Cleveland wanted this to happen, he’s the son of a Cavaliers’ legend who showed last playoffs he can have a role in whatever is next for this team post-LeBron.
Larry Nance Jr. wanted this to happen — he was born in Akron and was raised in the area, Cleveland is where he wants to be.
So as had been expected, the Cavaliers and Nance were able to work out an extension to his rookie contract before the deadline, as reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Larry Nance has reached a four-year, $45 million extension with Cleveland, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) October 15, 2018
Joe Varden of the Athletic said the final numbers were four-years, $44.8 million. More importantly, it is a contract where the price declines over time.
Sources: Larry Nance's four-year, $45M extension gives Cavs some flexibility in later years, descending annually from $12.7M, $11.7M, $10.6M to $9.6M in 2022-23. Kevin Love’s deal is structured in similar way. Cavs could have significant space when cap rises to $116M in 2020.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 16, 2018
A declining contract is more tradable, consider this a signal the Cavaliers are looking at the rebuild starting down the line.
As for the extension, that seems about a fair price, about the going rate for a starter/quality rotation player. Nance was a steal in the draft by the Lakers 27th back in 2015 and was a fan favorite in L.A., but was sent to Cleveland in the Isaiah Thomas trade. Nance is a quality rotation player on both ends, a guy who averaged 8.7 points per game last season (expect that to go up) and shot 58.1 percent overall (and a 58.5 true shooting percentage, above the league average). He had a PER of 21.5 while with the Cavaliers last season (and a 20.2 PER with a 68.5 true shooting percentage in a smaller playoff role), showing the kind of versatility prized in today’s NBA.
This contract is a win for both sides.