Larry Nance Jr. is Cavs MVP so far at near-quarter poll

Nance has been an offensive catalyst for the Cavs and continues to take strides as a shooter

Offensively, Collin Sexton has been incredible to this point, whether or not injuries have potentially played into a bit of scoring inflation.

He’s had 24.8 points per contest on an impressive 60.0 percent true shooting, and after Friday’s game, ended up having his Cavs record set for 10 straight games to begin a season of 20-plus points. He’s been sensational on-ball, and as a catch-and-shoot guy in those instances, and his 4.2 assists per outing have been a positive.

Additionally, Andre Drummond, who has currently had a career-best 18.7 points per outing to this point, has been a force inside. I give him his credit for his efforts in that sense, too.

Nance has been a key offensive contributor for Cleveland, too, though, and that factors into him being Cleveland’s MVP to this point, I believe, as well. Nance has been primarily Cleveland’s starting 4 in place of Love, so that plays into him having a career-high 10.5 points per outing to this point, but him having the same as far as assists go thus far has jumped out, really.

Nance has averaged 3.5 assists per contest, and has had an assist rate of 14.4 percent, which has been big for the Wine and Gold’s playmaking efforts, and looking onward, we’ll continue to see him be a catalyst for this Cleveland offense. That should help out the likes of the young guards/Damyean Dotson and Dylan Windler, among others.

Along with the playmaking element, though, Nance, even after a rough start, has rebounded as a catch-and-shoot threat, and has to this point, hit a career-high 42.1 percent from three-point land.

That’s obviously not sustainable for the year, but it’s apparent that Nance has shown, when he’s not hesitating, that’s more than capable as a spot-up player for the Cavs, which will make him even more valuable moving forward.

And his progression in that realm, along with him proving to take further strides with his handle, particularly in transition/secondary transition, has been a pleasure to see.

Moreover, Nance, taking it all into account, is the Cleveland Cavaliers MVP at the near-quarter poll of 2020-21.

Hopefully, he can get mostly healthy soon enough for the Wine and Gold, and again we’ll see if he’ll be in there Wednesday.