Cleveland Cavaliers: Nance and Love deals should motivate young guys

The Cleveland Cavaliers have taken care of their own in the last few months in relation to Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr., and that should motivate the young guys to keep working hard.

The Cleveland Cavaliers gave Kevin Love a four-year, $120 million contract extension in July, and yesterday evening, they agreed to terms with Larry Nance Jr. on a four-year, $44.8 million extension, the team announced. Had Nance had not signed his rookie extension, he would have been a restricted free agent next summer, according to Ben Axelrod of WKYC.

The Cavaliers have made it clear since LeBron James left for the second time (this time to go to the Los Angeles Lakers), that they aren’t simply tanking in the 2018-19 season. The team is looking to adjust with head coach Tyronn Lue preaching a faster-paced squad that wants to be better on defense than they’ve been in the last two years.

With young pieces such as Cedi Osman (who’s poised to have a big sophomore season as this team’s starting small forward), Rodney Hood (who’s reportedly out to prove himself while playing for a big contract offer from Cleveland), and rookie first-round pick Collin Sexton coming to mind, Cleveland should have plenty of reason for motivation.

Aside from the local fan base, Osman’s playmaking abilities are a relative unknown outside of Cleveland. After a year of exposure to LeBron James’ superstar play on the wing, I would expect Osman to do all he can he earn a big day in the next few years. Osman absolutely dominated in the Las Vegas Summer League, and has had an incredible offseason.

He had 4.0 assists in 15.1 minutes per game this preseason, which led Cleveland, and he’s going to have a huge scoring uptick this season.

Osman projects as the best passer on this Cavaliers team, and with him, Hood and Sexton, the Cavs should have three transition horses that will be bursting out of the stables for the foreseeable future.

The Cavs should have high hopes for Hood (who’s playing for his $3.4 million qualifying offer this year) without the pressure of playing on a championship-or-bust squad, and he’s more than capable. Lue believes Hood is Love’s number two this season, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

As a versatile scoring threat, Hood should have all the opportunities in the world to show what he can do, and I’d bet he gets over his career average of 13.0 points per game.

Sexton is on a rookie deal and has not yet played in an NBA game that counts, but with his determination and seeing his teammates get big contract extensions and committing to Cleveland long-term, that’s got to bring even more motivation to lead a winning culture and get that big rookie extension down the road.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are doing an admirable thing in signing a Cleveland son in Nance to a long-term extension, and with that kind of loyalty being their trend lately, it can only help build a strong culture that’s built on team-first principles. For them to relevant in the rest of Love’s career, that’ll be paramount.

Who knows? Maybe somebody like David Nwaba eventually gets a multi-year deal next year to go with Hood from a promising season, too.