Grading the Portland Trail Blazers trade with Bulls, Cavaliers for Larry Nance Jr.

Grading Lauri Markkanen – Derrick Jones Jr. – Larry Nance Jr. three-team trade: Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers faithful were probably a little antsy, sitting around with a quiet offseason waiting for the bomb that was Damian Lillard’s trade request to detonate on Rip City.

Finally, 25 days into the 2021 offseason, the Blazers made their first trade of the season.

Larry Nance Jr. is one of the rare late bloomers in the NBA. Originally just an athletic specimen with the Los Angeles Lakers and early in his stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Nance has developed the more technical aspects of his game to become a more versatile asset on both ends of the court.

He’s turned himself from a simple dunker at the power forward, into a fantastic 3-and-D weapon capable of playing and guarding three different positions.

In early January, Nance put all of his skills on display in a nearly flawless game against the Memphis Grizzlies. He went 100 percent from the floor, including four 3-pointers, finishing with 17 points and adding three swipes for good measure.

He also did this:

And this:

Nance will fill a lot of holes for the Blazers, specifically defense and athleticism. Hopefully, his top-notch physicality will encourage Portland to pick up their glacial pace from last season.

Finding an improvement on defense for DJJ was always going to be a tough task, but they managed to do just that with Nance. He’s also still fine-tuning his abilities on the offensive end of the court.

In 2020-2021, he secured his career-high in both 3-point attempts per game and deep shooting accuracy, with 36 percent on 3.3 tries a night.

Frankly, this was a trade that needed to be made. Whether it was what Blazers fans hoped to get in return for Derrick Jones Jr. and their 2022 FRP, something had to give with the current Portland roster. It’s encouraging to see that General Manager Neil Olshey wasn’t content with the team and was looking for opportunities for further improvement.

Nance’s ability to be a starting-caliber forward at either position should also give fans hope that another domino will fall before the upcoming season’s trade deadline. Portland nabbed a high quality player at a fair price, but Jones Jr.’s contract and that FRP could have been packaged for a more impactful move.

Grade: B-