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Caris LeVert was star at Michigan before NBA: 6 things to know about new Detroit Piston
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- Caris LeVert was star at Michigan before NBA: 6 things to know about new Detroit Piston
Another Michigan man is now playing for the Detroit Pistons .
Caris LeVert has signed a two-year, $29 million contract to join the Pistons. It won't be LeVert's first time playing basketball in Michigan, however, as he spent four years playing for the Michigan Wolverines from 2012-16.
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The Pistons featured another Michigan man (and former U-M teammate of LeVert's) in Tim Hardaway Jr. during the 2024-25 season. Hardaway is currently an unrestricted free agent but could re-sign with the Pistons in the offseason.
LeVert fills a wing role potentially left by Malik Beasley , who the Pistons planned on offering a new contract before news broke of his involvement with a federal gambling investigation . He could also provide scoring off the bench, as the veteran has averaged at least 12 points per game over the past eight seasons.
Here are five things to know about LeVert as he joins his newest team:
PISTONS GRADE: Caris LeVert positive NBA free-agent signing for backcourt
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Caris LeVert was born in Columbus
LeVert is a native of Columbus, Ohio—for U-M fans, better known as the home of archrival Ohio State.
But even though LeVert was an accomplished basketball player out of Pickering Central, winning a Division 1 state title in his senior year, he only had one official visit (Alabama State) before committing to Ohio University and then re-committing to Michigan.
That might have happened because of a recommendation from Trey Burke , another Columbus-born U-M basketball star. Whatever the reason, it ended up being a great decision for LeVert, who parlayed a four-year college stint into a long NBA career.
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LeVert was part of a historic U-M basketball season
Michigan's Caris LeVert shoots during the first half
LeVert was a freshman on the 2012-13 U-M basketball team that made its way to the national championship game as a No. 4 seed and took a big first-half lead against a top-seeded Louisville team.
That U-M team was loaded with future NBAers, with Glenn Robinson III , Nik Stauskas , Hardaway and Burke in the starting lineup for the national championship game. The freshman LeVert came off the bench and pulled in three rebounds in 12 minutes as Michigan lost 82-76.
Caris LeVert stats at Michigan
After playing a smaller role in Michigan's run to the 2013 title game, LeVert took a big leap in his sophomore season, starting 37 games and averaging 12.1 points while shooting 41% on 3-pointers. However, as has been the case with a lot of his NBA career, injuries became a big story for LeVert after his sophomore season.
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LeVert played just 18 games as a junior and 15 games as a senior, but when he did play, he was dynamite, scoring 14.9 points per game as a junior and 16.5 points as a senior.
For his career, LeVert averaged 10.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 103 games over four years.
Nov 29, 2014; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines guard Caris LeVert (23) goes to the basket in the first half against the Nicholls State Colonels at Crisler Center.
LeVert had his NBA breakout in Brooklyn
Despite suffering a foot injury towards the end of his senior season at U-M, LeVert was drafted 20th overall by the Indiana Pacers in the 2016 NBA Draft. He was later traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Thaddeus Young , and it took a little while for LeVert to fully establish himself in Brooklyn.
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That happened during the 2019-20 season, when LeVert averaged 18.7 points per game on a Nets playoff team, though his season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic before the eventual NBA bubble.
LeVert averaged over 20 points per game with the Nets the following season, and Brooklyn took advantage of their star's budding success by making him a part of one of the biggest trade packages in NBA history.
LeVert was part of the James Harden megadeal
LeVert was one of the two key players the Nets parted with to acquire James Harden from the Houston Rockets on Jan. 13, 2021. By the time the smoke had cleared, LeVert found himself on the Indiana Pacers, Jarrett Allen landed on the Cleveland Cavaliers and Victor Oladipo headed to Houston.
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The team that probably made out the best in the deal was Cleveland, who got a franchise player in the deal, but LeVert played well for Indiana in parts of two seasons before being traded to the Cavaliers, where he played from 2022-25.
LeVert is related to a soul star
LeVert's third cousin is Eddie Levert , the lead singer of the O'Jays—Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famers from Canton, Ohio, probably most famous for their hit song "Love Train."
According to LeVert, Eddie continues to follow his basketball exploits and messages him after games, with Caris previously expressing how much Eddie's music means to the LeVert family.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Caris LeVert at Michigan: New Detroit Piston was star with Wolverines
