David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Los Angeles Lakers power forward Larry Nance Jr. had been sidelined with a sore knee since Jan. 31. However, he has been cleared to return to the lineup.

Continue for updates.

Nance Active vs. Spurs

Friday, Feb. 19

Nance had six points and four rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

Nance off to Promising Start with Lakers

The rookie has appeared in 40 games this season, starting 22 of them, and has averaged 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest.

Nance's knee has been bothering him recently, which alarmed head coach Byron Scott, per Shahan Ahmed of NBCLosAngeles.com:

I think anytime you're dealing with a knee, you have to have some concern. ... My thought process is to, ah, you know we have five games before All-Star weekend, shut him down now and he has another week after All-Star week to get it together. So, I'll go in and talk to [Athletic trainer] Gary (Vitti). It's something I discussed with him days ago, about shutting (Nance) down. And I'll go in there and discuss a little bit further and see what he thinks as well.

Drafted 27th overall in 2015 out of Wyoming, Nance's play this year had Scott claiming that the starting power forward job was "an open competition" between him and Julius Randle, who was drafted seventh overall in 2014, per Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

While Randle holds the offensive edge, recording 11.1 points per game, Nance brings a bit more versatility to the position. An extremely athletic forward, the 6'9" rookie can seemingly fly at times and adds a solid presence under the basket on both sides of the floor.

The Fastbreak caught a glimpse of Nance's leaping:

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Scott realizes what he has with Nance, telling Ahmed that "we know that this kid's got a bright, bright future."

The Lakers' season seems to be more about the retirement of Kobe Bryant than the young crop of stars—including Randle and guard D'Angelo Russell—anyway.

Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.