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Portland Trail Blazers: 3 Reasons to love the Larry Nance Jr trade

By Stevie Cozens

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 28: Larry Nance Jr. #22 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at the Smoothie King Center on February 28, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - FEBRUARY 28: Larry Nance Jr. #22 of the Cleveland Cavaliers reacts against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half at the Smoothie King Center on February 28, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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In the last 24 hours, there has been a three-team trade where the Portland Trail Blazers have traded Derrick Jones Jr to the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers have traded Larry Nance Jr to the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Bulls sign and traded Lauri Markkanen to the Cavaliers.

NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski had the news as usual.

Here are three reasons to love the trade for Larry Nance Jr

Reason #1 – he is a perfect fit with the current roster

The Blazers, as currently constructed, don’t have a single primary power forward on the roster. Though Robert Covington played the power forward position last season, he has been a small forward for a large part of his career, and the reason he can play the four is more because of his defense than his offense.

Nance Jr gives a true threat at the four who can score inside and out, as well as being able to defend at a high level. He isn’t a great rim protector, but defending the perimeter is a thing he can do, and the Blazer had huge issues doing this last the last two seasons.

Nance can play next to Covington, or next to Jusuf Nurkic, as well as being able to play next to Cody Zeller on typical bench units.

Salary-wise, he is also a great fit because his deal declines in value to around $9.6 million next season, and the Blazers will inherit his bird rights, meaning that they can go over the cap to re-sign him in 2023 free agency.