Larry Nance Jr. is a Cleveland Cavaliers player on an upward trajectory.
Larry Nance Jr. looks to be one of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ best players looking onward. In 2019-20, he had yet another career-best with 10.1 points per outing, to go with having 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steals per contest.
Nance has taken notable strides with his offensive game in his first two full seasons with Cleveland after being acquired via trade from the Los Angeles near the 2018 deadline, and that’s been a pleasure to watch.
After showing the capability with some volume to hit three-point looks in 2018-19, Nance took that a step further last season, and hit 35.2 percent of his 2.8 triple attempts per outing, via spot-ups, mostly. Plus, Nance displayed a much improved handle last season, and that should only aid him more as a scorer/big secondary playmaker for the Cavs.
Nonetheless, while I wouldn’t think the Cavaliers have discussed it, realistically, it seems as though Nance has been mentioned around the NBA as a potential trade target.
Previously, The Athletic‘s John Hollinger (subscription required), mentioned in a report how Nance, whose formally set to make $11.7 million next season for now, would be the “most obvious target” really, via trade, for the Boston Celtics.
That’s factoring in an eventual Jayson Tatum rookie scale max contract extension/luxury tax dilemma from there in 2021-22, and seemingly weighing if Enes Kanter were to pick up his $5 million player option for next season. Boston, as Hollinger hit on, is also looking to deal 2020 first-round picks, of which they have three.
As far a hypothetical package, Hollinger suggested Boston acquire Nance, in exchange for Boston’s #14 pick, Kanter and big Vincent Poirier, whose unproven at this point. In relation to that, previously I detailed why the Cavs shouldn’t be considering that deal.
That said, according to a report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe, it appears that Nance has popped up in trade discussions around the NBA, of which he mentioned Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari and Dennis Schroeder, albeit the scenarios aren’t an exact comparison.
But here was more on what Lowe noted from that, and his report, he confirmed how reports about the C’s wanting to move up in the upcoming draft are “accurate,” though it’d seem they could be in the market for an established player, too.
"“Reports that Boston has explored trading its three first-round picks — Nos. 14, 26, and 30 — to move up are accurate, sources say, but not surprising. Teams with that many picks explore everything; Boston has also sniffed around using picks to acquire a solid veteran, sources say. There are few such veterans available in future-for-present deals with almost the whole league trying to win. This is why you hear Larry Nance Jr.‘s name a lot across the league — in addition to the big names in Oklahoma City (Paul, Gallinari, and Dennis Schroder). Schroder would draw strong interest, sources say.”"
It’s tough to foresee the Cavaliers sharing that take involving Nance, though.
The Cavs shouldn’t seriously consider trading Nance for three reasons.
We’ll highlight the first reason next.
Reason #1: Nance’s continued offensive growth for the Cavs
The first reason why the Cavs shouldn’t seriously consider trading Nance is, to drive it home further, his continued offensive growth. Nance has worked tirelessly to become a legitimate catch-and-shoot threat from deep, and that’s played into his increased scoring output, and makes him ever more valuable moving forward.
When you weigh in the myriad of ways Nance affects games in his minutes-share, along with that, too, it’s more noteworthy that he hit 35.2 percent from deep last season, in my opinion.
We’ve seen Nance be often utilized as a key playmaking big for the Cavs/to the benefit of pieces such as Collin Sexton, Kevin Love and Kevin Porter Jr. and others in these past two seasons as well. And his much improved handle last season should make Nance more of an impact player in a number of lineups.
Heck, we saw Nance look to be a viable 3 man option even for J.B. Bickerstaff leading into the novel coronavirus-induced hiatus/ultimately the end of last season for Cleveland. We should see that be the case next season at times, too.
Also, though the volume was not a ton of the time, Nance made strides in the post-up game, too.
So, with next season in mind, it’s evident that Nance’s continuously expanding offensive game should make all the more of a key contributor in his minutes-share for Cleveland. I just don’t see the Cavs not weighing his offensive progression in recent seasons heavily, and with Bickerstaff seeming to be a big fan of Nance’s, that would seem to substantiate that organizational take.
#2: He’s an impact player for the Cavs on a declining deal looking onward
Nance is set to make again, $11.7 million next season, and is set to be declining from there.
In 2021-22, Nance is due to make roughly $10.7 million, and from there, $9.7 million. We’ll have to see as far as seemingly finalized salaries for players for next season at least, given the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the NBA.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported this info as far as proposals for next season, which seems destined to begin on Dec. 22/involve a 72-game regular season, per a detailed report from him/Lowe. But here was what a proposed 18.0 percent escrow for players would result in, via ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
18% escrow in 20-21 would withhold roughly $720M from the players. That does not include reduced pay based on less games played. A player like Steph Curry could see his $43M salary reduced to $31M (factoring escrow and less games played). https://t.co/I8UddRqeCx
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 4, 2020
In any case, Nance’s deal will be pretty team-friendly looking onward, quite frankly, given his all-around impact for the Cavaliers. So while I understand how Nance could be an attractive trade target, especially with his deal and being a proven veteran, for other teams, conversely for the Cavs, why deal him then?
Taken the aforementioned Hollinger trade suggestion, I get that Kanter, should he opt in, and Poirier wouldn’t be expensive, but would a #14 pick affect games close to the same as Nance? No, and to reiterate, Nance’s deal is declining from here, in what is set to be through the next three seasons.
With him being a quality all-around contributor for the Cavs on an upward trajectory and being on a reasonable deal, all things considered, that’s another key reason why Cleveland shouldn’t seriously consider trading Nance.
We’ll move on to the third reason that’s the case lastly.
Reason #3: Near future uncertainty with other Cavs bigs/Nance’s buy-in
The third reason why the Cavs shouldn’t seriously considering trading Nance is Andre Drummond not seeming to be a long-term piece. Though it seems hard for Drummond to eventually not pick up his $28.7 million player option, him being around long-term again seems unlikely.
Along those lines, though he made it abundantly clear that he has not heard of this offer being proposed, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst did note on The Wine and Gold Talk Podcast with Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor and Hayden Grove that the Cavs could trade for Chris Paul.
And a deal involving sending Drummond and Cedi Osman to the Oklahoma City Thunder, or seemingly at least a trade centered on that, could theoretically do it.
Again, though, that deal, per Windhorst, has assuredly not been proposed by either side, and Paul being traded to a contender, it would seem, would be more realistic, if he were to be dealt. But the point is, Drummond doesn’t appear to be a long-term piece for the Cavaliers.
Unrestricted free agent to-be Tristan Thompson, meanwhile, reportedly rejected a Cavs offer, and could very well sign elsewhere this free agency period, also. And though I wouldn’t expect him to be dealt during this next season ahead, Kevin Love could be traded down the road, as he’s constantly a subject involved in trade rumors.
So even accounting for that the Cavs could feasibly draft a big, with him being a player on an upward trajectory, and being honestly the Cavs’ best all-around big, and likely for that to continue to be the case with his shooting/on-ball growth, Nance looks to be a reliable big for Cleveland.
Moreover, Nance’s emphatic response to the possibility of him being dealt in a quote tweet related to Forbes‘ Evan Dammarell hitting on Lowe’s report shows he has such burning desire to be in Cleveland for the long haul. As we know, his dad, Larry Nance, is a Cavs legend, and Nance Jr., an Akron native, wants to be with the Cavaliers.
That buy-in from Nance is awesome, and to stress it further, it’s apparent that for the Cavs, who seem so high on Nance, they shouldn’t seriously consider trading him.
The 27-year-old has steadily gotten better over the course of his career and more so even with the Cavaliers, and trading him at this point, also considering the Cavs bigs’ uncertainty, would seem foolish.