The Milwaukee Bucks are in advanced discussions on a contract extension with forward Larry Sanders, according to sources close to the process. ESPN’s Marc Stein reports.
Oct. 31 is the deadline for extensions for members of Sanders’ 2010 draft class, but sources told ESPN earlier in the week that negotiations on a new deal for the Bucks lanky shot blocker have been promising, even after Sanders’ two best teammates bounced from Milwaukee this summer.
Sanders was at USA Basketball’s U-25 minicamp in Las Vegas, earning a spot amongst the game’s youngest and brightest to showcase his skills after a successful 2012/13 breakout. Sanders was hobbled by an ankle sprain at the camp, but his invitation shows what many around the league already know in that Sanders is one of the game’s more promising young power forwards.
Contract figures are not set in stone yet, but Stein reported that Sanders is expected to receive around $10 million a season. Big numbers for a player who just averaged under a double double with 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in just 27.3 minutes per game last season.
Sanders payday is largely due to his improved defense grabbing national attention. Sanders wound up as the second best shot-blocker and finished seventh in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting, being snubbed from the All-Defensive team along with Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol. What Sanders has earned however, was the faith in the Bucks front office to keep him after allowing other high profile agents in Jennings and Ellis to walk after going all in by acquiring them.
It has been a weird offseason for the Bucks, one that has opened eyebrows across the league after some questionable moves were made. Guards O.J. Mayo and Gary Neal, forward Carlos Delfino, and center Zaza Pachulia were all signed by the Bucks last month for big money along with the trade for Brandon Knight to replace Jennings, Ellis, J.J. Redick andMike Dunleavy, something that has led pundits across the league to suggest the Bucks are tanking for Andrew Wiggins.
Sanders is an agent of Dan Fegan, who last week completed a five-year, $80 million extension for client John Wall. Fegan is also in active discussions with the Sacramento Kings toward an extension for enigmatic post player and Wall’s Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins according to reports. For now both Sanders and Cousins don’t have new deals in place, but expect Sanders to be locked up to a new close to $10 million deal within the coming week now that a final agreement is coming closer and closer.
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