The Cavs made a couple of offseason moves by picking up Mike Dunleavy, Chris Andersen, and Kay Felder, but also lost center Timofey Mozgov and guard Matthew Dellavedova in free agency.
With all the big contracts being signed, there were reports that center Larry Sanders was considering a possible NBA return after missing more than a year in street clothes recovering from depression.
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In mid-August, more rumors surfaced that both the Cavs and Warriors were interested in Sanders and he even trolled the fans by posting two photos hinting at his choosing one of them.
According to Real GM, both teams did in-fact express their interest in Sanders, but did not attempt to sign him.
“If the time comes and the stars align, then yeah,” Sanders said. “If I feel like I’m ready to play this summer, I’ll probably be on a team next year.”
Multiple sources confirmed that both the Warriors and Cavaliers expressed serious interest in signing Sanders.
“He’s not DeAndre Jordan, but he’s not too far off,” a league source told VICE Sports. “As a pure defensive specialist center, top five. Top eight. And the thing is, the list isn’t that long. It’s not a top 30. There’s not a top 12. They’re unicorns in that way.”
For now, Sanders will remain off the court, but could be ready for a return by mid-season. He will reportedly avoid any team who is not a contender and doesn’t have a strong culture or veteran presence around. It simply won’t make sense for Sanders to return to a rebuilding team considering Sanders will solely need to be focused on basketball.