It was announced today that the Cavaliers have signed center Larry Sanders for the rest of the season.
Cleveland thought they had found a solution to their depth problems in the frontcourt when they signed Andrew Bogut just after the trade deadline. Bogut had been dealt from the Mavericks to the 76ers as part of the Nerlens Noel deal and was subsequently released. Minutes into his Cavs debut, Bogut fractured his leg ending his season.
With a fresh need for size, rebounding, and rim protection off the bench, the Cavs have reportedly agreed to terms with Larry Sanders. The deal, first reported by Shams Charania of Yahoo! Sports, will cover the rest of this season.
Sanders hasn’t played an NBA game since 2014-15 and appeared in just 50 games total across his final two NBA seasons. At the time he was struggling with injury, working through several drug-related suspensions, and — as he revealed in a piece at The Player’s Tribune — dealing with mental health issues. Sanders chose to walk away from the NBA and take care of his mental and physical health.
The highlight of Sanders’ brief NBA career was the 2012-13 season where he helped lead a surprising Milwaukee Bucks’ squad to the playoffs. Sanders led the league in block percentage that season, sending back 7.6 percent of opponents’ shots while he was on the floor, and finished as one of the best defensive rebounders in the league.
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Assuming he can shake off the rust and recapture some of that magic from the 2012-13 season, the now 26-year-old Sanders should be a tremendous fit for the Cavaliers. At that point he was a tremendous rim protector but also mobile enough to step out on switches or chase some stretch-bigs around the perimeter if the matchup required it. On offense, Sanders was fairly limited, but crashing the offensive glass and diving to the paint on pick-and-rolls should work nicely around the perimeter skills of LeBron and Kyrie Irving.
It’s been awhile but it’s great to see Sanders healthy, happy, and back in the NBA. Here’s hoping it’s a win for everyone.