There’s reportedly a good chance that the Cleveland Cavaliers start Larry Nance Jr. and Kevin Love in the frontcourt on most occasions in the 2019-20 season, and it’d be smart if Cleveland gave the pairing some time together in the preseason in a few games.
The NBA preseason is not a time where veteran players are likely to play a bunch of minutes, and the Cleveland Cavaliers are probably no exception to that being the case, either.
The Cavaliers are a team that is going to be playing young players a ton of minutes in the 2019-20 season, and in the preseason, Cleveland should be seeing the first real bit of what guard Darius Garland and wing Kevin Porter Jr., two of their three drafted rookies this year (wing Dylan Windler is the other), can do.
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Both of those players did not play in the preseason due to them recovering from a reported meniscus tear back in college at Vanderbilt (in Garland’s case), and in Porter’s case, recovering from a reported hip flexor injury he suffered in a pre-draft workout. Two key parts of Cleveland’s core in the frontcourt should get run, too, though.
That being said, with the Cavs and head coach John Beilein seemingly having a good chance of starting Larry Nance Jr. (at the 4) and Kevin Love (at the 5) on most occasions this year, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, it’d be a sensible move to play the pairing some in preseason action, maybe along the lines of the first quarter of two or three or so of the four preseason games.
I understand that Love, who only appeared in 22 games in the 2018-19 season (per Basketball Reference) mostly due to reported toe surgery, won’t be playing a huge minutes-share in preseason games.
To get him into a good rhythm heading into the coming year, though, I believe some preseason action would be meaningful for him, and with Love and Nance still not playing a whole lot together in games still considering Nance was acquired at the 2018 trade deadline from the Los Angeles Lakers and Love was injured most of last season, some minutes for the pairing in two or three preseason games would be a smart move.
As KJG contributors have mentioned time and time again, Love and Nance are both very good passers for bigs. Love has a career 2.3 per game assist mark, to go with a solid career assist rate of 12.1%, while Nance has a respectable career 11.1% assist rate, and was able to really take off as a playmaker last season for the Cavs.
Nance, who brings much more of a playmaking and potential spacing element (he shot 33.7% from three-point range in 2018-19, per Basketball Reference) than the likes of Tristan Thompson and John Henson (despite Henson showing a touch of spacing capability last season with the Milwaukee Bucks), led qualified Cleveland Cavaliers in assists with 3.2 per game last season (per NBA.com).
With Beilein’s ball and man movement-predicated offense wanting to utilize Love and Nance as playmakers a bunch of the time next year/likely coming years to help maximize the likes of Garland, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, Windler and Porter (among others), the Cavs’ coaching staff should get the Nance-Love pairing at least some action together in the preseason, such as 12-14 minutes in two or three of the four contests.
Cleveland’s likely starting frontcourt on most occasions next year needs to further learn how to play off one another, and that should start in the preseason.
Occasions such as when one goes to the opposite corner when the other is in a pick-and-roll or hand-off situation with potentially Sexton, Garland, Porter, Jordan Clarkson or Osman, along with how Nance and/or Love sets off-ball screens or cuts to the basket off-ball when the other is looking to pass and get the offense going are examples, and the earlier the Cavs can get Love and Nance meaningful reps together, the better.
That will only help their chemistry going into the 2019-20 season, along with help the Cleveland Cavaliers figure out how they are going to be from a team defensive perspective as well.
Once again, I’m not suggesting the Cavaliers should play the Love-Nance pairing a good chunk of preseason games, as I believe the Cavs’ three draft picks should and especially the Garland-Sexton backcourt pairing, but getting Love and Nance some minutes together in at least a couple of preseason games would be a good decision.
For reference, the Cavs begin the preseason on Oct. 7, and will conclude the preseason on Oct. 15, and per the team/NBA.com, here’s the entirety of Cleveland’s 2019-20 season and preseason schedule.