Larry Nance Jr., who does not want to be traded, gets brought up in trade talks

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, Cavs forward Larry Nance Jr. gets brought up in trade talks around the league. Here’s what he wrote in his mega offseason prevew:

Reports that Boston has explored trading its three first-round picks — Nos. 14, 26, and 30 — to move up are accurate, sources say, but not surprising. Teams with that many picks explore everything; Boston has also sniffed around using picks to acquire a solid veteran, sources say. There are few such veterans available in future-for-present deals with almost the whole league trying to win.

This is why you hear Larry Nance Jr.’s name a lot across the league — in addition to the big names in Oklahoma City (Paul, Gallinari, and Dennis Schroder). Schroder would draw strong interest, sources say.

Here’s what Nance himself thinks of those trade rumors:

Nance is a good player. He’d be really useful on a better team than the Cavs and wouldn’t cost all that much considering his contract is extremely team friendly. If Koby Altman traded him for something that was more future-oriented, it could make sense from a pure value perspective.

However, Nance is one of the very few NBA players — maybe the only one — who genuinely loves being in Cleveland and would like to play here forever. He also makes the Cavs better now at the stuff the team talks about doing better — playing defense, communicating, day in and day out being a pro. It would suck if he were dealt for a mystery box combination of young players and picks.