One couldn’t blame Cavs for trading Larry Nance Jr. for meaningful vet guard

Examining some Cavs-Nance trade hypotheticals

I could potentially foresee Cleveland and say, the Indiana Pacers doing a Nance trade, for instance. Indiana has been a rumored Collin Sexton suitor, among others, such as the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks, but in the case with Nance, which we’ll focus on here, perhaps Indiana would entertain taking Nance in exchange for their #13 overall pick and a guard/wing shooter such as Justin Holiday?

The Pacers need playable big man depth, and Nance could fit with either of Domantas Sabonis or Myles Turner for stretches at the 4.

Perhaps I’m wrong in suggesting that Indy would be willing to part with their #13 pick in this case, but that, which could be a wing such as Moses Moody or Franz Wagner, or even a player I’m high on in Cameron Thomas there, could be a heck of an add, if so. Or a forward such as Kai Jones, Usman Garuba could be intriguing. But adding a wing shooter attached with it that’s a proven knockdown shooting veteran would be meaningful, such as Justin Holiday.

In terms of others that could theoretically be interested in Nance and would have appealing vet guards, the Chicago Bulls, Memphis Grizzlies and perhaps Orlando Magic come to mind as potentially being logical Nance suitors.

When it comes to the Bulls, a Nance-for-Tomas Satoransky swap would be sensible, considering the uncertainty with Lauri Markkanen/how Nance could fit well with Nikola Vucevic at the 4, and from the Cavs’ standpoint, even with Satoransky being expiring, he’d be a legitimate backup point guard option. That’s to echo KJG’s Amadou Sow’s sentiment involving him, too.

That’d be helpful from Satoransky, regardless of if Collin Sexton is moved or not, and I’d think it’d aid Garland from a durability standpoint.

With the Grizzlies, I suggest them, considering how Nance could mesh in a variety of lineups and help them defensively, and could play alongside the newly-acquired Steven Adams, and I even think Nance could occasionally play at the 3 with Adams and Jaren Jackson Jr., with Nance’s spot-up abilities/passing feel. That, to go with Nance’s defensive capabilities could be an intriguing dynamic in stretches for Memphis, and Nance would be a meaningful roller in spurts with Ja Morant.

And for Cleveland in this case, the likes of Tyus Jones, who is reportedly available, per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (and is another Sow Cavs trade target) could bring stability to Cleveland’s backup point guard position, and he could help a number of rotational shooters in stretches. For salary matching purposes, perhaps the likes of John Konchar could be thrown in as well, and at minimum, he could provide shooting in spurts in that sense.

Or as an alternative, while I wouldn’t necessarily anticipate he’d be available in this scenario, maybe the Cavs could snag Xavier Tillman with Jones, who could be a viable backup 4/5 for spurts? I have my doubts about that though, as Tillman came on later last season.

Moving along, maybe the Magic would have interest in Nance, considering that he’s under contract for two more seasons at a fairly reasonable rate ($10.7 million then $9.7 million), and he could still help their young players on both ends, and should be flipable for another asset near the 2022 deadline or 2023 deadline anyway?

Maybe a deal involving Nance and a future second-round pick for Terrence Ross, with Orlando entering a full rebuild and needing minutes for other younger guards, could be doable? I don’t think that’s completely far-fetched, as Ross has been mentioned in trade rumors, but still could be very valuable for Cleveland, as either a starter if Sexton is traded or as still a bench bucket-getter and movement shooter.