Cavs Trade Proposal: The Good and Bad of Gordon Hayward for Larry Nance

The Bad

There is bad to this offer though, namely the players the Cavs would have to give up and specifics about Gordon Hayward. Firstly, let’s look at the players the team is losing, Larry Nance Jr., Isaac Okoro, and Cedi Osman.

Nance is a great defensive player and fits right in with what coach J.B. Bickerstaff wants to do. While he’s really dynamic and a great asset to have, he does come with scoring issues. Nance isn’t going to turn into Kevin Love, but he does provide a lot of versatility on the team. He won’t ever be a star but he can do a little bit of everything.

Osman is a great facilitator and can really score inside the arc. The problem is that Osman was forced to shoot three-pointers when his shot wasn’t falling. Shooting over half of his attempts from behind the three-point line,  Osman struggled in ’20-’21. Like with Nance, however, Osman provides a lot of unique skills. When his shot is falling, he’s a true three-level scorer, with great court vision. He’s also a solid defender, though he could use a better crop of teammates around him to play defense with.

One of those is Okoro. He and Osman are about on the same level defensively, at least according to advanced stats (-0.8 for Okoro, -0.9 for Osman) but Osman has shown, historically at least, to be a better scorer. Okoro was insanely effective from 3′ and in during his rookie year, hitting 61% of his shots, most of those in transition. The problem with Okoro is that anything 10′ and out, he’s absolutely awful at. He shot just 21% on shots outside of 10′.

So each guy has glaring issues they need to work on. Are they fair value for Hayward? Yes, absolutely. The problem that arises is that you’re giving up three guys who will get 20+ minutes per game for one who will get 28+ minutes per game. Who’s going to replace the other two players? The Cavs aren’t exactly deep with talent. While each player has their own fair share of issues and hindrances, they all provide the team with something. Sure, Lamar Stevens might fill in for Nance, and Dylan Windler can probably replace Osman but who’s going to replace Okoro defensively?

Then there’s the problem with giving up all that while taking on Hayward’s contract and injury issues. If Hayward was healthy, you could justify his contract. There aren’t many people in the NBA with his complete game. The problem is, he’s missed 34% of games played over the last three years. Assuming the upcoming NBA season is 82 games, that means Hayward is expected to only play in 54 games this year.

That’s a lot of games to miss for a guy with the salary that he has.