Cavs: Just 2 players on The Athletic’s Top 125 players list
The Athletic’s Top 125 players list: More players should have made the list
Larry Nance Jr.
The Athletic’s list only included two Cavaliers, and the most glaring omission was combo forward Larry Nance Jr. He is simply one of the best defensive power forwards in the league, full stop. 538’s RAPTOR model ranked him as the 5th-best power forward on defense, and his Defensive BPM was 11th in the entire league.
Nance is not the most prolific offensive threat, but he has turned himself into a league-average shooter, and his combination of rebounding, steals and blocks make him a defensive game-changer who can guard small forwards or slide to small-ball center and provide rim protection.
He is a glaring omission from a list that saw fit to rank offense-first players such as Cameron Payne and Davis Bertans over him, and likewise slotted Nerlens Noel and Daniel Theis above him. Nance should have been firmly in Tier 5.
Ricky Rubio
Rubio was mentioned in the article as a player who “dropped out” but no reasoning was given (understandably so, as this was a wordy and ambitious project as it was). There is no question that Rubio had a down year last season, but he showed in the Summer Olympics that his down year was a function of environment and not evaporated ability. Rubio is one of the 125 best players in the league, and he should get a chance to show that as one of the league’s best backup point guards this upcoming year.
Darius Garland
Darius Garland didn’t deserve to be on the list, not at this point in his young career. Even so, he has a very good chance of making his debut next season if he can build on the gains he made from his rookie season to last season. Cameron Payne, Reggie Jackson and Immanuel Quickley all made the list; Garland should be better than all of them by the end of next year if he continues on his development track.
Next. Ranking the young core by ceiling outcomes. dark
In the end, Partnow deserves credit just for putting this list together, and it’s a helpful look at one way the league might evaluate the Cavs’ players — perhaps even how this front office does. With the ages of the Cavs’ young core, Cleveland fans should expect to see many more names appear on these kinds of lists in the years to come.