Cavs: Three goals for Larry Nance Jr. for rest of 2019-20 season

Goal #3 for Nance for rest of 2019-20: Expand his leadership role

Larry is definitely one of my favorite players on the Cavaliers right now. Ever since he was traded to Cleveland, it always felt like he belonged here.

Being a second generation Cavalier, Larry knows what the Cavaliers’ franchise means to the city of Cleveland. Jr. is a special player for this team because he wants to be here.

Playing in the same number his father played in, and in his hometown, it’s almost poetic. With this type of commitment, there must also be a sense of leadership.

Larry is the fourth-oldest member on the Cavaliers at the moment. The three oldest are the remaining champions from 2016; Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Matthew Dellavedova.

While Nance is seemingly growing in regards to his leadership presence, he needs to assume more of a leadership role with this team, because it likely won’t be long until the remnants of that championship team are gone.

A key leader in Thompson, whose camp reportedly wanted him traded before the deadline, and who is a prime sign-and-trade candidate this summer (as he’s on an expiring deal), according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca, is seemingly going to be playing elsewhere next season. Additionally, Dellavedova is on an expiring deal, and Love could feasibly be traded this offseason, especially with the 2020 free agent class being weak.

Now, leadership is not a quantifiable thing, really. Usually your best player tends to be the leader of your team, but sometimes you can be a leader in other ways.

One of these ways Nance can continue to be is by being a positive force in the locker room. I would like to see Larry continue to be a guy the other players can rely on for support, or maybe even more so, as Nance seems to be that kind of guy now, but I believe could take it a step further to help out pieces such as Garland, Sexton, Porter and others.

After reportedly coming to an agreement on a four-year extension for $44.8 million before the start of 2018-19, it seems pretty clear that general manager Koby Altman and the front office in Cleveland has every intention of keeping Nance around.

While taking a look back at these three goals for the rest of the 2019-20 season for him, I believe Jr. can continue showing he’s a vital piece to the future success for Cleveland.