Cavs: Larry Nance Jr. reportedly likely to exclusively play the 4

Cleveland Cavaliers big Larry Nance Jr. is reportedly likely to just the power forward position going forward, and that should allow Cleveland to fully see his ceiling.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got a career year out of big Larry Nance Jr. in 2018-19, and though as KJG contributors have referenced it was some due to significant injuries to players such as star big Kevin Love (mostly due to reported toe surgery) and 5 man Tristan Thompson (a reported foot injury/soreness), Nance showed that he could be a multifaceted player for Cleveland in coming years.

Nance had career-bests across the board.

That was in relation to points (9.4), rebounds (8.2), assists (3.2) and steals (1.5), and that was in large part because he had the biggest minutes-share of his four NBA seasons with 26.8 minutes per game (per Basketball Reference).

As we’ve also emphasized here at KJG, it was a welcome sight for the Cavaliers that Nance attempted 98 three-pointers and made 33 of them last season (a 33.7% clip), and those 33 makes and 98 attempts were more than his previous three NBA seasons combined with the Cavs shortly and mostly with the Los Angeles Lakers (Nance was a 2018 Cleveland trade acquisition).

In the 2019-20 season, Nance hopes to build on his success from last season, and now for Cleveland head coach John Beilein, it appears that Nance will have plenty of opportunities to further showcase his multifaceted skill set, as he’ll reportedly likely just be playing the 4 position going forward, considering Beilein sees Nance as a 4, as was reported by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.

Nance is more than fine with that, and here’s his take, courtesy of Fedor.

"“I don’t play 5 anymore really. Thank goodness,” Nance said with a huge smile. “I’ve been doing a whole lot of 4. A little bit in the post, a whole lot on the wing. The biggest difference between a 4 and 5 in this offense is kind of the freedom it gives you. I think with my playmaking ability that I kind of found last year I think that best suits me.”"

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Fedor, who hit on how Nance is listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds on the Cavaliers website but according to Nance, is probably not really that height, touched on how the 4 man for Beilein is “often asked to be an offensive hub,” along with being a floor spacer, and then Fedor also referenced how during this offseason due to that role now for him going forward, “Nance estimates taking more than 20,000 3-pointers.”

Fedor would highlight how Nance worked on tightening up his handle, too, and hopefully, that could translate to him being able to take advantage of slower bigs, in particular, if he shows some consistency from three-point range, and generate easier looks for teammates, of which Nance referred to, too, per Fedor.

So realistically, with the spacing more-regular 5 man Kevin Love will hopefully already provide a good deal in games seemingly drawing out opposing bigs in addition to being a viable dump-off threat inside, Nance with more room on the perimeter should have more opportunity to create for himself or others on a regular basis.

Also factoring in the Cleveland Cavaliers having players that will likely be able to get buckets often off-the-bounce and off-the-catch in guards Collin Sexton and rookie Darius Garland, along with the likes of bench scorer Jordan Clarkson and rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr., in addition to wing Cedi Osman and perhaps some via pull-ups and especially off-the-catch from rookie wing Dylan Windler (who could miss a bit of the regular season due to a reported lower leg injury), Nance should have more than enough options to go to if he can penetrate.

Now Nance I would think will still be a very active screener, primarily off-ball, and the Cavaliers should still use him with dribble-handoffs to get perimeter players a step on their defenders after the delivery, but again, it’s good that with him not having to deal with the physicality inside of going primarily against centers, that he’ll be able to have more space to make plays and build on his three-point shooting from last season.

So if there’s a significant injury this year to Love does that mean Nance, who has played 45% of his minutes at the 5 (per Basketball Reference), will play the 5 a good bit?

That I’m unsure of at this point, and the Cleveland Cavaliers do have Thompson, John Henson and Ante Zizic to handle the bulk of those minutes, at least at the moment (Thompson and Henson are on expiring deals so they could feasibly be dealt mid-season), however, that would definitely be a blow to Nance’s impact as a secondary playmaker for Beilein and the team’s floor spacing would for sure take a hit.

Overall, though, it’s good that Beilein and Nance are on the same page as far as Nance likely just playing the 4 going forward, as that could really free up the latter and enable Cleveland to fully gauge his ceiling with more chances to create for himself and others with more room to operate.