A recent Cavs tweet shows how Larry Nance Jr. is so reliable for them

Larry Nance Jr. is one of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best all-around players.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Larry Nance Jr. previously agreeing on then a four-year contract extension before the 2018-19 season has really paid off. While Kevin Love only being active for 22 games played into it to some extent, Nance made real strides in his first full season with the Wine and Gold then.

That was following being a piece traded to Cleveland by the Los Angeles Lakers at the 2018 NBA trade deadline.

In that campaign, Nance had a then-career-high in points and assists per game with 9.4 and 3.2, and Nance established himself as a catch-and-shoot threat from three-point range. Then in his first season taking those looks regularly, Nance hit 33.7 percent of his 1.5 deep attempts per game. He also had career-bests in rebounds and steals per contest with 8.2 and 1.5 as well.

Nance continued to improve as an all-around performer for the Cavs this now-past season, too, as Cavs.com’s Joe Gabriele recently detailed, and it’s truly been a pleasure to see Nance’s growth. In the three-point shooting realm, via catch-and-shoots almost exclusively, Nance took his 2018-19 a step further and hit 35.2 percent of his triple 2.8 attempts per outing in 2019-20.

To me, I think it’s fair to expect Nance’s three-point shooting to have more of an uptick, too, feasibly after deliveries from the likes of Darius Garland, Kevin Porter Jr. and others.

Anyhow, it’s apparent that Nance is such a crucial piece for the Cavs, and is a player that gives them quite a boost off the bench most of the time and is one they can go to for a lift.

A recent Cleveland Cavaliers tweet shows how Nance is so reliable for them.

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Nance has become one of the Cavs’ best all-around contributors. That’s factoring in his improvement as a spot-up threat, his two-way rebounding, his rolling presence, passing feel for a big, his growth with ball handling last season and as a post-up threat and with him being one of Cleveland’s best team defenders.

Nance is capable of switching out and guarding perimeter players pretty well, too, and that played into how he had success post-All-Star break at times playing the 3 position and we could see that more with Kevin Love and Andre Drummond at the 4/5, in particular, it would seem.

That’s something J.B. Bickerstaff went with occasionally after he took over the head coaching reigns post-All-Star break leading into the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus. Unfortunately, that would result in the end of the Cavs 2019-20.

The expiring Tristan Thompson, who may or may not end up being back but from his perspective, is interested in re-signing with Cleveland via one-year deal for now, per a report from Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell, appeared at the 5 with Nance/Love at the 3/4 then, too.

It is clear looking at the 2020-21 campaign, though, that from the Nance standpoint, that he is so reliable for the Cavaliers. A recent Cavs tweet from Tuesday shows how that is the case looking onward, also, in what was highlighted in a “By the Numbers” piece.

Nance, for context, is the featured Cleveland Cavaliers player of the week across their social media channels, and this above team tweet again emphasizes how Nance has become so reliable for the Wine and Gold.

Him having what ended up being tied for the third-best double-double total off the bench in the league in 2019-20 further shows how he has continued to make strides with his offensive game, and how he consistently gives the Cavs an added bench boost.

Nance is capable of being productive for stretches at the 4 and 5, and perhaps we could again see him at times fill in at the 3 spot in 2020-21, too, and I’d imagine we will a decent amount. That’s especially if he shows more growth in regards to his handle.

Anyway, it’s clear that as this Cavs recent tweet shows, that Nance is a piece that the Wine and Gold can rely on to bring plenty of juice off the bench, and I agree with KJG’s Grant Puskar in that Nance is Cleveland’s most important bench player heading into 2020-21.

With Larry Nance Jr.’s growth as a catch-and-shoot and on-ball threat and with his defensive instincts/versatility, he could very well play over half of games it’d seem going forward for the Cavs.