Larry Nance Jr. Is READY For a CHAMPIONSHIP with the Cleveland Cavaliers

Larry Nance Jr. Is READY For a CHAMPIONSHIP with the Cleveland Cavaliers

On today’s show, I don’t think anyone has ever been happier to be on the Cavs than Larry Dance Jr. is right now. We talked to him on Tuesday, plus the conversation that the media had with Craig Porter Jr. and FanDuel has released it 2025 2026 NBA win totals. We’ll talk about where the Cavs are and so much more on today’s edition of Locked on Cavs. You are Locked On Cavs, your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What’s up everybody? My name is Danny Cunningham. You might know me from my time covering the Cleveland Cavaliers, places like my substack, The Inside Shot, Cleveland Magazine, 923 The Fan, and a number of other stops along the way. I want to say thank you to you for making Locked on Cavs your first listen today and every day. You can find the show anywhere you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else. Make sure to drop us a fivestar rating. Leave us a nice review. And of course, be a friend. Tell a friend about Locked on Cavs. Make sure you’re subscribed. Make sure a friend is subscribed as well. And if you’re watching the show on YouTube as we get started here, do us a favor. Hit that thumbs up button for us. Click subscribe. Hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest from us here at Lockdown Cavs. Of course, a proud part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. On Tuesday, Larry Nanch Jr. spoke with the media for the first time since he signed a contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the start of free agency. Nance, of course, will be entering his second stint with the Cavaliers. He was traded for um back in February of 2018. That was the final LeBron James Cavs team of the second LeBron James era. Since then, Nance played a few seasons here in Cleveland and then was in Portland, New Orleans, and finally Atlanta before he hit free agency this summer. and decided that now was the time to come home. And the first the very initial takeaway that I had from listening to what Larry Nance had to say at the practice facility on Tuesday is I don’t know that there’s ever been anybody as excited to be on the Cavs as Larry Nanch Jr. seems to be. Of course, he is somebody that is born and raised in Northeast Ohio. He has a family connection to this organization that very few NBA players have because his dad’s number is in the rafters. Um, of course it will not come down from the rafters, but Larry is allowed to wear the number 22 that is retired for his father. He wore it during his first stint in Cleveland after very briefly wearing the number 24 and then everybody I think just kind of decided, you know what, we should probably let him wear his dad’s number. Um but he will wear that number and of course has just growing up somebody that you know it is interesting because of the the history of the organization. There are a lot of guys and Lonzo Ball is an example of this. There are a lot of guys that have come through here. Um, and maybe Donovan Mitchell is a little bit of an example of this too when you think about that photo of him as a kid wearing a Cavs uniform because, well, it was a LeBron uniform and Lonzo Ball was asked about this the other day and and he said, you know, I’m not going to say I was a Cavs fan. I was a LeBron fan. So, by nature of that, I was a Cavs fan. Um, that’s what he said on Monday when when asking about that stuff. But for Larry, like he is somebody that has been a Cavs fan his entire life. and he did even sort of admit to it while playing for like the Hawks and and the Pelicans and even the Blazers that he’s somebody that has kind of always kept an eye on the Cavs. He he said when playing for the Hawks, playing for the Pelicans, yeah, I want them to win every game, but I was a Cavs fan. So, watching the playoffs the past few years, it was hard not to just sit on the couch and kind of look tap my wife and be like, I can help. Like, I could really do that. And that to me, I think makes this really cool. Um, we can talk and we will talk and we have talked about the basketball fit that Larry Nance Jr. is here, which I think is a very, very good one alongside Jared Allen, alongside Evan Mobley. The fact that he is a big that can play four or five is something that I do think increases the flexibility that Kenny Atinson can use in deploying different lineups. I think he can make make life easier at times for Jared Allen. I think he can make life easier at times for Evan Mobley. So, there’s a lot to like from that perspective. But just from the human interest side of things, I do think that this is a really cool thing. Um, just because somebody that is so ingrained in this organization, obviously does have a very, very deep love for this Cleveland Cavaliers organization. And yes, he’s been teammates with a lot of the guys that are on this roster, whether it be Darius Garland. Um, if Tristan Thompson is back. Um, Lonzo Ball, they played together in Los Angeles pretty briefly, DeAndre Hunter last year in Atlanta. Like, he has played with a number of these guys. Jared Allen, I believe he and Jared Allen were on the same team at one point. So, he has played with a number of the guys on the roster. So, getting to have that sort of reunion, I do think it’s a cool thing for him, too. But the fact too that he can come back to Cleveland, a place where he very clearly wants to be. Um, I don’t know who else was interested in Larry Dan Jr. this summer. I would be very surprised if the Cavs were the only team that wanted his services. I don’t know if he had an offer for more than the minimum from another team because of course the only thing the Cavs could offer him was the Veterans Minimum because they are operating as a second apron team. So, I don’t know if there was an offer out there for more money that he passed up to be in Cleveland. I have no idea of that, but I don’t think that it’s I don’t think that this is a case that, oh, only the Cavs were calling. Um, I think he’s here in part because he really wants to be in Cleveland. And he talked about his first stint here. And of course, when he arrived, he was a young guy that had not been in the league for a super long time. Um, and he was thrust from a team in the Los Angeles Lakers who at that time in the post Kobe Bryant era, even at the end of the Kobe Bryant era were not very good. They were not playing for much other than than ping-pong balls, truthfully. Um, he did not play on a good Lakers team the entire time he was there. And then he is traded to Cleveland and the goal entirely changes because it’s instantly about winning a championship. And he talked about not being ready for that. And it wasn’t a thing that if that he came over here and was like I’m not ready to be in this situation because I do think it is and he made mention of this. It’s sort of a you don’t know what you don’t know type of thing, right? Like you kind of don’t know what you’re getting into. And he talked about playing in the finals against the Golden State Warriors and sort of how nervous he would get and the emotions leading up to that series in some of those games. And of course, that was a series against one of the greatest basketball teams of all time after the Warriors added Kevin Durant to um what was already a 73- win team. Of course, this was the 2018 finals in which the Cavs got swept, but I do think that now it’s interesting to hear him say how much more ready he is for this. And of course, a lot of that is knowing what to expect. Having been there, done that, having been in the playoffs more than once at this point in his career, I think is a big boost to him. But he he seemed like somebody that and really to sort of echo what what Lonzo Ball said where winning is the thing that matters here. And I think that is a constant theme that we are going to hear throughout the off season. Maybe not so much from guys that are are really fighting and scrapping for their NBA lives the way that maybe a Craig Porter Jr. is and we’ll talk about him in a second, but I think of the veterans and guys that are going to have roles on this roster and going to be integral parts of this team. we are always going to hear them speak about winning and how important that is and that’s the way it should be because that is where um this roster is. They they are in a point where winning is the thing that is most important and Larry says he’s ready for it. I think it’s a really cool story arc to go from being the young guy on a team in the finals, maybe not being ready for that moment, maybe being a little nervous going into the moment to now. And not to say that, you know, he’s going to come in and be the team captain and and the vocal leader in the locker room. I he talked a lot about sort of knowing his place there, that he’s not here to just be the leader. He’s here to fit in and help the team win. Um and you know, if leadership comes along with that, great. But it’s not as if that is what I think anybody is expecting of him. Um, but going from somebody who was very green and not ready for that spotlight to somebody who is, as he said, addicted to it, that he just wants to get back there. Um, and he wants to be in those moments and the Cavs being in a spot where those are the moments they’re striving to get to. Those are the moments where they should expect themselves to be into. Um, and then the the one last thing I wanted to touch upon with Larry is that he does feel as if from a basketball perspective, the area where he has grown the most since he left Cleveland has been the shooting from the outside. Obviously, when he was here the first time, the three-point arc or beyond the three-point arc really wasn’t much of his game. He was a a very very athletic big. I don’t know if he quite has the same bounce that he once did. Um, I don’t know that all of that he’s still an athletic big, but I don’t know that all of that athleticism that was here back in 2018 is still the same. And I think that he would probably agree with that. But he is somebody that now is a much more viable three-point threat because he wasn’t really shooting threes when he was in Cleveland. He never took more than 3.3 a game, which is a good number. and he shot 36% injury shortened season, but he shot 44%. So, he is somebody that does believe he’s going to be able to come into Cleveland and he’s going to be able to stretch the floor in a way that since Lowry Markin, the Cavs have not had a big that has been able to play to the four or five and stretch the floor in that reliable of a way. um maybe Kevin Love who had a very very good season in that sixth man role, but even then I think Larry is so much more versatile defensively and what he can do and obviously a bigger body in terms of height and length and those things than Kevin was. So I do think that this is going to be a unique fit for the Cavs and something they have not had specifically in this era. I think it’ll be a really good thing for everybody involved. And truthfully, it was hard to sit in the media room on Tuesday and not just be genuinely happy for somebody who seems really, really over the moon to be here. Um, NBA players often don’t get control over where they’re going to be. Um, that is one of the perks of free agency is you kind of get to decide where your next stop is going to be and and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily always get treated all that well. But for Larry Nance to to be able to be in this position to be playing for the team that he has cheered for his entire life and be in a position where he can expect to win a championship. I think that’s a really really cool thing for him. I think that is a really really cool thing for the Cavs as well. Well, he wasn’t the only guy who spoke on Tuesday because Craig Porter Jr. talked talked a little bit about summer league, what to expect from him, and really just where things need to go for him in his career. So, we’re going to talk about that next right here on Locked on Calves. Today’s show is brought to you by Monarch Money. Do you ever wish managing your money felt easier? I know I do. 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If all things go well, I’m not so sure that we should see him play all five Cavs summer league games. Um, I do think that, you know, the best case scenario is Craig plays in the Cavs first two summer league games and looks awesome and they say, “Okay, we’ve seen enough. We are happy with the progress that you’ve made. Now, we would like to see Tyrese Proctor get a little bit more work with the basketball in his hands because Craig Porter Jr. of course going to take away from that. But the thing that stood out to me about what Craig had to say on Tuesday was, and Craig is not somebody that speaks with the media frequently, obviously. Um, that is typically reserved for guys that spend more time on the floor than Craig does. Um, he’s those those players that are part of the not part of the rotation don’t often speak on the record to the media. But, um, Craig has been somebody that I I think grew up a little bit. I think it’s fair to say listening to him, he sounds like somebody that maybe gets it in a way that he didn’t before. And he did touch upon that a little bit during his um media availability with us that he feels now like he’s ready for it. And and one of the things that he does feel like he has to change is he has to be a little bit more of a vocal leader. And this summer league is a great opportunity for him to do that. Now, I understand on the regular Cavs, it’s not the easiest thing. Like the the regular Cavs are not Craig Porter Jr.’s team, right? It’s Darius, it’s Donovan, it’s it’s Evan, it’s other guys that certainly are better basketball players and more vocal leaders. And that is an area where Craig feels as if he has to grow. He has to become a better vocal leader. He has to understand how to run a team. He has to understand how to get guys in spots and pick different spots in different ways. And to me, what all of that sounds like is it sounds like Craig Porter Jr. needs to understand how to be an NBA point guard a little bit better than he has before. And I have been somebody that since I saw Craig play, and I didn’t know anything about him coming out of college. But since I saw Craig play, there were two things that I thought that one, this guy is awesome at things you wouldn’t expect him to be awesome at. like for a guard for somebody his size, he’s very good as, you know, a guy blocking shots, oddly enough, but that is the truth. Um, and two, I thought that he was going to have a very long NBA career and he has not developed at the rate that I thought he would. Just I still think he’s going to be in the league for five plus years. Like if if it does not work out with the Cavs, I think Craig Porter Jr. will be on NBA teams in the future. This isn’t, you know, in a Monty Bait situation where I don’t believe he’s on anyone’s summer league roster, which kind of tells you maybe all you need to know. But with Craig, I do think that we are entering for him a makeorb breakak season with the Cavs where he has to show some things and he does have to be able to earn a role and contribute. And I do think that while the drafting of Tyrese Proctctor might say, you know, maybe the Cavs could see that happening and maybe Tyrese will come in and we saw him shooting on Tuesday after practice and his jumper looks good and he has a very quick release and it goes in a lot and those are things that if you’re the Cavs, you certainly like to see. But I do think that Craig is going to have a very big opportunity because he is going to be a guy that gets a lot of opportunity, especially early in the season where Darius Garland might not be playing a ton with that toe injury that he’s recovering from surgery. Lonzo Ball could be a guy that the Cavs want to limit his minutes. Obviously, Ty Drrome is no longer here. the opportunity for Craig to go out and show what he can do is going to be there and I do think it starts this week in summer league. I do think that this is an opportunity for him to say and Omar Cook, the Cavs head summer league coach, talked about in Craig and Jaylen specifically, and I do think Jaylen is a different situation than Craig, but with Craig and Jaylen specifically to not look at it as punishment. And for Jaylen, I don’t think there’s a world where he really should. Like, he didn’t play a ton last year because the rotation was very crowded. I think this will be a very, very good thing for Jaylen Tyson. Craig Porter Jr. is different because there is a difference in going back to Vegas for your third summer league versus going back for your second summer league. There have been a lot of guys, a lot of really good players that have played two summer leagues like Jaylen Brown played in summer league twice for the Celtics. So it’s not and of course that is an extreme example but there are a lot of guys who have gone on to have very very successful NBA careers that have played summer league in two straight years. Three straight years is a bit of an oddity. That is not something that you see very often. So I do think that that points to this season for Craig Porter Jr. with the Cavs being sort of a now or never type of situation. like if he is not ready for this moment now, I don’t know that it’s going to happen for him in Cleveland. And I do think in talking to him, this was something that that I do think he he understands. And there was one answer that really stood out for me. And I don’t remember who asked the question, but he was asked about what he’s learned in his first two seasons. And I want to read this quote verbatim because I think it’s important to get this all right. But he said, “I feel like for a while I approached it as just a sport through college and everything. And after a while I realized it’s more than just a sport. It’s a way of living, a way of life. Honestly, just as far as competing, and I mean realistically, it’s a job. You have to take another man’s job to be able to stay in this league. I mean, it is not much bigger than that. And it’s important.” And that to me speaks to somebody who realizes, okay, maybe the opportunity that Craig Porter Jr. has had for the first couple of years has been taken for granted a little bit. And I do think that he understands what is at stake for him and he needs to work maybe harder than he’s ever worked before. You know, I can’t speak to what he’s like behind the scenes because I don’t necessarily know. I’m not behind the scenes all the time, but I do think that he is in a position where he has the opportunity to earn a rotation spot in Cleveland. And I think that that more than anything, I think that starts right now when summer league begins for the Cavs when that kicks off later this week. Now, there was a little bit of something that came out from FanDuel. The win totals are here for next season. We are going to briefly talk about the Cavs win total. I will do a more in-depth conversation about this at a later date, but I wanted to bring it up. I wanted to briefly talk about where they stand. So, we’re going to do that next right here on Locked on Cavs. Earlier this week, FanDuel, I don’t know if it was exactly Tuesday, it may have been Monday and I missed it, but FanDuel did release their win totals for the 2025 2026 season. And as you might imagine, the Cavs have the highest win total in the Eastern Conference. FanDuel has set their total at 56 and a half. That is the largest number in the Eastern Conference. That is the second highest number in the entire NBA behind, you guessed it, Oklahoma City. and their win total is set at 62 and a2. So the 56 and a2 number tells me that FanDuel thinks the Cavs are going to be really really good again next year. And I think 56 and a half is probably a pretty good number honestly. Um I like I thought last year and last year FanDuel and I think every other sports book out there too set the win total for the Cavs at 48 and a half. And you can go back and listen, but I very strongly felt that the over was going to hit there. Like unless everything went wrong, I struggled to see how the Cavs were going to win fewer than 50 games because that group had already won 51 games before. You could even make the case a lesser group had won 51 games before. They won 48 games the year before this where Darius Garland didn’t play much, Evan Mobley didn’t play much, Donovan Mitchell missed time at the end of the season. Like really the only constant was Jared Allen and then for them to go out and I’m not going to say that I expected them to win 64 games, but I would have been stunned had they not won 50 plus last year. 56. I would probably take the over very slightly. Um I think they can get to 60 this year. I would be surprised if they get to 64. And of course, we don’t have a schedule, so we don’t know how many, you know, like disadvant disadvantageous situation the Cavs are going to be in. Like I don’t have those answers right now. So this is just looking at the roster, who the Cavs are. I think 56 is a very good number. Um I I could see them being a team that wins 54 55 games because I do think that that probably will be enough to clinch the top seat in the East, which I do think is something that maybe the Cavs aren’t going to put as much stock in next season as they did this past season, but I do think it’s going to be something that they care about. And I look at a team like the New York Knicks who have the second highest win total in the Eastern Conference according to FanDuel. I don’t see them as being some regular season wins juggernaut. Like could the Knicks be a better playoff team than the Cavs? Maybe I would have picked the Cavs to win that series as of right now, but I would be very surprised if the Knicks, especially with a new coach in Mike Brown, I would be surprised if they get to 60 wins. Like, I would be very surprised if they are the team that takes that kind of jump. Um, and I will, again, I will talk about this more in depth after summer league is over because I’m sure I will have more thoughts. This is I saw these like 20 minutes before I started recording. Um, and the Orlando Magic are the only other team that have a win total in the Eastern Conference above 50. Theirs is at 50 and a half. I would almost say that the Magic have a better chance of being the one seed because I think that they are a new team and maybe everything just works the way that it did for the Cavs last year. And could they be a team that wins 60 games? Maybe. I wouldn’t bet on it, but like I think there’s a better long shot chance of that happening than the Knicks just becoming a regular season wins juggernaut after what we have seen from them the past several years. That said, I would take the over 56 and a half. I don’t think it goes much over. I think that ultimately the Cavs are going to win somewhere between 55 and 58 games. That would be like my ballpark figure for the Cavs is 55 to 58. Could they could some things go wrong and they win 52? Sure. I don’t see that happening, but that could happen. Could everything click and they win a bunch of close games and they just go on these outrageous runs the way they did last year where they seemingly cannot lose for an actual month. Sure, if that happens, they’ll get to 60, but I think they’re probably going to be between 55 and 58. I just think there’s a little bit more margin on the upper end. I think this team is really talented. I think what we are going to see from Evan Mobley and I know that video is surfacing about him working on his handle as I’ve been talking about. I think that is the most important thing for Evan. I think that is the most important thing for the Cavs offensive success this year and Evan Mobley’s growth is tightening that handle. But if the Cavs do stay healthy and I don’t think they’re going to chase regular season wins. But I also do think the other thing that I look at here is I wonder if the Cavs feel as if they didn’t play enough in the regular season that they didn’t get the minutes up enough and Kenny Atinson is not going to turn into Tibs. Donovan Mitchell is not going to average 37 minutes a night this season. That’s not going to be in the cards for him. That’s not how the Cavs are going to operate. Um they are going to be a little bit more conservative when it comes to minutes played rather than aggressive the way that the Knicks have been. just to bring up an example. And I don’t know what they’re going to look like with Mike Brown as coach now, but I do think that they will be a little bit more aggressive this year. And I think that could maybe lead to a couple more wins than this number. Now, I will do a much deeper dive. I will have more thoughts on this um after summer league is over, but I with this news coming out, I just wanted to touch on it just a little bit. Now, the Cavs will play a summer league game tomorrow. Tomorrow’s episode going to be a lot about summer league, what to watch for, what to expect. We will talk a little bit more Craig Porter Jr. We will talk about Jaylen Tyson. We will talk about Tyrese Proctor. We’ll talk about all of it right here on Locked on Cap. So, thank you for making today’s show your first listen. And thank you for making every show your first listen. You can find us anywhere you get your podcast, Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else. Make sure to drop us a fivestar rating. Leave us a nice review. And of course, be a friend. Tell a friend about Locked on Cabs. And if you’re watching on YouTube, hit that thumbs up button as we get out of here. And I’ll be back tomorrow talking more about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On this episode of Locked On Cavs, Danny Cunningham (The Inside Shot, Cleveland Magazine, 92.3 The Fan) explores recent developments for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He discusses Larry Nance Jr.’s enthusiastic return to the team, highlighting Nance’s improved three-point shooting and deep connection to the organization. The podcast examines Craig Porter Jr.’s crucial third summer league appearance and its potential impact on his future with the Cavs. Danny analyzes FanDuel’s projected 56.5-win total for Cleveland in the upcoming season, placing it as the highest in the Eastern Conference. He also touches on Evan Mobley’s offensive skill development, particularly his ball-handling, and speculates on potential changes in the team’s approach to player minutes. The episode provides Cavaliers fans with insider perspectives and thoughtful analysis of these key topics as the new season approaches.
Check out Danny’s Substack, The Inside Shot: https://theinsideshot.substack.com/
Email the show: LOCavsmailbag@gmail.com
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