Cavaliers: 3 positive trends for Larry Nance Jr. moving forward

Continuing to show improvement from three-point range

In the past two seasons, we’ve continued to see Nance improve in his ability to hit three-point shots, as evidenced by Jr. hitting 33.7 percent of his triples in 2018-19 and 35.2 percent from deep thus far in 2019-20, according to Basketball Reference.

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Jr. did have a pretty rough time shooting it from deep in December, as he hit just 23.3 percent of them, per NBA.com, but that was more so because of him not getting close to as many opportunities to have the ball in his hands and make plays for then-head coach John Beilein, who has since stepped down from that position and has been re-assigned to an unspecified role within the organization.

Beilein, who was last with Michigan before the Cavs as their head coach, was going to be covering the Big Ten Conference Tournament and March Madness for the Big Ten Network, for reference, but due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA cancelled remaining winter and spring sports championships.

Nance had just 4.8 shot attempts per game and only 4.5 points per outing in that stretch in December, but really since then, he’s been much more involved in the offense, and the three-point looks have come after he’s been more much more in-rhythm, and has had seemingly much more confidence.

Again, on the season thus far leading into the league’s suspension, Nance has hit 35.2 percent of his three-point attempts, which would be a career-high.

Better yet, he has hit already a career-best 56 three-pointers, and his 159 three-point attempts this season are already over half of his 315 career attempts, as noted by Basketball Reference.

Moving forward, if Larry keeps shooting in-rhythm triples, his confidence will continue to grow under now-head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, and it will open up more cutting/lob opportunities for Jr. as a result after deliveries feasibly from the likes of Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Porter Jr. and others. Post-All-Star break, Nance had been hitting a solid 36.7 percent of his triples, and though it was only five games, he hit 45.0 percent from deep in March, according to NBA.com.

While Nance is not a guy who will just be a catch-and-shoot player, he’s generally at his best when he gets the ball in his hands some, maybe gets an interior bucket or two and then doesn’t hesitate, which helps out Cleveland’s driving threats. Also, Andre Drummond (who would seemingly be wise to opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season) and Kevin Love (if he’s not traded, which could seemingly be a possibility down the road) benefit from Nance taking in-rhythm three-point looks.

Hopefully, we see more continued willingness as a deep shooter from Nance, who has worked tirelessly to become a viable three-point shooting threat.

The next key positive trend for Nance involves his play on both ends, and particularly under Bickerstaff.