Cleveland Bought Immediate Help for a Surprise Contender
The Cavaliers made this deal while sitting 33-21 and trying to turn an unexpected leap into a playoff run. Ricky Rubio was already out for the season with a torn ACL, so Cleveland sent his contract, a lottery-protected first, Houston's 2022 second and Utah's 2027 second to Indiana for Caris LeVert and Miami's 2022 second. The price was not light, but the logic was straightforward: Cleveland needed another ball-handler and scorer beside Darius Garland, and LeVert was a proven rotation player who could help immediately.
LeVert Gave Cleveland Three Years of Real Rotation Value
LeVert was not a rental. He played 199 regular-season games for Cleveland across parts of four seasons, averaging between 10.2 and 14.0 points per game in each of those Cavaliers stints. He started 53 of those games, handled secondary creation and stayed in the rotation through multiple playoff seasons. In February 2025, Cleveland also included LeVert with Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two swaps in the deal for De'Andre Hunter. LeVert therefore retained downstream trade value, although he cannot be credited as the sole cost of acquiring Hunter.
Indiana Turned the Draft Compensation Into Two Rotation Players
The Pacers did not need Ricky Rubio to play a minute for the return to work. Houston's 2022 second became the No. 31 pick, which Indiana used on Andrew Nembhard. By 2025-26, Nembhard was averaging 16.9 points and 7.7 assists, and he had already appeared in 265 regular-season games for the Pacers. Cleveland's protected first stayed in the lottery in 2022, then conveyed at No. 26 in 2023, where Indiana selected Ben Sheppard. Sheppard had reached 185 career games by the end of 2025-26 and was averaging 7.1 points that season.
The Extra Assets Kept the Scale Tilted Toward Indiana
Cleveland's incoming 2022 second became Luke Travers at No. 56. Travers eventually reached the NBA, but through 2025-26 he had appeared in only 24 games for the Cavaliers. Indiana, meanwhile, still had the 2027 Utah second-round pick from the original transaction as an unresolved future component in the canonical ledger. That makes the contrast clear: Cleveland received a useful veteran and a fringe second-rounder, while Indiana turned two of its picks into Nembhard and Sheppard and still had another second-round asset left to settle.
Final Verdict
Pacers Win — Cleveland C+, Indiana B+. Cleveland got meaningful value from Caris LeVert, who played 199 regular-season games for the Cavaliers and later became one piece of the De'Andre Hunter trade. That keeps this from being a bad deal for Cleveland. Indiana still came away with the stronger package. Andrew Nembhard became a high-minute starting guard, Ben Sheppard developed into another rotation wing, and the 2027 second-round pick remained an additional asset through this checkpoint. Rubio never played for Indiana, but the draft return was productive enough that the Pacers did not need him to.