3 studs, 2 duds from Cavaliers Summer League win over Rockets

Dud No. 1: Pete Nance

The familial connections were strong with the Cavaliers’ Las Vegas Summer League team, with Isaiah Mobley and Pete Nance both playing key roles for the squad. Larry Nance Jr. was a frequent presence on the sideline rooting for his brother, and many Cavs fans are excited at the prospect of a third Nance coming through the organization.

With Sharife Cooper sitting out the title game, Nance was the sixth “key” player in the rotation for Cleveland and played more minutes than any other bench player. He played 19 minutes against the Rockets and averaged 20.4 minutes per game in six Las Vegas appearances.

Nance had his moments during Summer League, but Monday night didn’t contain any of them. Every player who saw the court on Monday night had a positive net rating except for one: Pete Nance. He scored just two points, mainly just standing in the corner while other Cavs players generated offense.

With all of that being said, Nance did end up with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks; he was hardly a non-factor entirely. Yet the lineups with Nance on the court performed noticeably worse than the other configurations; some of that is likely happenstance, but this wasn’t Nance’s best game. He’ll need to lean on other merits to try and make a run at a roster spot of some kind in Training Camp.