The Cleveland Cavaliers have two glaring needs since the retirement of Mo Williams, the losses of Matthew Dellavedova and Timofey Mozgov, as well as losing Chris Andersen to a torn ACL.
The first would be to get a playmaking guard who can handle the ball and run an offense without it always being in James’ or Irving’s hands. Mo Williams was supposed to be that scorer and shot-creator until he had surgery and opted for retirement.
The second is a rim protector because although Andersen wasn’t known as a shot-blocking center, he was still an average rim-protector the Cavs could throw out there to play 10-15 minutes per night.
The Cavs are scouring the trade as well as free-agent market for their backup playmaker position, but they may have look to add a center who says he is now ready to make his return to the NBA.
Officially stepping back into the game,looking for a good fit but it shouldn't be long now,I really missed the game,I think it missed me 2
— Larry Sanders (@l8show_thegoat) January 27, 2017
Over the summer, Cleveland and Golden State both expressed interest in signing Sanders, but he wasn’t officially ready for a return to the court.
Zach Frydenlund of Complex Music interviewed the 28-year old center, who’s been out of the league since playing 27 games in the beginning of the 2014-15 season, where Sanders expressed his desire to win an NBA title.
“I want to be in the right place mentally, and they deserve that,” Sanders said. “The team and the fans deserve that and it will be a situation where I feel completely safe, the team feels completely safe and we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll. I’m not going to go to a situation with one foot in and one out. It would be a fully committed thing with no pressure.”
As far as his motivations to play professional basketball again, Sanders said that it has nothing to do with money, but rather, with the quest to win a championship.
Sanders holds career averages of 6.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game during his five-year, career with the Milwaukee Bucks. Sanders boasts some pretty impressive per-36 minute numbers 11.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.3 blocks per game. If he indeed wants to play for a championship, the clear cut choice would be to join the Cavaliers in their pursuit of a repeat.
