Larry Nance Jr. Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavaliers Notes: Love, Nance, Cook, Garland

March 13th, 2021 at 4:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kevin Love only played 10 minutes Friday night, but the veteran Cavaliers forward told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com it was a huge relief just to be back on the court. Love missed more than two months with a calf injury that resulted from being kicked in the back of the leg during a preseason game. He’s on a minutes restriction, with coach J.B. Bickerstaff and team doctors deciding to limit him to five minutes in each half for his first game.

“I don’t want to speak hyperbole or take it over the top, but this is probably the most mentally taxing — not the most physically taxing injury — but the most mentally taxing for me for sure,” Love said. “It was really a struggle ‘cause it’s who I am. I’m a basketball player first and foremost and I’ve loved this game for so long. Just playing basketball, that’s what I love to do. It’s so much a part of me. When you have it taken away from you and you feel like there’s not much you can do after working so damn hard, that can be really disheartening and a tough hurdle to overcome.”

Love reaggravated the injury in a December 27 game and didn’t receive clearance to resume basketball-related activities until early February. He was able to practice with the team on February 18, but pain following that session delayed his return even further. The Cavaliers opted to rest him through the All-Star break to give him more time to recover.

“Now I’m just hoping these next couple weeks I’ll get the wind underneath me, I’ll get to start feeling like myself again and I won’t be as sore,” Love said. “A lot of that calf pain has subsided, so I’m hoping a lot more of my lift will come back in the meantime.”

There’s more on the Cavs:

Cleveland also welcomed back Larry Nance Jr., who missed 12 games after having surgery on his left hand, writes Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. Nance was among the league leaders in steals and deflections before the injury. “I know Larry has been wanting to play for some weeks now,” said Collin Sexton. “… And he said he was a little bit winded out there running down the court the first five times, but it’s definitely good to have him out there.”
Reports that Quinn Cook was signing a 10-day contract surfaced Wednesday night, but the Cavaliers delayed the move until Friday so they could get maximum value out of the deal, Fedor states in a separate piece. Cook, who scored 13 points in 17 minutes in his debut, will be with Cleveland for six games during that 10-day stretch.
Darius Garland, who suffered a groin strain in the final game of the first half, wasn’t ready to return Friday as Cleveland kicked off the second half of its season, Fedor notes in another story.

Larry Nance Jr. Drawing Interest From Multiple Suitors

March 6th, 2021 at 3:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Larry Nance Jr. has drawn the most interest in the trade market among Cavaliers players, including an offer that featured multiple late first-round picks, Chris Fedor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Nance is in the second year of a four-year, $44.8MM contract that was front-loaded, adding to his appeal. The Timberwolves have been pursuing Nance since the offseason, with the Celtics, Sixers, Pelicans, Heat and Mavericks also showing interest in the power forward, sources tell Fedor.

Nance was sidelined prior to the All-Star break with a fractured left hand but is expected to return as early as next weekend. However, the Cavs’ front office is reluctant to trade the 28-year-old, viewing him as a core player.

Fedor also offered up a number of other insights with the trade deadline approaching later this month:

The front office still holds out hope it can deal Andre Drummond, believing that an interested party other than the Nets, Lakers or Clippers will step forward, rather than competing with those top contenders for Drummond on the buyout market.
The Cavs are open to dealing small forwards Taurean Prince and Cedi Osman, who aren’t considered core pieces. They could come into play in a potential deal involving Drummond, especially if a third team is needed to make the salaries fit.
Teams looking for a big have checked in on JaVale McGee, who has an expiring $4.2MM contract.
It’s unlikely the Cavs will be able to shed Kevin Love‘s contract, though the Mavericks view him as a better fit than Drummond. The Cavs tend to overvalue Love and aren’t seeking a salary dump where an asset would need to be attached.

Central Notes: LaVine, Young, Lamb, Nance, Pistons

February 25th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Zach LaVine is enjoying a career year in Billy Donovan‘s first season with the Bulls, and the success of that pairing bodes well for the team’s long-term outlook, says K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. Donovan won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and word around the NBA suggests that LaVine won’t be either, Johnson adds.

With LaVine expected to be unavailable on the trade market in the coming weeks, the Bulls’ most valuable trade chip could be Thaddeus Young. ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) says a handful of league executives identified Young as a player who could impact the playoff race if he’s moved, noting that he’s a versatile big man on a reasonable contract who has plenty of postseason experience.

The Bulls currently hold the sixth seed in the East and figure to be in the mix for a playoff spot – perhaps via the play-in tournament – but Marks argues the club should take a big-picture view and consider moving Young, especially if a team is willing to give up a first-round pick for him.

Johnson, on the other hand, contends in a separate NBC Sports Chicago story that moving Young for anything short of a lottery pick or a very promising young player might be a mistake. As Johnson explains, the veteran forward has had a positive impact on LaVine on and off the court, and LaVine and the Bulls’ other young players need to get some postseason experience at some point — Young could play an important role in helping get them there.

Here’s more from around the Central:

It has been a full year since Jeremy Lamb suffered a torn left ACL, and while it takes some players a while to get back to 100% following that injury, the Pacers guard has thrived since making his season debut on January 20, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com. Lamb is averaging 12.2 PPG in just 24.7 minutes per contest, and has made an even 50% of his three-point attempts through 17 games. “It’s great to see how far I’ve been able to come,” Lamb said. “I’m still getting stronger, still working on it, but it’s encouraging.”
Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr., who underwent surgery on his hand earlier this month, is making positive progress and recently had his cast removed, tweets Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Nance was ruled out at least six weeks when he underwent the procedure, so we won’t see him back until sometime after the All-Star break.
Missing their top two point guards, the Pistons are seeing some positive signs from Dennis Smith Jr. and Saben Lee, says Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Lee, who has averaged 15.3 PPG and 4.3 APG in his last three games, is showing why GM Troy Weaver referred to him as part of Detroit’s “core four” of rookie building blocks, despite the fact that Lee was a second-round pick who signed a two-way deal, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Nance Undergoes Surgery, Out At Least Six Weeks

February 8th, 2021 at 6:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. underwent surgery on Monday to repair a fracture in his left fourth metacarpal, the team announced in a press release.

The team confirmed that Nance is expected to be sidelined approximately six weeks. The surgery was performed at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. He’ll undergo a period of rest and rehabilitation.

Nance, who is averaging 9.3 PPG and 6.8 RPG, was injured on Saturday against Milwaukee. He had just returned to action after being sidelined with a sprained right wrist.

The injury to Nance, who is signed through the 2022/23 season, has left Cleveland depleted at the power forward spot. Kevin Love has only played two games due to a calf injury, though he completed a pregame workout on Saturday for the first time in a month.

Larry Nance Jr. Out Approximately Six Weeks With Broken Finger

February 7th, 2021 at 11:42am CST by Arthur Hill

11:42am: Nance suffered a fracture in his fourth metacarpal and will have surgery Monday morning, a source tells Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers confirmed the injury and said he is expected to miss approximately six weeks, tweets Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.

10:29am: Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. is expected to have surgery after fracturing a finger on his left hand in Saturday’s game, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Nance is likely to miss four to six weeks.

Nance just returned to action last night after being sidelined with a sprained right wrist. He has been an important contributor to a young Cleveland team hoping to reach the playoffs, averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 33 minutes per night. He’s one of the leaders of the defense and is second in the league at 1.9 steals per game.

Nance suffered the injury in the first quarter of Saturday’s loss to the Bucks, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter link). He still managed to play 23 minutes.

Central Notes: Sabonis, Nance Jr., Bucks, Bickerstaff

January 26th, 2021 at 4:03pm CST by JD Shaw

An MRI on Pacers star Domantas Sabonis revealed a bruise on his injured knee with no structural damage, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Sabonis, who suffered the injury by banging knees with a player against Toronto on Monday, is expected to be listed as day-to-day, Wojnarowski reports.

In 17 games this season, Sabonis, a 2020 All-Star, is averaging a career-high 20.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.6 assists per contest. The Pacers also released a positive update on Caris LeVert on Tuesday and recently welcomed back Jeremy Lamb, who suffered a torn ACL roughly one year ago.

There’s more from the Central Division today:

Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. missed Monday’s contest against the Lakers due to a right wrist sprain, per a team release. The injury occurred on Sunday against the Celtics. Nance is enjoying a respectable season to date, averaging 10.5 points and 2.3 steals per contest.
Despite slightly changing their approach, the Bucks are still one of the league’s top offensive teams — even as Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s numbers have dipped a little, Eric Nehm of The Athletic writes. Milwaukee currently leads the NBA in offensive efficiency with 117.9 points per 100 possessions. “It’s weird, it’s weird, but as I said, I’m figuring it out,” Antetokounmpo said. “I’d love to come out and have 30, 35 and it be easy. Easy layups and dunks and all that. But having somebody in ‘the dunker’ might make it a little bit harder. But at the end of the day, you gotta do other things to impact the game. Find your teammates. Set better screens. Go for handoffs. Roll when you set screens. You just gotta find ways.”
Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes his team doesn’t receive enough respect, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. The Cavs fought hard against the defending champion Lakers on Monday, ultimately losing the game 115-108. Bickerstaff didn’t seem too pleased with the officiating, however, giving a blunt assessment after the contest. “I think it was some momentum-changing calls that were made or weren’t made,” he said. “I think our guys showed up and gave the effort to deserve the respect that both teams should garner. Tonight, I don’t think that was the case. The Lakers are a hell of a basketball team, don’t get me wrong. They deserve everything they have coming. But our guys scrap and play hard and deserve the same. Were there plays that we made down the stretch where we could have made better decisions? Sure. But it’s hard to overcome the champs plus.”

Central Notes: Bulls, Holiday, Nance, Dellavedova, Exum

December 15th, 2020 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls will be without six players when they travel to Oklahoma City this week for a pair of preseason games, writes Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to Garrett Temple (coronavirus), Denzel Valentine (hamstring strain), and Thaddeus Young (lower leg infection), the club will also be missing Devon Dotson, Adam Mokoka, and Tomas Satoransky, who are simply listed as “not with team.”

As K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago noted on Sunday when those three players – and Noah Vonleh – were given excused absences for the Bulls’ previous exhibition contest, those vague designations will likely become common over the course of the 2020/21 season as teams navigate the NBA’s coronavirus protocols.

While Vonleh eventually confirmed he had tested positive for COVID-19, that doesn’t mean the same is true of Dotson, Mokoka, and Satoransky. It’s possible they’re being kept away from the Bulls temporarily for contact tracing purposes, or even for a reason unrelated to the coronavirus. With teams not formally announcing which of their players have tested positive for the virus, we may be left to speculate in situations like this throughout the coming season.

Here’s more from around the Central:

Now that the Bucks have secured a commitment from Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Pelton of ESPN (Insider link) wonders if an extension for Jrue Holiday might be next up on the team’s to-do list. Since he was recently traded, Holiday can only get a 5% raise and one extra year (beyond his 2021/22 player option) for now, but those restrictions will lift on February 26, allowing for more money and more years.
Cavaliers veterans Larry Nance Jr. and Matthew Dellavedova are entering the NBA’s concussion protocol and neither player will travel to New York for the club’s final two preseason games, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Dante Exum, who had 23 points and five assists and was a plus-33 in Monday’s win over Indiana, has solidified his spot as the Cavaliers‘ backup point guard entering the season, Fedor writes in a separate story for Cleveland.com. Exum, the fifth overall pick in the 2014 draft, is entering a contract year.

Eastern Notes: Harden, Cavs, Embiid, Burke, Snell

December 11th, 2020 at 9:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

James Harden has reportedly added the Bucks to the teams he’d be willing to play for but acquiring the perennial All-Star guard would be very complicated even if Milwaukee wants him, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic points out.

Milwaukee can’t move nearly half of its players on guaranteed contracts since the club added six players via trades or free agent signings. Most of those players aren’t eligible to be dealt until late February. The Bucks’ proximity to the hard cap also makes it nearly impossible to trade multiple players for Harden unless a third party is involved or Houston tosses in some minimum salary players.

We have more from around the Eastern Conference:

While the league has trended toward smaller lineups in recent seasons, the Cavaliers could go with a jumbo lineup at times, Chris Fedor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. Coach J. B. Bickerstaff plans to utilize Larry Nance Jr., Kevin Love and Andre Drummond in certain situations. “We expect there are going to be times where we throw that big lineup out there,” Bickerstaff said.
Sixers center Joel Embiid has bonded with assistant coach Dan Burke, who ripped him as a Pacers assistant last season. Burke claimed then that Embiid “gets away with a bunch of (stuff).” Embiid doesn’t harbor any grudges, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I think he’s a great guy,” Embiid said. “We’ve actually been very close since we got here. I think him and the whole coaching staff is going to kind of look at me to kind of be the driving force of the defense.”
Tony Snell is currently not with the Hawks, since he’s self-isolating, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic tweets. He hasn’t tested positive for COVID-19 but was deemed a close contact to someone who did. Snell was acquired from the Pistons this offseason.

Wolves Rumors: Hernangomez, Edwards, Rubio, Beasley

November 27th, 2020 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves restricted free agent forward Juan Hernangomez initially sought an offer in excess of $10MM per year, sources tell Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Unwilling to meet that price right off the bat, the Wolves “essentially told” Hernangomez to prove he could get an offer from another club while they went looking for possible alternatives at power forward, writes Krawczynski.

Minnesota ended up reaching out to a number forwards in free agency, including Derrick Jones (as previously outlined), Paul Millsap, Jae Crowder, and JaMychal Green, and inquired on possible trades involving Magic forward Aaron Gordon, Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, and Cavaliers big man Larry Nance Jr., sources tell Krawczynski.

The Timberwolves didn’t have any luck with any of those potential targets, but held firm on their offer to Hernangomez, who mulled the possibility of accepting the one-year qualifying offer worth $4.64MM, per Krawczynski. Ultimately, the two sides came to an agreement on a three-year, $21MM deal that has a third-year team option.

Here’s more out of Minnesota:

The Timberwolves chose Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 pick last week because they believe he has the clearest path of any of this year’s draft-eligible prospects to becoming a multi-time All-Star, says Krawczysnki.
Sources tell The Athletic that the team’s acquisition of Ricky Rubio was partly motivated by seeing what the veteran point guard did for Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker at his previous stops and a belief that he’ll aid Edwards’ development.
The Knicks told Malik Beasley he’d be their Plan B in free agency if they couldn’t land Gordon Hayward, according to Krawczynski. Recognizing that New York could be a threat to put forth a troublesome offer sheet, the Wolves went in with an aggressive pitch on the opening night of free agency and secured a commitment from Beasley on the spot. Sources tell The Athletic that Beasley has appreciated the support he’s received from the franchise since running into off-court legal problems.
The Timberwolves officially announced Beasley’s new deal today. Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) has the year-by-year financial breakdown of that contract, which guarantees the swingman $43MM+ over three years.

Lowe’s Latest: Beal, Celtics, Culver, Heat, Gordon, More

November 5th, 2020 at 3:51pm CST by Luke Adams

Teams with interest in Bradley Beal haven’t given up hope that the Wizards will consider trading him this fall, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN, who notes that multiple “strong playoff teams” have looked into what it would take to acquire a top-10 pick and may be seeking extra assets to swing a big trade for someone like Beal.

However, the Wizards have shown zero interest in trading Beal, even for the No. 1 or No. 2 pick in this year’s draft, sources tell ESPN. The Timberwolves (No. 1) and Warriors (No. 2) are both known to be hoping to trade their selections for an All-NBA caliber player like Beal (or Ben Simmons or Devin Booker), but it seems unlikely that such a deal will materialize, says Lowe.

For the Wizards to really consider the idea of moving Beal, he may have to tell the team he would prefer to play elsewhere, per Lowe. Perhaps that will happen down the road if Washington doesn’t bounce back from a second consecutive lottery finish, but it hasn’t to this point.

Here’s much more from Lowe:

Lowe confirms the Celtics have explored using their three first-round picks to trade up in the draft, but says Boston is considering a number of options with those picks, including trying to trade for a “solid veteran.” Since so many teams are in win-now mode, there aren’t many of those players available, according to Lowe, who says that Larry Nance Jr. and Dennis Schröder are among the players who could be under-the-radar targets for teams looking to upgrade their rotations.
Jarrett Culver‘s name has popped up in trade rumors, but Lowe thinks the Timberwolves would only move him in a package for a star, or for a draft pick that would help acquire a star. Lowe adds that he thinks Minnesota will dangle the No. 17 pick and James Johnson‘s expiring contract in search of a veteran contributor.
While Lowe thinks the Heat should be able to re-sign Goran Dragic on a big one-year deal, he expects it to be tougher for Miami to take the same approach with Jae Crowder, who will likely receive multiyear offers in the mid-level range.
Rival executives have pitched the idea of the Mavericks acquiring Rudy Gobert from the Jazz, but Lowe is skeptical there will be a match there and believes Dallas will have a tough time acquiring a third star via trade this offseason.
It’s unclear what sort of leaguewide interest there is in Magic forward Aaron Gordon. Lowe points to the Trail Blazers as a potential match, but says the two teams have never seriously discussed a swap involving Gordon and CJ McCollum and isn’t sure whether lesser assets like Zach Collins or Anfernee Simons would appeal to Orlando.
Lowe’s offseason preview is jam-packed with many more notes and is worth checking out in full. We relayed a number of Lowe’s other most intriguing tidbits in our stories earlier today, including items on the Bucks, Pistons, and Knicks.