Larry Sanders, former-Milwaukee Buck center, hinted on Saturday night that he may be joining either the Golden State Warriors or Cleveland Cavaliers.
Sanders tweeted two pictures.
The first one paying homage to the classic movie, “The Warriors.”
— L8 Show (@LarrySanders) July 9, 2016
Here’s the second one.
— L8 Show (@LarrySanders) July 9, 2016
First off, even if this leads to nothing, props to Sanders for having a creative way of illustrating his choices.
But before we go reading too much into this, let’s go over some of the reasons that make Sanders signing with either team unlikely.
For starters, Sanders has been out of the league since February of 2015, when he retired at the age of 26, citing issues battling anxiety and depression.
He walked away from $27 million. Maybe he saw how much free-agents have been getting paid this Summer and it caused him to re-consider his decision.
The 6’11” center played 27 games in 2014-2015, and played in only 23 games in 2013-2014.
The last time he played at a high level consistently in the NBA was 2012-2013, when he averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game, playing 70 games in the season.
He is only 27 now, but the long layoff is certainly a reason for concern.
Along with that layoff, Sanders had some issues that would not be thought of highly by an NBA front office and whatever team would take him would have to look past those. Sanders was known for not putting basketball as a top priority and not playing up to his potential because of that lack of focus.
However, that sounds a bit similar to J.R. Smith’s story, and the shooting guard has flourished since joining the Cavs.
As far as the possibility of Sanders going to Golden State is concerned, they already signed David West and Zaza Pachulia, and have Anderson Varejao as an option at backup center. The Warriors have room to add Sanders if they want, but it doesn’t appear that their team is in dire need of a backup center, especially considering the fact that they use a small lineup so often.
With regards to the Cavaliers, if the reports of Chris Andersen coming to Cleveland turn out to be valid, there would not be room for Sanders on the roster.
Even if “Birdman” signs, the Cavs would have to get rid of somebody, the most logical candidate being Sasha Kaun.
For the Cavs to add Andersen and Sanders, they would have to make two roster moves, and would have five or six guys who could be considered power forwards or centers (Tristan, Love, Frye, Andersen, Sanders, LeBron). It would not make sense for the Cavs to carry that many big men in a league where traditional big men are becoming less of a commodity.
Sanders, at his peak, was an athletic shot-blocker, who could be counted upon for double-doubles.
But it’s a mystery what type of player the Cavs would be getting if they signed the 27-year-old.
If the Cavs sign Andersen, the logical conclusion would be that Sanders is not coming to Cleveland.
However, if the Andersen talks lead to nothing, there’s a realistic chance of seeing Sanders in a Cavalier uniform in 2016-2017.
Sanders shared a music video for his newest song, “Black Mercedes” at 1:30 PM on Sunday afternoon. hinting that there’s a subliminal message about what team he wants to play for in the video.
There is a subliminal hint in my new video about which team I would personally like to play for…check it out now!!https://t.co/uZacizYObT
— L8 Show (@LarrySanders) July 10, 2016
We’ll see if anything comes from it.
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