in that conversation for sure. That lessens the load for a guy like Kevin Durant or another superstar who wants to come play with us. They don’t want to be the only one on the team, so that’s very attractive that D’Angelo has elevated himself to that level to play with.”
LeVert thinks Russell could be a selling point to Durant or other stars. “[Russell’s] played at an All-Star level. Everybody wants to play with a great point guard, a great floor general, and he’s put himself in that conversation for sure. That lessens the load for a guy like Kevin Durant or another superstar who wants to come play with us. They don’t want to be the only one on the team, so that’s very attractive that D’Angelo has elevated himself to that level to play with.”
Russell had averaged 27.3 points in his prior seven games, but had just 10 against the Heat on just eight shots. Meanwhile, Dinwiddie — in just his second game back after missing 14 straight due to thumb surgery — also had 10 points but shot just 2-of-12 with three turnovers. “Honestly not trapping me but denying, just doing that more [than before the All-Star break],” Russell admitted. “They trapped D’Lo and Spencer a lot, made the other guys make plays. We haven’t seen that a lot this year,” Caris LeVert said. “We definitely expect to see that more going forward, so we have to be better.”
27 Feb
Anthony Puccio: Great to see Caris LeVert back in the starting lineup.
Brian Lewis: Caris LeVert is still on limited minutes. #nets
Kristian Winfield: Lots of love for Caris LeVert in his first game back from injury pic.twitter.com/0WA2ZnDzWc
Jayson Tatum: 🙏🏽🙌🏽
Brian Lewis: LeVert will be available for the #Nets tomorrow.
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert on D’Angelo Russell becoming an All-Star: “It’s a huge accomplishment for him, for the team, for the city. He’s put in a lot of hard work. I can’t imagine being traded as young as he was. That’s just a testament to how tough he is mentally and physically.” pic.twitter.com/2zKoTmntxv
Adam Johnson: The Brooklyn Nets have assigned Allen Crabbe and Caris LeVert to @LongIslandNets for practice.
Anthony Puccio: Kenny Atkinson says both Caris LeVert and Allen Crabbe will practice with the Long Island Nets.
Adrian Wojnarowski: Brooklyn’s Caris LeVert (foot) will return to five on five practice soon and there’s optimism the gifted guard can return to Nets lineup prior to the All-Star Break, league sources tell ESPN.
Injured Nets guard Caris LeVert had another encouraging workout before Friday’s game in Orlando. But with the NBA All-Star break exactly a month away, coach Kenny Atkinson was noncommittal on whether LeVert might return before then. “I’m not going to speculate,” Atkinson said. “I don’t want to give you something and be wrong. That’s the last thing I want to do. No specific update. “[He’s] progressing. I know he had another great workout [Friday]. That’s as far as my medical background goes, but progressing nicely.”
Brian Lewis: Caris LeVert had another encouraging workout before tonight’s game in Orlando. But with the #NBA All-Star break a month away, Kenny Atkinson was noncommittal on whether LeVert might return before then. #Nets
Michael Scotto: Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (adductor strain) was upgraded to PROBABLE for tomorrow’s game against the Rockets. Shabazz Napier (hamstring tightness) is QUESTIONABLE. Allen Crabbe (knee), Jared Dudley (hamstring), Caris LeVert (foot) and Dzanan Musa (shoulder) are OUT.
Spencer Dinwiddie, who just signed a $34 million extension, is also having a career year as is Joe Harris, who is sixth in the league in 3-point shooting. Allen has been one of the league’s best centers on defense. And this rebound is coming without arguably the team’s best player, Caris LeVert, who is recovering from a frightening foot injury a month ago. Suddenly they’re two games out of sixth in the East and sources report they are hinting in talks with teams they could be a buyer at the trade deadline. That’s not something that has been heard in years.
Anthony Puccio: Caris LeVert is on the bench (!)
Anthony Puccio: As part of the “22 Initiative”, @Caris LeVert took 170 youth/families to an advanced screening of the movie “Bumblebee” last night in NYC. “I always wanted to do this when I got to the NBA,” he told me back in November. pic.twitter.com/Xel4gSoYLK
LeVert, who appeared at the event without the assistance of a walking boot and had sneakers on both feet and walked without a noticeable limp, was notified of the extension while heading for the escalator and reacted with a Carmelo Anthony “oh really?” meme face. After the event, LeVert congratulated Dinwiddie in his Instagram story saying, “Well deserved 100.”
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert injury update: “I know he’s in the gym shooting. I’ll say that. That’s about as much as I can say. But progressing, on schedule and looking forward to having him back,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said Saturday night.
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert: “When they carted me off the court, and then we went in the back, they had to put it back in place, so that was actually really painful. That was probably the most painful part of it all.” pic.twitter.com/fyPEysTvaG
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert discussed the moment he dislocated his foot and his reaction from thinking it was a “bad sprain” to realizing what actually happened. pic.twitter.com/MyUYbvHpV4
Michael Scotto: Caris LeVert on a timetable for his return: “I don’t really know. We’re not really talking about dates right now or recovery time. We’re just, like I said, focused on each day, maximizing each day, get better each day. Um, but uh…” Nets PR interjects. “Ok guys, thank you.” pic.twitter.com/io5mTsNsfp
Anthony Puccio: Caris LeVert said he texted D’Angelo Russell right after the injury and told him, “We have everything we need, even with me going down. We just need everything from everybody.” (On @Brooklyn Nets Periscope)
Greg Logan: #JarrettAllen & #AllenCrabbe in starting lineup for @Brooklyn Nets. Kenny Atkinson says @Caris LeVert not on this trip but might travel with team soon because he’s “walking around a little bit,”
Coach Kenny Atkinson blamed a poor defensive effort but admitted the Nets have a huge void to fill without LeVert, who was a dominant ballhandler and top defender. “It’s a big void,” Atkinson said. “It’s both ends. He and D’Angelo [Russell] were sharing it so well and they had good chemistry. We’re going to have to look at what fits best with each lineup. We started Allen [Crabbe] tonight, but going forward, we have to look. Do we want more ballhandlers in the lineup? Do we want more shooters? The returns tonight weren’t great, so we’re going to have to figure out the lineup.”
Joe Harris admitted they might have experienced an emotional hangover after losing LeVert. “The significance of how the injury happened, him being really the heart and soul of our team to this point, our go-to scorer,” Harris said. “We miss the energy and enthusiasm he brings. That’s a void that we miss a lot.”
Asked if he faces the biggest adjustment of anyone, Russell said, “I’ve played [23] minutes without him. It’s going to take a little bit of time to figure out what we’re going to do. But as of right now, I don’t know, so I’m not really going to speak on what we can do. We’ve just got to figure it out.”
At halftime, the Nets had tears in their eyes fearing the worst for their rising star, Caris LeVert, after he was carried out on a stretcher to a local Minnesota hospital. Would he be out for the season? Was his career in jeopardy? “Obviously, Kenny was pretty broken down because, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Caris is probably his favorite player,” Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie told The Athletic after serving meals to teenagers at the Julia Richman Educational Complex on Tuesday.
A few hours after losing LeVert and then losing to the Timberwolves 120-113, teammates and staffers, while boarding the flight home, were equally stunned and rejoiced to see their franchise cornerstone headed back to Brooklyn. “We were discussing who was going to stay back with him when they said they could mobilize his leg and he could travel,” one Nets staffer aboard the flight said. “It felt like hope.”
Jeff Zillgitt: From the Nets on Caris LeVert: Diagnosed with a subtalar dislocation of the right foot. No surgery needed. He will return this season.
Jeff Stotts: Per Nets PR, Caris LeVert suffered a dislocated talus (ankle) but did NOT suffer any fractures. Ligament damage did occur but will NOT require surgery. This is a massive relief and sets up LeVert for a possible return later in the year.
