Goodbye Larry Nance Jr.

[FrontPageNews]

He is not a center.

I'd sign him for 48/4

He is a center. He doesn’t have nearly enough offensive skill to be a Pf in this era.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

He is a center. He doesn’t have nearly enough offensive skill to be a Pf in this era.

He is a PF. His size, athleticism, roll ability and rebounding is something that most stretch 4's can't deal with at all. Yes, he is going to need to improve his 3 ball, but playing him at the 5 takes away most of his advantages just for a little better spacing. And you know, he isn't durable enough to play the 5... he broke down this season and it will hurt his longevity.

Julius Randle is also a Center?

 

[FrontPageNews]

He is a PF. His size, athleticism, roll ability and rebounding is something that most stretch 4's can't deal with at all. Yes, he is going to need to improve his 3 ball, but playing him at the 5 takes away most of his advantages just for a little better spacing. And you know, he isn't durable enough to play the 5... he broke down this season and it will hurt his longevity.

Julius Randle is also a Center?

Randle is a center now. That’s where he had a lot of his success this season. He’s a huge mismatch there.

Nance has the size to play center. All of what to you said applies to him as a center. He can’t play PF. Try playing him with TT and having a successful offense. He may have been a 4 a few years ago but he’s a center now. He wasn’t durable as a 4 with the lakers either. He’s just not a durable player.

 

[inliner311]

He is a PF. His size, athleticism, roll ability and rebounding is something that most stretch 4's can't deal with at all. Yes, he is going to need to improve his 3 ball, but playing him at the 5 takes away most of his advantages just for a little better spacing. And you know, he isn't durable enough to play the 5... he broke down this season and it will hurt his longevity.

Julius Randle is also a Center?

I think in the regular season we want to try to play him at PF. Adding a 3 pt shot will go a long way to helping that happen. He won't be constantly in the paint if he can improve his range, hopefully that will limit his injuries. Then in the playoffs, we can roll him out to center.

Whichever position we see him at, adding a 3 pt shot helps make him more playable. More and more centers were adding a 3 pt shots to their skill set last season. It's only a matter of time before it will be almost a requirement that your center can hit 3s. It might not have to be at league average but it might settle at ~32% as a playable number for centers.

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

Randle is a center now. That’s where he had a lot of his success this season. He’s a huge mismatch there.

Nance has the size to play center. All of what to you said applies to him as a center. He can’t play PF. Try playing him with TT and having a successful offense. He may have been a 4 a few years ago but he’s a center now. He wasn’t durable as a 4 with the lakers either. He’s just not a durable player.

No, he isn't. When his game really took off was when he was in the starting lineup sharing the floor with Brook Lopez. That was when he really erupted. Before the change, at the start of the season, he had been playing the C position with Kuzma at the 4, and that wasn't nearly as successful.

Nance was more sucessful playing with Brook as well. TT is a terrible example because he isn't a starting Center(if you can even call him a center) either and has absolutely no range or finishing ability. He has no gravity as a shooter, roller and even his gravity as a rebounder is no longer there.

The reason Randle was so effective this season is because he bullied weaker guys. His game wouldn't be nearly as effective if he matched up against big Cs, he simply bullied them on drives and in the post. He bullied PFs and smaller players that were switched on him.

Nothing of what I said applies to Nance as a center, or at least not to the same extent. Size advantage as a C? nope. Roll ability? he is much easier to cover for Centers if he can't play with 200% effort, Rebounding? he is still good, but not as good if he crashed the boards as a PF.

Regardless, If Nance wants to become a full time starter he is going to need to make the transition to the 4 and develop a respectable range. And if he doesn't develop a range and continues to come off the bench, there is no reason to play him at the 5. You know that you can still beat the other team without a stretch 4 right? like beating them on the boards, in transition and on the inside...or even you know surroudn them with good shooters in the back court.(Do you call Draymond Green a strecth 4? meh) A frontcourt pairing of Zizic and Nance can certainly beat second unit lineups..lineups that usually an undersized front court.

Nance simply can not excel as a starter at C on a contender for 100 games a season just for durability issues alone. Then you add his lack of rim protection, lack of true C size and the one thing he is supposed to be great at which is switching, in practice he isn't that great at. Just okay.

 

[buzzdog]

Nance is only a center in a small ball line-up, and even that presents some mismatches because Nance doesn't seem to have the ability to stay in front of quick slashing guards. Curry drove at will against him.

If Nance could get a quicker and higher release on a more reliable three point shot he could rise to the next level as a power forward. He needs to improve his handle in traffic as well. You have to love his attitude and athleticism, but it remains to be seen if he takes the next steps to become a better player.

 

[arglebargle]

Love that he's here with the team history and all. Nancy is just mainly a hustle player as far as I can tell. Not much skill there. I can't say I even see him box out terribly well. At this point in his career, he appears to my eye just to be getting by on athleticism and hustle. His jumper, which seemed OK when he first got here, seems to no longer be there. I'd love to see him develop more, but he seems like a 9-10th guy off the bench to me.

 

[Cavatt]

I see Nance as a 3rd big and maybe a PF if he can increase his range. I did see him play well with Zizic if that is anything. They looked very imposing at the rim and they gobbled a lot of rebounds together.

 

[Nathan S]

Love that he's here with the team history and all. Nancy is just mainly a hustle player as far as I can tell. Not much skill there. I can't say I even see him box out terribly well. At this point in his career, he appears to my eye just to be getting by on athleticism and hustle. His jumper, which seemed OK when he first got here, seems to no longer be there. I'd love to see him develop more, but he seems like a 9-10th guy off the bench to me.

There's more to skill than just 3-point shooting. Nance is a pretty good ballhandler/passer for a big man, and understands perimeter defense better than most bigs too. I think he could really thrive in the right role.

 

[arglebargle]

There's more to skill than just 3-point shooting. Nance is a pretty good ballhandler/passer for a big man, and understands perimeter defense better than most bigs too. I think he could really thrive in the right role.

Not talking about 3 point shooting at all. Any jumper that he had when he got here seems to be missing now. Certainly, he's not very confident in it, and only shoots as a last resort.

He's a decent passer, but doesn't have much vision for the court. Even Tristan surpasses him with that. His defense is alright, but not outstanding, to my eye. This is not a guy to throw any big contract at.

 

[Man Called X]

Nance screams early career Varejao to me. Say the end of LBJ's first stint. Best served as a change of pace energy big off the bench. Not durable enough to handle more than 20-25 minutes a night. Impact feels similar to me, although AV was twice the defender Nance is.

 

[chuck0609]

He’s a movable piece if someone find value in him for a bigger piece.
Nice player, hustler, but undersized, decent athleticism, little range.
Nice to have on roster, but not a building piece IMO.

 

[fan0283]

I like him but some seem to think he's a building block. He's like a smart JJ hickson. Offensive skill isn't really there. Is also defensively underwhelming for a guy with his physical tools.

Am always surprised how easy players layup when he's in the paint because I always expect him to be able to block them.

 

[SK808]

I like him but some seem to think he's a building block. He's like a smart JJ hickson. Offensive skill isn't really there. Is also defensively underwhelming for a guy with his physical tools.

Am always surprised how easy players layup when he's in the paint because I always expect him to be able to block them.

The Cavs definitely view Nance as a building block. Did anyone see the article about how the team views him as a "foundational piece"?

 

[Heej]

No, he isn't. When his game really took off was when he was in the starting lineup sharing the floor with Brook Lopez. That was when he really erupted. Before the change, at the start of the season, he had been playing the C position with Kuzma at the 4, and that wasn't nearly as successful.

Nance was more sucessful playing with Brook as well. TT is a terrible example because he isn't a starting Center(if you can even call him a center) either and has absolutely no range or finishing ability. He has no gravity as a shooter, roller and even his gravity as a rebounder is no longer there.

The reason Randle was so effective this season is because he bullied weaker guys. His game wouldn't be nearly as effective if he matched up against big Cs, he simply bullied them on drives and in the post. He bullied PFs and smaller players that were switched on him.

Nothing of what I said applies to Nance as a center, or at least not to the same extent. Size advantage as a C? nope. Roll ability? he is much easier to cover for Centers if he can't play with 200% effort, Rebounding? he is still good, but not as good if he crashed the boards as a PF.

Regardless, If Nance wants to become a full time starter he is going to need to make the transition to the 4 and develop a respectable range. And if he doesn't develop a range and continues to come off the bench, there is no reason to play him at the 5. You know that you can still beat the other team without a stretch 4 right? like beating them on the boards, in transition and on the inside...or even you know surroudn them with good shooters in the back court.(Do you call Draymond Green a strecth 4? meh) A frontcourt pairing of Zizic and Nance can certainly beat second unit lineups..lineups that usually an undersized front court.

Nance simply can not excel as a starter at C on a contender for 100 games a season just for durability issues alone. Then you add his lack of rim protection, lack of true C size and the one thing he is supposed to be great at which is switching, in practice he isn't that great at. Just okay.

You do realize the only reason that worked is because Brook Lopez can actually shoot 3s right? You can't really think that playing Nance at the 4 next to a traditional center is only sacrificing "a little better" spacing.

I agree that he's not really a center and he'd break down over the course of a season if you tried that, but unless he gets a corner 3 he'll never amount to more than a high quality backup 5 that's basically the 6th man who closes the game over the traditional meatshield that starts (Zizic/Gudaitis??).

And beating elite teams without a stretch 4 or legit power wing just isn't gonna happen in today's NBA. Houston basically dusted the Jazz's Twin Towers lineup and that's the best traditional big man duo in the league (I don't count the Pelicans).