Despite a miserable first full season with the Cleveland Cavaliers last term, Larry Nance Jr. remains very excited for the upcoming season with the Cavs.
Nance recently spoke with Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, and the 6-foot-9 big man expressed his anticipation for the year ahead.
“We’re all working on our own games and trying to get better for the team,” said Nance. “I can’t tell you in terms of wins and whatnot because I haven’t seen our full team together. But individual expectations, I expect to be a problem this year and expand my role from last year.”
According to Fedor, Nance has been working on one specific area of his game. The 26-year-old appears to have identified his shortcomings when it comes to on-ball duties, and he has placed a greater emphasis on the same this offseason.
He’s been working a ton on his ball-handling, which he said was “really bad.” A tighter handle, he believes, will allow him to become more of threat on offense.
“You should have seen me in drills,” Nance said with a laugh. “I couldn’t dribble. Now I can actually handle it.”
Nance arguably had his best season as a pro last year, averaging 9.4 points (on 52.0 percent shooting), 0.5 three-pointers, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks in 26.8 minutes per contest. Nonetheless, injuries have still been a problem for the former 27th overall pick, as he has yet to eclipse the 67-game mark in a single season (he set this career-high last year). Hopefully, though, he is able to remain healthy for the most part of the upcoming campaign.