Newly-acquired Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. has already made an impact on the team with his incredible athleticism and court awareness, but he’s hoping to do even more. During Tuesday morning’s practice sessions at the Cleveland Clinic Courts, the former Wyoming and Los Angeles Lakers forward was spotted practicing his three-point shot.
As most fans of the team know, Nance Jr, a 25-year-old native of Akron, Ohio, came to the Cavs by way of their trade deadline moves — deals that sent out six players. In return, four new faces made their way to the Southern shores of Lake Erie to play in Cleveland: Nance Jr, Jordan Clarkson, George Hill, and Rodney Hood.
Without question, Nance Jr. has made an immediate impact on both ends of the floor for the Cavs. The former University of Wyoming standout has played in five games with his new team, averaging 8.6 points on 54.8 percent shooting from the field, 5.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 blocks.
In hopes of diversifying their offense, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue has implemented several new sets of plays for the recently-revamped team to run. Whether or not Nance Jr. will actually be taking threes remains to be seen, but it sounds like he’ll be getting a few more touches.
“Lue introduced an offensive structure that starts with feeding the ball to the elbow and has “six or seven” options to pursue from there, depending on how the defense reacts,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes in his recent article. “In the starting unit, the elbow feeds — while Kevin Love is hurt, at least — will flow through LeBron James. With the second unit, those touches will go through Larry Nance Jr. or Jeff Green.”
The Cavs have posted a 3-2 record with their new players. The new-look squad rattled off two wins before the All-Star break, but have went 1-2 since. Without a doubt, they’ll be looking for a win in Tuesday night’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. Tip-off inside Quicken Loans Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. EST with FOX Sports Ohio having live broadcast coverage.
