Cleveland Cavaliers: Larry Nance Jr. needs to start

The Cleveland Cavaliers are far from being fixed and a change to the starting lineup may be needed.

Since the trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been running the same core players in their starting lineup. For most of the recent games, the starting lineup has consisted of LeBron James, George Hill, JR Smith, Tristan Thompson, and Cedi Osman.

This lineup has remained the same in the last seven games. The only exception to this was when Smith was suspended one game and Rodney Hood filled in his role.

Despite head coach Tyronn Lue being reluctant to change the lineup, it may be time to make adjustments. The Cavaliers have now lost three of their last five games. Including an embarrassing blow out on their home court against the injury-plagued San Antonio Spurs. The Cavs can blame their recent woes on a number of different things. From the poor effort to lack of team chemistry, the Cavaliers could make excuses for days.

However, there is something that the Cavaliers could do right now to provide a quick fix to a few of their problems. It’s no secret that Tristan Thompson has been a detriment to this team lately. Thompson has had a negative plus/minus in each of the Cavaliers last six games. In total, Thompson has been a minus 47 during this stretch.

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Furthermore, Thompson has a net rating of negative 4.8 for the season. Net rating is the teams point differential (Per 100 possessions) while a specific player is on the court. This means the Cavaliers play worse as a team when Thompson is on the court.

In contrast, Larry Nance has provided the positive production that Thompson has not. Since joining the Cavaliers, Nance has been a plus 49 in the box plus/minus and has a positive net rating of 1.6. Nance is also averaging more points, rebounds, assists, and blocks than Thompson. Nance is doing all of this while playing the same amount of minutes as Thompson.

There is no debate on who the better player is– it’s Larry Nance.

One startling stat is how the teams’ record correlates with Nance’s playing time. The Cavaliers have a 5-1 record when Nance plays at least 20 minutes. On the other hand, the Cavaliers have lost every game in which Nance has played under 20 minutes.

It is clear that the Cavaliers are a better team with Nance on the court.

This is because Larry Nance is the type of player that the Cavaliers need right now. Nance has been able to play solid minutes and bring life to the team with his highlight reel plays. Nance has the ability to make a crowd erupting dunk. This might not sound like a big deal, but delivering a posterizing jam can really swing the momentum in a close game.

In a season where the Cavaliers have struggled to find consistent success, a player like Nance cannot go underappreciated. Nance will never be the guy to put the team on his back and carry Cleveland to a win. But keeping him on the bench and starting an inferior player over him just doesn’t make sense. Nance deserves the starting position.

Larry Nance is everything that Cleveland fans want Tristan Thompson to be. Nance is a hustle player who chases down rebounds and can run the floor with athleticism. His presence in the paint has made a positive impact on this team. He has already proved that he is the more productive player than Thompson and deserves the starting role.

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It’s time the Cleveland Cavaliers make Nance a starter.