Pacers’ LeVert has successful surgery to remove cancerous growth

Recently acquired wingman Caris LeVert had successful surgery to remove a cancerous growth from his left kidney, the Indiana Pacers announced on Tuesday.

“Caris is expected to make a full recovery and will be out indefinitely,” the team said, adding that no further treatment is needed for LeVert’s case of renal cell carcinoma.

The growth was discovered during a routine physical examination after LeVert was traded earlier this month from the Nets as part of a package of players and draft picks that brought James Harden to Brooklyn. The Houston Rockets, who initially got LeVert back in the deal, immediately rerouted him to Indiana, along with a second-round pick, in exchange for Victor Oladipo.

After his physical raised a flag, a subsequent MRI exam helped confirm LeVert’s condition. The 26-year-old said last week that he was “definitely humbled to know that this trade could have saved me in the long run.”

“I hadn’t missed any games this season yet. I was 100 percent healthy,” LeVert told reporters at the time. “In a way, this trade showed and revealed what was going on in my body.”

“We were able to find something that could help this kid and give him a better and clean prognosis for the rest of his life,” Pacers’ president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said during a media session several days after the trade was completed. “It’s an incredible story, and it’s something we don’t take lightly.”

A star at the University of Michigan, where he helped the Wolverines to the national championship game in 2013, the 6-foot-6 LeVert was selected by the Pacers 20th overall in the 2016 draft, but was traded with a second-rounder to the Nets in exchange for forward Thaddeus Young. The recent trade brings LeVert’s NBA journey full circle and gives the Pacers arguably a better fit than Oladipo did with star teammates Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis.

Indiana will have to wait an unspecified period of time to see that fit on the court and LeVert does not see any wisdom in rushing his recovery.

“To me, the most important thing is to get my body healthy and make sure I live a long life,” he said last week. “I’m not really looking at that [basketball] side of things right now. Obviously, I want to play as soon as possible. I’m a competitor. I love to play the game. But I think health wise, that’s the most important thing.

“As far as timeline, we’ll figure that out in the future, but right now we just don’t have those answers.”

Over his first four seasons in Brooklyn, LeVert showed steady improvement, raising his scoring and rebounding averages every year. He has a history of injuries, particularly to his feet, going back to his time at Michigan.

Of his cancer diagnosis, LeVert said last week that it led to “some trying times for myself and my family.”

“I’m just very grateful for the support I’ve received not only from the players but from the front office and the fans,” he added. “It’s going to be a crazy recovery as well, but I think myself and the Pacers are really optimistic about the future.”