Larry Nance Jr. can unlock the Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers addition of Larry Nance Jr. was regarded as one of the most shrewd moves of the offseason. On paper, the Blazers added a versatile two-way force; someone who could guard multiple positions, play elite help defense, score when needed, and create shots for others — a Draymond Green-lite if you will.
Since coming to Portland, though, Nance’s stats have taken a hit.
In 2020-2021, with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he put up:
9.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, while playing 31.2 minutes per night.
This season with the Blazers, he’s getting:
6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 19.3 minutes of floor time.
Like Powell, Nance is milking every second of playing time he receives. With him on the court, the Blazers have a ridiculous 117.6 offensive rating and are only allowing 110.6 points per 100 possessions. This would give them the number one offense in the league and 26th ranked defense.
In contrast, when LNJ is sitting, the Blazers have a 110.5 offensive rating and a 113.8 defensive rating. These would place them at eighth and 29th in the NBA, respectively.
Inserting Nance into the starting lineup in place of Robert Covington, the Blazers have allowed just 42.9 percent shooting with that configuration — although this combination has only played a little under 13 minutes total together.
When Nance shares the court with Nurk — they’ve done so for 39 total minutes this season — Portland is stifling opponents into a paltry 39 percent shooting according to stathead.
It’s high time that Nance gets more minutes than the 19 he’s been receiving on average. He should especially share the court more with Nurkic. The Blazers could have a lot more defensive possessions that look like this, instead of the brain-numbing fast pass lane to the rim that they’ve been regularly allowing:
Perhaps it’s time that Chauncey Billups makes Larry Nance Jr. a starter again?