Larry Nance Jr. denies report Lakers GM Rob Pelinka lied to him about trade

Early last year, Larry Nance Jr. was playing for the Lakers.

Bill Oram of The Athletic:

Nance Jr. and his fiancée, his college girlfriend, were interested in buying a house. He wanted to get a sense of whether the Lakers planned on keeping him around, and Pelinka told him that the Lakers would only trade him if it meant landing one of the game’s three best players. He told him to buy the house, multiple sources confirmed.

In February of last year, the Lakers traded Nance and Jordan Clarkson to the Cavaliers for Isaiah Thomas, Channing Frye and a first-round pick – definitely not top-three players.

Nance:

Just got a chance to read some of these articles about Rob Pelinka supposedly promising me I’d stay in LA.. Wanted to clear the air and say that is not the case. This league is a business and we all know it. Rob and I had and still have a great relationship.

— Larry Nance (@Larrydn22) April 30, 2019

Maybe Nance is setting the record straight after an inaccurate report. If so, good for him. The truth is important, and Pelinka doesn’t deserve a false report harming his credibility.

Maybe Nance is denying an accurate report because he doesn’t want to burn bridges or just wants to downplay controversy surrounding him. That happens.

But because he put his name behind his claims and Oram’s sources didn’t, I’m trusting Nance unless further information emerges.

That said, Pelinka has a problem either way. He’s either lying to players or has so many enemies, some of them smeared him to Oram. Pelinka knows which is the case and, as he takes control of the Lakers’ front office, must handle it.