Los Angeles Lakers: Larry Nance Jr. Carving Out An Early Role

The Los Angeles Lakers were once accustomed to relying on the ability of Kobe Bryant to pull them out of a slump during any given game or  season. With his best days behind him, the team is willing to go to the furthest reaches of their roster to light a spark of competitiveness on the floor. Enter Larry Nance Jr., the team’s other first-round draft selection this summer.

Lots of questions surrounded the Lakers’ move to bring Nance into the fold. Unlike guys before him like teammate D’Angelo Russell or Karl Anthony-Towns, there was little to no buzz about him aside from being the son of former NBA star Larry Nance. A guy like R.J. Hunter seemed more ideal with the team needing more outside shooting and scoring.

An intriguing workout landed him at the top of the Lakers’ draft board by the time that the 27th selection rolled around, and the rest is history up to this point.

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During Summer League, Nance had his moments of what made him worthy of a first-round selection, including a monstrous block on Philadelphia 76ers big man, Jahlil Okafor.

In the Lakers’ first victory of the season, Head coach Byron Scott was looking to add some extra effort on the floor, and gave Nance his first big minutes of the year. A modest stat line of six points and six rebounds proved enough to earn more time on the floor. Since that time, Nance has averaged seven points and four rebounds in 19 minutes of action.

Wednesday night’s 101-99 loss to the Orlando Magic saw Nance put up a career-high of 13 points on perfect 100 percent shooting. Nance showed a little bit of everything about his game from running the floor to his mid-range, and extending beyond the arc. Arguably, Nance may be the team’s best player in pick and roll on both ends of the floor:

Scott raved about Nance’s presence afterwards:

The Lakers frontcourt is definitely crowded this season, but Nance has emerged as a fixture in the rotation. Despite the questions and concerns about what the team is doing with Russell’s minutes, it must be applauded how they are managing Nance’s time. The team’s front office deserves credit for finding a reliable talent amongst many young players.

While Nance may not possess the natural gifts of Julius Randle or Jordan Clarkson, he is the kind of player that the Lakers need. Like Mark Madsen and Ronny Turiaf before him, Nance’s style of play is the kind that fans love and appreciate. He’s gritty and hard-working with a nose for the basketball on either end.

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Stars make the world go around in Los Angeles, but there’s also plenty of room for a hardhat prospect like Nance.