Cavs need Larry Nance Jr. to look to score more sans Kevin Love

Larry Nance Jr. needs to have a more aggressive scoring mindset for the Cleveland Cavaliers right now.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to be without Kevin Love for give or take three-and-a-half to four weeks due to a calf strain he reaggravated. After that period, he’s set to be re-evaluated, per a Cavs team annoucement.

In the meantime, though, Larry Nance Jr. is more than capable of taking over in the interim in a starting 4 role, and he is a far better defensive player than Love. That’s not a debate, and Nance, albeit at times he has some tough matchups for stretches against bigger players, still is pretty capable on-ball, and off-ball, he aids the Cavs team defense.

We know the 2020-21 season has just started, but Nance is currently leading the NBA in total steals, and Andre Drummond is second, for what it’s worth.

Also, on the offensive end, where Nance has proven to be much-improved in the past two seasons, a better handle helps him and his teammates, and Nance’s vision/feel has often been on display. In that realm, Nance is currently second on the Cavs with 5.0 assists per game, trailing only Darius Garland (7.2), who has gotten off to quite the start overall.

Nonetheless, while in the general sense, Nance’s playmaking is here to stay it seems when he’s in there, in this upcoming stretch minus Love, Nance needs to look to score more.

Sans Love, the Cavs need Nance to look to score more in this stretch.

Nance is such a gifted passing big, and he had seven assists to only two turnovers in Cleveland’s loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday. His passing has really been on display on a number of occasions dating back to his first full season with the Cavs in 2018-19, and we’ll see that more.

His feel for getting guys such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Drummond, Cedi Osman and others open looks is huge for the Cavs. And thanks to an improved handle, that sort of thing should pay off for him and the Cavs in transition, an area where Cleveland needs to prioritize, to an extent, in 2021.

In settled offense, though, while I again know Nance will aid those around him as a passer/screener, sans Love for these upcoming weeks, the Cavs need Nance to look to score more. He will take his three-point looks off-the-catch a fair amount and/or some mid-range looks, but there have been times when Nance is passing up good shots to look for perhaps even better for other guys.

He does do so at times, and the one-more passes he delivers at times to guards/perhaps Cedi Osman if they are more open I do get. But Nance in some other instances will pass up open perimeter shots to go into a handoff and reset, and those seem to stall out possessions a bit, and without Love, he needs to just let those sort of looks fly.

Nance took four triples against Indy, which is a reasonable amount, and he hit one; he’s not just a catch-and-shoot guy, and I acknowledge that. Although, Nance only taking nine shots, of which he converted on four, to me is not nearly enough for him if he’s going to be in a starting role in this stretch.

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Nance did attempt six triples against the New York Knicks in a loss, of which he hit one, but to be fair, the Cavs as a team mightily struggled shooting the ball then. Nance was four-of-11 overall in that game, anyhow.

It’s not necessarily just about catch-and-shoots regarding this about Love, however.

Yes, I want him to take perhaps four to five triples per game without Love available, but even though the passing element I love with him, I’d like to see him maybe take his matchups at times on drives.

That improved handle makes Nance more of a weapon in settled offense, and if he can just look to attack a bit more first out of the elbow or from faking handoffs and going into a drive, that could lead to some quality in-rhythm looks for him via push shots.

Lastly, I wouldn’t expect it to be the case a ton, but perhaps some occasional post-ups for Nance could be worked in, too, particularly if he has a weak side shooter to dish to if he’s doubled? Nance demonstrated growth in that area last season, and again, we know he’ll make good decisions.

Anyhow, though when Kevin Porter Jr. (personal) gets back into the fold, he’ll be a key scoring presence, we should expect rust for him/for him to be eased in more.

Isaac Okoro could factor in some, and we’ll see as far as his foot sprain, which has sidelined him for the last three games, to go with him being placed into the NBA’s health and safety protocol, of which you can view more on at the above transition-oriented link.

In any case, in this starting 4 role in the interim for Nance, without Love available, the Cavs do need Jr. to look to score more.

I don’t want to diminish the playmaking from him, nor the other areas in which he contributes, but if can assert himself a bit more game-to-game, it will only make him that more capable as a playmaker for other guys as games play out.

I’m confident that Nance can get the job done, to a large degree; they just need him to be more aggressive as a scorer earlier on to help the set offense without Love’s shooting/mid-post presence available.