Cleveland Cavaliers: Where Larry Nance Jr. ranks against other starting PFs

#27: Jonathan Isaac

Jonathan Isaac hasn’t yet found his offensive footing for the Orlando Magic in his two seasons. The 6-foot-10 21-year-old has the makings of a legitimate starting 4, but he’s not yet very polished on the offensive end, and dealt with ankle injuries throughout his rookie campaign in 2017-18 (h/t Orlando Pinstriped Post’s Zach Oliver), causing him to only appear in 27 games, per Basketball Reference, and he only had 5.4 points per game on a rough 46.5% true shooting clip in those.

In 2018-19, though, Isaac was a fixture in Orlando’s rotation, as he started in 64 of 75 games, and looks promising, particularly on the defensive end as a rim protector, and is more than capable of switching out against guards in pick-and-roll coverage.

A career block rate of 4.2% demonstrates his primary value on the floor at this point, and though his shooting has not popped yet, his 9.6 points per game on a relatively small usage rate of 16.3% in 2018-19 (per Basketball Reference) seems to signal he’s due for an uptick if given more chances in 2019-20 to me.

If he’s able to get more functional strength in coming years to pair with his capable handle for a young big and be able to knock down more catch-and-shoot opportunities (an effective field goal clip of just 47.4% last season, per NBA.com’s shot tracking data), he’ll be a really productive starter for the Magic I believe in the near future.

#26: Miles Bridges

Charlotte Hornets combo forward Miles Bridges is a player that could be due for a breakout campaign in 2019-20. As a rookie, he had respectable averages of 7.5 points per game on 54.8% true shooting, to go with 4.0 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per contest.

With the Hornets likely now having a rebuilding focus, though, I’d think Bridges will start much more than the 25 games he did in 2018-19, and with his explosiveness on straight-line drives and ability as a putback man, and cutter/lob threat (he placed in the 87th percentile as a cutter last year, per Synergy Sports), I’d expect his scoring and rebounds to go up a considerable amount with more minutes-share.

The high-flyer really excels in transition, and could be a tough matchup next season for opposing 4’s with his combination of ferocity and quickness. He also did shoot 39.5% on corner three-point shots, too, (per Basketball Reference), and his 75.3% free throw hit rate makes it seem as though the shooting stroke is there if he continues to refine that, and I’d think on a rebuilding team, he could some chances in the pick-and-pop game, which would make him harder to defend.

On the defensive end, Bridges is a more than capable rebounder, and has good IQ, which enables him to seemingly defend most 3’s and 4’s competently, and as a helper, he times blocking of shots near the rim well for a young player, as evidenced by a block rate of 2.5% as a rookie.

#25: Zach Collins

Portland Trail Blazers big Zach Collins has been up and down in his first two years, but he still does have plenty of upside. Though I’m a bit skeptical to see if Collins can play regular starters minutes (he didn’t at Gonzaga in his one year, either), he has made his presence felt as a shot blocker already, and his timing there even when staying with guards in switchouts has been very good.

A key point of emphasis I would think for Collins is being more functionally strong in coming years to play more on the interior, though, and if he’ll be relied to play starting minutes, even when Jusuf Nurkic comes back from reported injury, Collins will need to more disciplined on his closeouts and take less silly fouls.

4.6 fouls per-36 (per Basketball Reference) is too many for Portland, and in his third year, Collins should be able to clean that up.

Additionally, Collins is a solid lob threat and though the clip doesn’t show it yet necessarily, he has immense potential as a stretch big; his three-point shooting clip of 33.1% doesn’t nearly show how capable of a perimeter shooter off-the-catch Collins can be, and I believe he’ll show that more this season with starting minutes allowing him to get in a better rhythm.

Rebounding for Collins could be better, but a defensive rebounding rate of 17.3% at this point for his first two years signals he can be competent there, and Hassan Whiteside on the floor with him should help, anyhow.