Cavs Officially Sign Pete Nance, Sharife Cooper, Justin Powell

AKRON, Ohio — The Cavaliers have officially signed forward Pete Nance, guard Sharife Cooper and shooting guard Justin Powell, president of basketball operations Koby Altman announced in a press release.

Nance is the son of Cavs legend Larry Nance and younger brother of former Cavs and current Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr.

Pete Nance is 6-foot-11 and spent four years at Northwestern before transferring to North Carolina as a fifth-year senior last year. With the Tar Heels, he averaged 10.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 30 games, shooting 42 percent from the field and 82 percent from the free-throw line.

He appeared in all six games for the Summer League champion Cavs, averaging 7.2 points and 3.3 rebounds.

“We talk all the time,” Nance Jr. said on the Wine and Gold Talk podcast. “Going into summer league, I think the biggest thing I told him was, he had such momentum, coming off obviously a rough college season, but then the momentum he built going into draft workouts and then being (at the NBA Combine) in Chicago training for it, just carrying that over into summer league was great. Just go be aggressive, shoot your shots when you decide you want to shoot them and play your game.”

Cooper, 21, is 6-1 and has appeared in 13 NBA games after being selected with the No. 48 overall pick in 2021.

He was waived by the Hawks in late July and most recently worked out for the Lakers, per reports.

Last season, Cooper spent most of his time with the College Park SkyHawks of the G League, averaging 17.1 points and 6.9 assists in 22 games.

Powell is 6-6 and spent each of the past three years with a different college program — first with Auburn, then with Tennessee, then Washington State. He then declared for the 2023 NBA Draft but was not selected.

In 34 games with Washington State last season, Powell averaged 10.4 points and shot 43 percent on 3-pointers. He played for the Heat in the NBA Summer League and was expected to sign a camp deal in Miami. For whatever reason, he’s signing with the Cavs instead.

Terms of the deals weren’t revealed, though it is believed all three players received Exhibit 10 contracts and are headed to the Cleveland Charge.