Big and bruising? That’s not how you’d describe Hawks center Larry Nance. The Lakers know this well since Nance started his career with them as a late first-round pick in the 2015 NBA draft. During his rookie season, the 6-foot-8 player spent about 14% of his minutes at small forward, the highest percentage in his career, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
As the game has evolved, Nance has adapted, excelling as a high-energy, versatile center off the bench. In 2023-24, he played 99% of his minutes at center, up from 81% in 2022-23 with the Pelicans.
However, Nance was traded from New Orleans to Atlanta in a summer deal involving Dejounte Murray. Now, he finds himself on a Hawks team that already has one center, Onyeka Okongwu, poised for a bigger role and another, Clint Capela, who has been on the trade market for over a year. Atlanta will need to make some adjustments.
