In an appearance on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, Larry Nance Jr. said he feels fortunate that his younger brother will get a chance to carry on the family tradition of playing for the Cavaliers. Pete Nance will reportedly be offered an Exhibit 10 contract after being part of the Cavs’ Summer League team. Nance Jr. played several seasons in Cleveland, and his father was a star with the Cavaliers in the 1980s and ’90s.
Nance Jr. was in Las Vegas to watch his Pelicans teammates in action as well as his younger brother, who is trying to earn a spot in the NBA as an undrafted prospect. He believes his brother can succeed at the professional level and offered him some advice on how to deal with his first Summer League.
“We talk all the time,” Nance Jr. said. “Going into Summer League, I think the biggest thing I told him was, he had such momentum, coming off obviously a rough college season, but then the momentum he built going into draft workouts and then being (at the draft combine) in Chicago training for it, just carrying that over into Summer League was great. Just go be aggressive, shoot your shots when you decide you want to shoot them and play your game.”
There’s more on the Cavaliers:
- Nance also talked about the circumstances that led to him being traded to Portland prior to the 2021/22 season. The team had just drafted Evan Mobley, whom Nance said was obviously headed for stardom, and gave a five-year extension to Jarrett Allen. With Kevin Love also on the roster, Nance didn’t believe he would get regular rotation minutes if he stayed in Cleveland. “It had gone from me really enjoying playing the Larry Nance Jr. thing, in my dad’s footsteps … and at a certain point it became a little redundant. I still loved being in Cleveland, still loved having my family around and loved playing for the Cavs, but I needed to step away from all this and go play on a playoff team and really go show what I’ve got.”
- The Cavaliers and Luke Travers reached a mutual decision that he will continue to play in Australia, he told Australian media outlet Code Sports (hat tip to Mike Battaglino of Cavaliers Nation). A second-round pick in 2022, Travers was one of the Cavs’ top players in Las Vegas as they won the Summer League title. “The talk is just one more year (in the NBL) and hopefully it’s a good one,” he said. “To be able to come back, it’s what I wanted to do to continue to develop my game in Melbourne and I’m coming here to win. Coming over here, there’s a lot of clarity. They (Cleveland and Melbourne United) have been awesome about it, so getting that (uncertainty) out of the way makes everything else easier.”
- In a subscriber-only story, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com looks at 10 possible free agent options for the Cavaliers with their open roster spot, including Kelly Oubre, Terrence Ross, Derrick Jones and T.J. Warren.
Cavs will be better this yr. They learned and grew up. Better take them serious. They are better than Sixers to me. Heat with Dame, Bucks, Celtics, Cavs to me are top 4 in East.
I would go
Bucks
Then everyone else in the East. There are just too many question marks to make a top 4 list.
Heat are hit or miss every year, and if they get Lillard and gut the team they might not be that great for a year or two.
Cavs are young and growing but haven’t yet taken the step to title contenders.
Celtics took a huge step back by adding KP, who’s just not a winning player, plus shipped out a great defender.
Sixers could be better next year if they manage to ship out Harden for even a semi decent player.
The rest of the East are all big question marks and assuredly someone will emerge as a contender that wasn’t or isn’t considered one today, but as it stands now, everyone else is behind the bucks simply due to the continuity they have.
KP makes Boston better ….. Bucks are team to beat if Healthy. Heat with Dame are as good as anyone. Cavs just by one yr older are in top 4.
I don’t pick top 4 by teams. I pick top 4 as top teams. The season will tell the real story. I believe in playing the gms. Not predictions. Healthy year, these will be top 4. All can beat the Nuggets.
Heat are miss with Dame …… huh
I agree for the most part as a Cavs fan but it all depends on how they improve from last year. I think they got exposed in the Knicks series so obviously it depends how they learned from it.
But I think they’ve had a good offseason and there’s no reason not to expect continued growth from them. I still wouldn’t rank them above the Bucks or the Celtics (maybe the Sixers but until they prove it on the court, probably not yet), but I do think that the Cavs are the only one of those teams that have room to improve.
Adding Jones, and Niang and increasing Isaiah Mobley’s minutes should help the team’s rebounding problems. Having enough depth to keep the starters fresh will also make a difference. The Donovan Mitchell trade made the Cav’s into a very good team but it came at a cost. We jettisoned all our depth to get Mitchell. Every time our starters left the floor we hoped we’d still be ahead when they returned. That said if Mitchell had shot the way he normally does we’d have won the series in 5 games. We shut down the the Knicks offense. We just failed to bring our own offense.
It’s called growing up. Not only are they young. They were a new group. LaVert and Okoro will not have a bad series this yr. The other Mobley is ready to help also. Cavs become a real contender. When they don’t have to depend on DM to win. This year they will learn that. They can go to East Finals if things fall into place.
I expect the Cavaliers to upgrade Isaiah Mobley’s deal to a standard contract to open up a 2-way slot for Pete Nance. That would allow Isaiah to back Evan and Jarrett so the team can maintain it’s defensive intensity when either take a breath. In a season or 2 we could see Nance and Luke Travers join Allen and the Mobley’s on the team’s front line. This should allow them to play legendary defense and still stretch the floor. The Knicks beat them by throwing more big bodies at them and tiring out a line that had no depth. Adding Isaiah Mobley, Niang and Jones should be enough to hold off lesser teams like the Knicks. The kids will need to grow and get better to match or beat the Celtics, Bucks and Heat. When Pete, Luke and Emoni are ready to join the rotation the Cav’s should bypass those teams if they can keep the Core 4 intact. JB’s team’s will need to have multiple switchable quality bigs to have a shot at a title. They will have a punchers chance at one this year. In 2025 and 2026 if things go as planned they should be the favorite.
I actually think they’re better than what you’re giving them credit for already. As a Heat fan, I didnt want to play Cleveland last year. I like their matchup with Milwaukee as well, although Milwaukee just didnt use their depth the way I thought they would
I felt as though when they made the Kevin Love decision (especially without giving his roster spot to Isaiah Mobley afterward) that it was dangerous b/c a matchup with the Knicks, or Philly, but specifically the Knicks, would be a really unfortunate circumstance b/c I felt they need Kevin Love in that matchup. I basically said at the time they better hope not to play the Knicks…and I think it came down to that with the spacing and rebounding, and then I also thought Kevin Love was a big reason the Heat were able to beat the Knicks in their own matchup
I’m interested to see what lineups Cleveland plays this year, but I personally like their additions, for the most part. I think it depends on certain factors, but I could see Cleveland definitely as a possible top 3 seed, besides Milwaukee and Boston, and I could see Toronto, Brooklyn, and the Heat, and Atlanta, Indiana, and the Knicks kind of challenging for that 3-6 spots, though I do think 1-3 are closer than I thought they would be/they were last year. It’s pretty clear injuries, close games, and terrible rotation decisions by coaches will be the deciding factor in seeding again
From that standpoint, I could see the Heat, Toronto, and Brooklyn not being as good as they potentially could be, especially depending on if the Heat waste all their assets in a bad trade
The Cavaliers paid dearly for letting Kevin Love go. He was their best rebounder off the bench in addition to providing valuable floor spacing. They are one of the elite teams in the East but will not be seen as such until they prove it on the hardwood. Either by a top 3 seed or a playoff run or both. Hopefully JB will use Isaiah Mobley this year. His failure to do so in the playoffs last year severely hampered our line. The talent is there but it has to be developed and used properly.
He couldnt use Mobley b/c he wasnt on a standard deal, so he was ineligible for the playoffs. I was saying he should have been signed when they let Love go
We agree that Isaiah Mobley should have been upgraded to a standard deal early last season. For some reason JB thought Dean Wade was capable of providing what Love did the previous year. Love had a hand injury that affected his shot. JB wasn’t patient enough to wait for him to heal. That said even with Love healthy they lacked a backup who could spell Allen or Evan Mobley effectively. Lopez was too slow to be of use on Defense. Love, Wade And Diakite were just too small to what Evan and Jarrett do. Isaiah Mobley has the size speed and basketball IQ to back them well. I don’t know enough about Damien Jones to know if he can do that. That said the other teams he’s been with were reluctant to give him important minutes.
My concern with the Cavs is that every season every team has to overcome unexpected injuries. Specifically, what do they do if Garland is out for any length of time? In a pinch, LeVert or Mitchell can get you thru a game or two. But for a long absence they need Rubio to return to form. Next month’s World play should answer that. If he’s not up to running the backup point then you have to do something I don’t think things will go smoothly if Jerome or Porter have to start any games this year.
I think you underestimate both Jerome and CPJ. That said JB will be reluctant to use either one. Jerome has excellent potential but is more of a combo guard than a true point guard. Porter will in time be an outstanding defense first point guard but is likely to be overwhelmed if he has to start more than a game or two this year. The plan is to use Mitchell at the point and LeVert at the 2 if Garland is hurt. That might work for a game or two but we’ll need Rubio or Jerome to step in at the point if the injury lingers. A greater concern is maintaining the defense if Evan or Jarrett miss time.
Pete gave a good accounting of himself I thought. A bit mechanical and self conscious with his play which is what one would expect to see for a first year summer leauger.
He outplayed Diop and sent him to the end of the bench.
Travers is going to be a solid player in the leauge. Just not on the Cavs.
I agree on Nance. That said as great as our teams need at small forward is I hope we can make good use of Luke Travers. He’ll have to compete with , Bates and Niang for minutes but looks like a stud on defense. He shot over 40% from deep in Australia last year so he is close to being ready.