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What Larry Sanders Would Bring To The Cleveland Cavaliers

By Quenton S. Albertie

Nov 22, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) knocks the ball away from Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) during the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 22, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) knocks the ball away from Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) during the second quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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What Larry Sanders Bring To The Cleveland Cavaliers Offense

Sanders, who turned 28 years old in November, is squarely in his athletic prime though it will take time for him to fully climate himself to the speed of the NBA, a different NBA than the one he left. The Cleveland Cavaliers also demand a high level of conditioning from their players, as their play in transition is a staple of their offense.

According to NBA.com, 11 current Cavs get at least ten percent of their offense from transition opportunities and six of the current rotation players get at least fifteen percent of their offense from transition opportunities.

Sanders, who would obviously be expected to play as a rim-protector on defense with a career average of 1.8 blocks per game, would need to be a rim-runner in transition. Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, whose offense skillset is similar to Sanders’, currently gets 10.8 percent of his offense in transition for the Cavs this season. He scored 1.2 points per possession in these instances and makes 64.5 percent of his field goal attempts while being fouled on 30.4 percent of his field goal attempts in transition.

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What that means, without the numbers, is that in transition Sanders will be running to the rim and ready to receive passes from LeBron James or Kyrie Irving. In these instances, expect Sanders to be efficient and to be fouled a lot. Though Sanders only has a career free-throw percentage of 55.0, it’s still valuable for the Cavs to have the opposing team and players in foul trouble.

Sanders, who stands at 6-foot-11 and has a standing reach of 9-foot-4, is a little longer than Thompson who now stands at 6-foot-10 and has a standing reach of 9-foot-2. Sanders has converted 61.2 percent of his shots from 0-3 three feet away from the rim for his career and Thompson has converted 62.2 percent of his shots from 0-3 feet away from the rim.

There’s no reason not to expect Sanders to be able to play as well as Thompson in transition. There’s also no reason not to expect Sanders not to be an able player in the post. Before his suspension and subsequent exodus from the NBA, Sanders was showing a growing post game.

According to NBA.com, Sanders received 4.5 post touches per game in the 2013-14 season and 4.4 post touches per game in the 2014-15 season, the only seasons with available stats for post touches for Sanders. In 2013-14, Sanders converted 47.5 percent of his post touches, passed on 16.0 percent of his touches and only turned the ball over 7.0 percent of the time he was in the post. In 2014-15, Sanders converted 54.8 percent of his post touches, passed on 20.2 percent of his touches and only turned the ball over 6.7 times percent of the time he was in the post.

Those numbers compare favorably to DeMarcus Cousins’ numbers this season. Cousins is averaging 4.5 post touches pre game and converting 59.8 percent of his post touches, passing on 20.2 percent of his touches and only turning the ball over 6.5 percent of the time he’s in the post. That’s not saying Sanders is the same level of player as Cousins. However, Sanders is an able scorer in the post and, even better than that, smart.

Sanders makes quick and decisive moves when he gets the ball, using his length to simply get shots up over the top of players. It should also go without saying that Sanders will be able to be found for lobs and in the pick-and-roll game.