The Cleveland Cavaliers are absolutely rolling to start the season - but there is always room to improve.
It's easy to look at a team playing well and conclude that it's wrong to do anything to change the roster; don't mess with a good thing, and all that. Yet the Cavaliers are far from a perfect team even with their success, with narrow comeback victories over teams like the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers' backups buoying their undefeated start.
If Cleveland wants to build not just a team that can go 13-0, but a team that can and will win the championship, they should be looking for trades that can augment their style of play and improve their depth without sacrificing something vital. No one is calling for the Cavs to trade Donovan Mitchell, but perhaps one of their bench players could be flipped for a better-fitting one. Tinker, don't transform.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson has experimented with a few different lineups without either of Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley on the court, putting either Dean Wade or Georges Niang in as a smallball center. What if the Cavaliers had a third reliable big on the roster who could play some of those minutes while not sacrificing the 3-point shooting that Atkinson is looking for?
Enter an old friend, one Larry Nance Jr.
Larry Nance Jr. is having a great season in Atlanta
Larry Nance Jr. landed in Atlanta this past summer, part of the trade that sent Dejounte Murray to the New Orleans Pelicans. While the Hawks have experienced a myriad of injuries, they are staying afloat in part because of the play in their frontcourt, from Jalen Johnson to backup center Larry Nance Jr.
Nance is scoring 10.1 points per game despite playing just 16 minutes per game, and he is shooting an absolutely insane 73.7 percent from 3-point range. He just hit a career-high five 3-pointers in the Hawks' unlikely upset of the Boston Celtics in the NBA Cup. He is shooting with confidence and it's opening up the floor for his teammates in Atlanta.
Even with Nance playing well, he is not exactly needed on the Hawks, who have veteran center Clint Capela and his younger protege Onyeka Okongwu; they could likely be persuaded to move on from Nance for the right price, and particularly while he is healthy and at the peak of his value.
Building a trade for Larry Nance
The Cavaliers don't want to give up a core piece for Larry Nance; that would defeat the purpose. Dean Wade plays too vital of a role for him to be the matching salary, and Ty Jerome is on fire to start the season himself. That makes the logical trade candidate backup stretch-4 Georges Niang.
In trading Niang, the Cavaliers swap like-for-like in frontcourt players who can shoot at a high volume from outside. What the Cavaliers also gain is a player who can more capably play the 5 defensively and brings a more well-rounded game than the one-trick-pony Niang.
The Cavaliers do need to compensate the Hawks for taking on not one but two years of Niang's salary. While Atlanta can use Niang in their rotation, he is not as good of a player as Nance, and takes up some salary flexibility for 2025-26.
With that in mind, here is what the trade could look like, per Dan Favale of Bleacher Report:
Grade the Trade for the Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers would land Larry Nance, a former player who was beloved in Cleveland both because of his father's legacy and Nance's own strong play for the team. His younger brother Pete Nance is one of the stars of the Cleveland Charge in the G League. It would be a happy homecoming for all involved.
Nance can shoot well enough to replace Niang's spot in the rotation as a stretch-4 alongside either Jarrett Allen or Evan Mobley, and he has the size to come in at center sometimes, either in unique shooting-oriented 5-out lineups and as the primary backup center if and when Mobley or Allen miss time.
The Cavs are also deep enough that they can afford to limit Nance's minutes, giving him nights off and only playing him 10-14 minutes per game. That will help Nance stay healthy and ideally in peak condition for when the playoffs roll around.
It also opens the door for a Jarrett Allen trade if the Cavaliers decide to prioritize 4-out lineups around Evan Mobley and can get back a two-way forward in exchange for Allen. That's certainly not a likely path, but it's a possible one, and having a reliable backup for Mobley helps to make that possible.
Nance does have an injury-riddled track record, while Niang has been largely healthy since arriving in Cleveland. But when both are available, Niang's lack of defensive impact is a problem, while Nance is a positive on that end.
This is an excellent trade and one that the Cavaliers should offer to the Hawks as soon as possible.