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Indiana Pacers wing Caris LeVert is indefinitely absent after an MRI revealed a small mass on his left kidney, the team said on Saturday.
The mass was found during a physical exam before the Pacers finalized the trade to acquire LeVert. He will undergo further testing.
“On behalf of my family and myself, we would like to thank the Indiana Pacers for their support and guidance,” LeVert said in a statement. “We are grateful for their extreme thoroughness during the physical process and I look forward to joining the team and being a part of this great organization as soon as possible.”
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard told a press conference on Saturday that the team were “super confident” that LeVert would be able to return to the field.
Pritchard noted that as soon as the team found out about the medical issue, “All eyes were trying to help Caris and making sure we plan this.” Pritchard said the team became comfortable with the decision to go ahead with the trade after receiving feedback from their medical staff, although there is no set timeline for the return of LeVert.
“But we felt comfortable with that, and again, for us, it was about two aspects,” said Pritchard. “First, how can it help now? And this is what we were hoping for, and it might not be today that he can help us, but we believe there is a chance that he can help us in the not so distant future. . And that’s what made us feel comfortable in that there is a risk, we are willing to take that risk, but there is also a human element that I felt we could jump in there. , reach out, trust our community, modern medicine is amazing. “
The Pacers announced they acquired LeVert and cash from the Brooklyn Nets as part of the four-team trade that sent Victor Oladipo to the Houston Rockets earlier Saturday. The Pacers also received a future second-round pick from Houston and a future second-round pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the deal.
In a revised version of the trade, Brooklyn also sent the Pacers $ 2.6 million, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The news became official following a Pacers practice in Los Angeles on Saturday. Pacers coach Nate Bjorkgren has confirmed that LeVert is absent from the squad, but said he was “excited” to work with him.
“Obviously I know him very well. Last year he played against him in the first round of the playoffs where he was very difficult to manage,” said Bjorkgren, a former assistant for the Toronto Raptors. “Very good player and very dynamic so I watched him a lot, trained against him and can’t wait to have him on our Indiana Pacers team.”
LeVert, 26, is averaging 18.5 points and six assists in 27.8 minutes per game this season.
Eric Woodyard of ESPN contributed to this report.
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