Larry Nance Jr. believes he can be perfect ‘puzzle piece fit’ for Cavs

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr. spent multiple seasons early on in his pro career playing for Cleveland, and after some time with the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks, the Cavaliers brought the rooster back to the coop.

Cleveland inked Nance to a one-year deal earlier this offseason. Ahead of the first season of his second stint in a Cavaliers uniform, Nance believes he can be a perfect “puzzle piece fit” in Cleveland as the team sets out to do something special in the 2025-26 season.

“So, watching the past few years of the Cavs in the playoffs, it was hard not to kind of look at what I do and go like, ‘Man, it seems like a pretty good puzzle piece fit here,'” Nance said. “And it’s felt that way since I’ve got here.”

Nance seems to think that he can add a new dimension to the team’s frontcourt with his ability to score the ball from 3-point range. He didn’t start out his career as an established 3-point shooter but has worked the shot into his offensive arsenal in recent years.

“Over the past few years, I’ve really worked hard to develop my 3-point shot, and that’s really been a huge asset for my game over the past few years,” he said. “So, their frontcourt, Evan [Mobley] and Jarrett [Allen] are obviously All-Star, defensive — they’re awesome. But the one thing that I really think that I can help them with is adding a player in the frontcourt that can bring your big out, bring your big away from the rim a little bit. Stretch the court from the corners, stretch the court from the top of the key — wherever I may be at. At this point in my career, you really have to guard me from out there. So, it’ll be a new look for Kenny [Atkinson] to toy with.”

Nance showed an impressive amount of confidence in his shot from deep with the Hawks last season. First off, he averaged 3.2 tries per game, and he’s never shot more than 3.3 per contest in any NBA season.

Not only that, but he knocked down his 3-pointers at a lethal clip in Atlanta, as a career-high 44.7 percent of his 3s found the bottom of the net.

Nance is joining a Cavaliers team that lived and died by the 3-point shot last season. Cleveland ranked second in the entire league behind only the Boston Celtics in made 3s per contest, and they also ended up second in 3-point percentage at 38.3 percent.

It’s hard to envision what Nance’s role on the Cavaliers will look like with the start of the coming season still a ways away, but he’s theoretically someone Atkinson could turn to to play minutes off the bench at the big man spot. Hopefully, he will prove to be a valuable part of the Cavaliers amid their title pursuit in the 2025-26 campaign.

It’s possible he will get plenty of opportunities to prove his worth during the Cavaliers’ preseason slate. Cleveland will tip off its preseason schedule with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls on Oct. 7.