9:38pm: Sanders was cleared to play by the NBA and is in full compliance with the league’s anti-drug policy, according to Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
6:47pm: The Bucks have waived Sanders, the team announced (Twitter link). “We believe this decision is in the best interest of our team,” GM John Hammond said. “We wish Larry well and remain excited about the future of the Bucks organization.” Not surprisingly, the team didn’t release any details about the terms of the buyout, but presumably Sanders is indeed giving up a significant chunk of salary in the arrangement.
SATURDAY, 6:33pm: The buyout deal is done, Wojnarowski reports, adding that the center is giving up approximately half of the original value of his $44MM deal (Twitter links). It’ll be a while before he plays again as he continues to deal with personal issues, Wojnarowski adds.
WEDNESDAY, 5:13pm: Sanders has no plans to pursue a deal with another team to play in the NBA this season, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.
12:12pm: The buyout deal still isn’t final, according to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter links).
10:58am: Sanders will be getting $14.5MM of the $33MM originally owed him after this season, a source tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who reiterates that the Bucks will spread that amount via the stretch provision (Twitter link)
10:51am: The Bucks still haven’t received signed paperwork on the buyout from Sanders, as USA Today’s Sam Amick cautions (on Twitter).
10:38am: Sanders didn’t want to report to the Bucks following the end of his suspension, thus giving the Bucks leverage to extract as much as they did in the buyout, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links). It’s unlikely Sanders will sign with another team this season, Kennedy’s source adds and as Kyler also tweets, which makes sense, given that it appears he won’t return to the court in 2014/15.
10:32am: Sanders will receive $15MM more from the Bucks on top of the team’s nearly $8MM payout to him so far this season, as Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter links). Milwaukee will use the stretch provision to spread that $15MM over seven years instead of the three remaining on Sanders’ contract, Kyler also hears.
10:05am: The Bucks and Larry Sanders already have a deal on a buyout, reports Shams Charania of RealGM, who says the agreement has been in place for days. He’ll only receive $13MM of the money left on his four-year, $44MM contract, Charania adds. Sanders is in the first year of that pact. Charania seconds a report minutes earlier from Marc Stein of ESPN.com that Sanders will hit waivers no later than March 1st, so he’ll be eligible to play in the postseason for another team. However, it’s unlikely that he returns to the court this season as he continues to deal with personal issues, as Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher wrote overnight.
A drug-related suspension already cost Sanders $1.2MM of his $11MM salary for this season. That suspension ended for the final game before the All-Star break, but he didn’t appear in that contest, and he hasn’t played for the Bucks since December 23rd, long before the NBA handed down the ban. The 26-year-old denied a report amid his absence that he was contemplating retirement, but at this point it seems his career has taken a serious downturn following a breakout season in 2012/13.
Milwaukee rewarded him the following summer with the $44MM deal, which came in the form of a rookie scale extension. He broke his hand in a nightclub fight early last season, which touched off his woes, and he missed time again later in the 2013/14 campaign because of a fractured orbital bone. The league hit him with his first drug-related suspension in April. His production fell off amid the injuries, and trade rumors surfaced. There appeared to be serious interest from other teams as of draft time, but later in the summer, assistant GM David Morway affirmed that Sanders was a part of the club’s future. However, the level of his performance failed to bounce back this season, and it appears the relationship between the club and Sanders has soured.
….that seems like A LOT of money for Sanders to be leaving on the table.
Its definitely a lot of money to give up, however at the rate he’s going he’s going to give the bucks a reason to void his contract and not see any of it. Larry either thinks he has no chance of playing by the rules long enough to see more then 13m of the contract, or he thinks he can get it together somewhere else and make up the lost money.
i quit my job, so give me 13 mil to go away. great country we live in
Not sure how a contract buyout (something that happens every year) is reflective commentary on our country, but if you say so.
the guy doesn’t want to work anymore. sure, he has a contract, but how is it fair when someone says “i quit, pay me?” i know they happen all the time but that doesn’t make it right.
He didn’t quit anything he shows up for practice and games just like everyone else. The bucks are choosing to get rid of him, and he is choosing to cooperate. He doesn’t have to agree to anything, they were fully aware of his potential for off the court issues when they signed him and they chose to take the risk.
i didn’t know he was still practicing. everything i read on this site made it sound like he’s been completely away from the team this whole time. is what it is. i’m curious to see how low his next deal will be next year
Well he was still practicing up until his most recent drug suspension. I think they made the mutual decision that he continue treatment and stay away from the team while the worked through their negotiations.
Lovesic7, you are misinformed. HE has NOT taken part of any team related function since DEC 23rd, 2014. He did quit, the Bucks were trying to get him help in that he would come back this year because being a business they wanted to see some return on investment. Make sure you have your story straight before you start refuting other people’s points.
link to nba.com…
I apologize for being a little off with my timeline regarding the time at which he was excused from the team (pre, not post suspension). However regardless of my error in the timeline the fact remains that his absence was mutually agreed upon by himself and the team. I am by no means making excuses for anyone, or making anyone out to be a victim I’m simply discussing the facts of the situation without bias. Regardless of what reports were made on Larry (true or false), it does nothing to change the fact that he never took an unexcused absence from the team, and despite his plethora of issues he never gave cause for contract termination. The bucks took a gamble that didn’t pay off resulting in both parties coming to the mutual decision to sever ties at a partial loss to their personal interests. My initial point remains that these things happen frequently in the sport, and it is absurd to view it as a commentary on modern society.
He was not taking part in any team function since Dec 23rd as Lovesic7 stated, ObamaDino… Lovesic is making this seem like Sanders in the victim in all this… Reports from December had him, Sanders, contemplating retirement. He is no victim here.
link to bleacherreport.com…
“Sanders didn’t want to report to the Bucks following the end of his suspension”
I don’t want to go to work tomorrow, that is not the same thing as me not showing up. All reports on the subject have been to the effect that it was a mutual agreement that he stay away from the team and continue to seek treatment while they work to find resolve.
“sure he has a contract” You answered your own question man. Fair has nothing to do with anything.
Sanders made out like a bandit. Guy gets 14.5 mil for him choosing to destroy his career. Absolutely craaaazy. He has represented the nba, Bucks and Milwaukee poorly. He should sit out the rest of the year and reevaluate himself and career path. He had talent and could help out many teams.
I hope he spends all of the $14.5 million on weed.
Interesting, he could be a great addition if he doesn’t weed out.