Cavaliers: 3 positive trends for Larry Nance Jr. moving forward
By Dan Gilinsky
Larry Nance Jr. continues to make strides and is a key piece for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and three positive trends jump out to me involving him moving forward.
As you are likely well-aware of now, the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season for the Cleveland Cavaliers and other teams due to precautions needing to be exercised in order to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. This came in response to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, March 11.
Since, it’s been reported that Utah’s Donovan Mitchell tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday as well, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and on Saturday, it was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium that Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood tested positive for COVID-19, too, and Charania said that Wood has “shown no symptoms and is doing well.”
Wojnarowski then reported on Tuesday that four players on the Brooklyn Nets have tested positive for the novel coronavirus and how the Nets are notifying those that have come in contact with them/told to self-isolate, and gave this update as well.
Sources: Brooklyn tested the team upon returning from San Francisco and results came back today. Nets paid out of pocket to a private company to conduct tests. One player awoke with some aches today; rest have experienced no symptoms.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 17, 2020
A further update on Tuesday from Charania was that Kevin Durant was one of the Nets players that tested positive, and per Charania, Durant has not had symptoms. Marc Stein of the New York Times also reported that, before Durant was mentioned as one of the four and before Woj’s above tweet, that one player was showing symptoms and the other three on Brooklyn were not. Gobert and Mitchell are reportedly getting better day-to-day, but of course, with the novel coronavirus having such a profound impact around the world, it’s seemingly uncertain as to when or if, really, we’ll see NBA games again this season.
On Thursday in an appearance on NBA on TNT, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that the league’s hiatus would last “at least 30 days,” but since, h/t Wojnarowski, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently recommended on Sunday night that “no events or gatherings should include more than 50 people for the next eight weeks.”
Plus, on Monday, h/t CNN’s Ben Westcott, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Meg Wagner and Veronica Rocha, to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus, the White House “advised people not to gather in groups of more than 10.”
Also, per the aforementioned Wojnarowski on Sunday, “NBA owners and executives are bracing for the possibility of mid-to-late June as a best-case scenario for the league’s return,” and Woj also reported on Monday that the league will “hold a Board of Governors call on Tuesday,” and so we’ll see probably found out more following the results of that from Woj and others.
At this point, though, we still are not sure when and if, really, the 2019-20 season will resume for the Cavaliers and other teams, I would imagine.
Anyhow, factoring in a good stretch leading up to the league’s suspension, Larry Nance Jr. continued to show that he’s a key piece for the Cavaliers in coming years, and three positive trends for him moving forward have jumped out to me.
One of those relates to him showing more and more progression in one area, which bodes well for him and the squad in the near future.