Trade Larry Nance Jr traded to Portland

Nance seems like a good dude and he's a massive upgrade over Melo.... if he can stay healthy. I'm really hoping he can have a healthy and productive season here.

 

https://www.basketballnews.com/stor...i-did-not-come-out-here-to-halfass-this-thing

When you were on my podcast earlier this year, you talked about studying Draymond Green and trying to have a similar impact on games. After this trade was announced, you texted me that you want to be Portland’s Draymond Green. Can you elaborate on that?

Nance: “When I say I want to ‘play the Draymond role,’ [it’s important to note] that there’s only one Draymond Green. You know what I mean? He’s a ridiculous talent and, as we’ve talked about before, I think the world of him and his game. I try to model myself in that mold. But when I said that, I’m thinking more so about playing hand-off ball in Cleveland and I got to do a lot of that with the guys I played with there, but it’s just a whole different layer of difficulty to guard when you’ve got Dame and C.J. flying off that thing. I’m just really excited to see how we work together. I’m going to be who I am defensively and that’s a menace, and someone you need to watch out for in the passing lanes. That’s who I am. But offensively, I’m excited for the DHOs, the handoffs and just being able to impact the game without being required to have the ball so much. Everybody has a skill set and that is not mine, so it’s great to be around guys that do have that in their skill set.”

(On The Alex Kennedy Podcast in January, Nance said: “I’ve always watched Draymond; I'm a massive Draymond Green fan. I think he’s criminally underrated in terms of his impact on the game and impact on those championship teams. I think he's the definition of a winner. I watched his film and I studied how he talks to those guys on the defensive end and how he took charge of that [team]. I studied how he was an anchor, guarding three or four different positions at times. And there's none of that that I don't see in myself… I talked to JB [Bickerstaff] a lot over the summer about being versatile – guarding some bigger 2s, all 3s, all 4s and some smaller 5s and, defensively, trying to play that Draymond role.”)

I feel like your game can fit on just about any team, but it feels like this fit in particular is perfect. One of our writers, Nekias Duncan, actually wrote a film-breakdown piece explaining why you're exactly what Portland was missing. How do you feel you fit with the Blazers?

Nance: “I think I fit like a glove, I really do. I couldn’t pick a better situation. Last year, the Blazers finished sixth in a loaded Western Conference and their defense was 28th. Their defense was 28th! When JB [Bickerstaff] had just gotten the job in Cleveland, we finished 30th in defense for that year. Coming into this past year, I purposefully set [a goal in] my mind, like, ‘That ain’t happening again.’ Before I broke my hand, we played the first 25 games of the season against good competition and we were a top-three defense in the NBA, and I was leading the league in deflections, leading in steals and doing all of that type of stuff. That’s the type of thing that I’m planning on bringing here. Can you imagine? If they finished sixth last year while having the 28th-ranked defense, if we move that up to, say, 12th, that’s a potent combination. Anytime you can surround guards like we have here with guys that are willing to grind on the defensive end behind them? Whew, that’s a winning combo.”

During that stretch, the Cavs’ defense was ranked No. 1 at one point too. Since you’ve been part of a worst-to-first turnaround, you know what it takes to make that kind of drastic improvement. What are the keys to that, and what lessons will you try to pass on to your new teammates?

Nance: “It’s all about activity. Your activity level is extremely important. When you’re on defense, there should be no time when you’re relaxed. There should beno time when you’re relaxed – whether your man has the ball or not, whether you think you’re involved in something or not. (And if you don’t think you’re involved in something, you’re wrong; that’s just kinda how this league works, there are counters to everything.) It’s just activity. Keep your hands high. All of that type of stuff. But I’d say the biggest thing overall is just the level of care. You know what I mean? If you genuinely care about defense and getting stops and want to be good on that end, then you will be good on that end. I think the level of care is really what I’m going to be stressing.”

 

From last season before Nance went down.

 

Based on the above two posts I’m wondering if it’s under-using him for him to be backup 4 playing under 30 minutes?

 

probably, but I’m sure he’ll be in a lot of closing lineups.

 

Trade CJ/RoCo for Simmons. Powell goes to his natural position. Nance starts. It makes too much sense!

 

This guy has an incredibly high hoops IQ and he's a pro's pro..hearing him talk is impressive...confident and relaxed, he reminds me of Grant Hill in an interview...articulate guy.

 

Second generation NBA player... it's got to help growing up around the game and having a dad that's a three time all star and three time all defensive selection.

 

Keep RoCo. I'd much rather give up another 1st round pick.

 

look at Pattyc!!!

 

I didn’t read everyone’s post but saw a little frustration in first game. He was wide open under the basket (later in game) and I believe Nas took a contested shot. he struggled to find his role that first game hoping they get him more minutes and more involved with 1st unit. You can just visually see he sees the game at different level than some other bigs. I could easily see him being a starter but with Roco in front of him not going to happen.

 

hate the thought of losing Roco, his defense is so underrated and really hurts our depth. Plus Nance injury history is concern. I’d rather give up Nas or even AF plus pick or two.

 

a bench of Little/simons/zeller/mclemore/snell
Aint gonna cut it.

 

Not unless Little and Simmons make huge jump. Simons looked good that first game and what I like hearing from vets is how they talk about how young guys look during practice (do they stand out, use to hear about ONeal all the time). We are hearing that about Simons so that’s a good sign. Zeller is going to be a very good backup a guy who does all the dirty work so I’m happy with him and Nance. Still think we are one starter away, and really hoping that’s Ben S.

I think Billups vision is to model this team after the old Pistons. Built on defense

 

He's the clear 6th man and the center plays under 30mpg. He can also slide into the starting lineup if any one of 5 starters miss a game, filing in for a frontcourt guy or sliding guys down a position. Let's see how his role is working after 20 games before we worry about him being underutilized.

 

Frontline of Simmons/RoCo/Nance - ALL DEFENSE, BABY!

Granted, we'd struggle to score 100, but who doesn't miss the 90s?

 

I'm excited to finally have a real 6th man. Haven't had a good one since MO Williams, and Nance can be much better.

Sometimes fans focus too much on starters.

Not saying I'd be against bringing Simmons here, I would fist exhaust all options to use a draft pick or other trade that avoids losing 2 starters.

 

Roco and Nance are vastly superior on offense to Aminu and Harkless. We were a top offense then and would be if this happened too.

 

But remember, we'd be losing CJ.

 

But we’d get a guy who makes the game easier for every single player including Dame. I think that would offset the loss. Guys like Simmons make average guys so much better. It would have to be way more team ball