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And-Ones: Big3, Giannis, Overtime Elite, GM Candidates

September 5th, 2021 at 10:41am CST by Arthur Hill

Jarrett Jack has joined the Suns’ coaching staff, but his playing career isn’t completely over. Jack hit the game-winning shot Saturday as the Trilogy defended its Big3 title, writes Jack Maloney of CBS Sports. Jack, who was named Co-Rookie of the Year in the summer three-on-three league, had 29 points in the championship game.

“Got a little emotional,” he said. “To be honest, man, this was crazy. This was my first time hitting a game-winner in front of my son. I’m happy for him to be a part of it. Our coach stuck with us through and through every week. We had a hell of a group man. I just want to shout out these guys, my teammates.”

Former NBA All-Star Joe Johnson was named league MVP for the second straight season (Twitter link). Other award winners were Kevin Murphy joining Jack as Co-Rookie of the Year, Isaiah Briscoe as Fourth Man of the Year and Larry Sanders as Defensive Player of the Year.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is considering a return to international basketball in the 2022 EuroBasket tournament, according to EuroHoops. He had to miss this year’s Olympic qualifying tournament because of the playoffs, and Greece failed to earn a spot in Tokyo. “Taking it day by day. But I can’t wait,” Antetokounmpo wrote in response to a tweet by FIBA previewing EuroBasket.
In a press release, Overtime Elite announced the signing of three more players — Jahzare Jackson, Jaylen Martin and TJ Clark. The league, made up of top high school prospects, now has 24 players for its inaugural season. OTE is also hoping to sign Kamari Lands, who recently decommitted from Syracuse, tweets Adam Zagoria.
The Bucks’ championship makes assistant general manager Milt Newton one of the top GM candidates in the league, per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Newton has experience running a team in Minnesota and he helped build a title-winning roster in Milwaukee. Fischer also examines several other candidates who may be considered for the next GM openings.

Greg Oden, Royce White, Others Selected In BIG3 Draft

May 2nd, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Luke Adams

The BIG3, Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league, completed its draft for the 2019 season on Wednesday night, and a number of noteworthy former NBA players were among the players selected.

Former NBA first overall pick Greg Oden wasn’t the first player picked in the BIG3 draft, but he did come off the board in the first round, going seventh overall to the Aliens, a team whose roster also includes Kendrick Perkins and Shannon Brown.

The No. 1 selection in the BIG3’s draft was former NBA first-rounder Royce White, whose NBA career was cut short after just three games due to battles with mental health and a fear of flying. White will join an Enemies squad led by captain Gilbert Arenas and co-captains Lamar Odom and Perry Jones III.

The following veterans who appeared in at least 100 games during their NBA careers were also selected in the 31-player draft on Wednesday:

Larry Sanders (3 Headed Monsters)
Josh Powell (Killer 3s)
Shawne Williams (Bivouac)
Jamario Moon (Ghost Ballers)
Donte Greene (Killer 3s)
Jason Richardson (Tri-State)
Alan Anderson (Triplets)
Sam Young (Trilogy)
Brandon Rush (Aliens)
Craig Smith (Enemies)
Mario Chalmers (3 Headed Monsters)
C.J. Watson (Killer 3s)
Carlos Arroyo (Trilogy)
Dion Glover (Bivouac)
Bonzi Wells (Tri-State)

A full breakdown of the 2019 BIG3 draft results can be found right here, while the rosters for the 12 teams set to compete in the ’19 season are here.

Larry Sanders To Play In BIG3

May 1st, 2019 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Another notable NBA veteran has joined the BIG3’s draft pool, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, who tweets that big man Larry Sanders is looking to resume his basketball career by playing in the 3-on-3 league this summer. The BIG3 posted a photo of Sanders participating in its pre-draft combine on Tuesday.

Sanders, the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft, appeared in 238 regular season games over the course of six NBA seasons with the Bucks and Cavs. In 19.5 minutes per contest, he contributed 6.4 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and an impressive 1.8 BPG. He last appeared in an NBA game in April 2017.

A variety of off-court factors related to anxiety, depression, and marijuana use ultimately derailed Sanders’ career. However, as a result of being waived via the stretch provision, he’ll continue to be paid approximately $1.87MM per year by the Bucks through 2021/22.

While Sanders is still just 30 years old and his rim-protecting skills would certainly be a fit for the modern game, an NBA comeback appears to be a long shot for now. So far, Josh Childress is the only player to sign an NBA contract after playing in the BIG3, and he was waived by the Nuggets before the 2017/18 regular season begin.

Jason Terry, Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson, Lamar Odom, Gilbert Arenas, Kendrick Perkins, Josh Smith, and Mario Chalmers are among the other NBA veterans to commit to the BIG3 for the 2019 season.

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Larry Sanders

Details Surrounding Larry Sanders’ Release

April 14th, 2017 at 5:11pm CST by Milo Taibi

When the Cavs released Larry Sanders on April 11, the transaction plainly appeared to be a basketball decision. In his return to the league, Sanders had been unable to crack Tyronn Lue‘s rotation; instead receiving minutes with the Canton Charge. Additionally, Sanders’ replacement- Edy Tavares– had an excellent year in the D-League, averaging 10.6 points with 7.7 rebounds over 48 games with Raptors 905.

An article by Jason Lloyd of The Athletic shed further light on the move, however; implying Sanders’ lack of punctuality may have played a role in his release.

“Sanders is gone again after he struggled keeping up with responsibilities on and off the court,” Lloyd writes. “He missed the team bus from the hotel to the airport Tuesday in Miami, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic, the final blow to his time here after Sanders had previously struggled with punctuality.”

While he didn’t miss out on playing time due to lateness, Sanders’ demeanor appeared to indicate he was “far from being NBA ready.”

Dave McMenamin of ESPN spoke with GM David Griffin about the decision to cut Sanders. Griffin denied any incident being the culprit behind Sanders’ release, instead citing his lack of on-court progress.

“He [Sanders] didn’t have any kind of a setback relative to any of the demons he had or any of those things. He’s an NBA player. He’s kind of flaky. So sometimes you’re late. You’re this. You’re that. None of those things were incidents,” Griffin said.

“I have to take you in totality as a player, and if I know you’re not going to play, then what I’m going to get is everything else. And if I didn’t even feel confident that he’d be a benefit to the group in practice, then it was hard to me to tell coaches, like, ‘This is a guy you got to keep.’ So they had the conversation on the plane [back from Miami]; what else can we do? And we talked about it and we landed, and we talked to all the rest of our staff and made a decision.”

Cavs Waive Larry Sanders, Sign Edy Tavares

April 12th, 2017 at 3:05pm CST by ChrisCrouse

APRIL 12, 3:05pm: The Cavaliers have officially signed Tavares, the team announced today in a press release. With the signing of Jones now official too, Cleveland’s roster is back up to the maximum 15 players.

APRIL 12, 8:39am: The Cavaliers have officially waived Sanders, according to a press release issued by the team. With 13 players now on their roster, the Cavs have cleared the way to sign Tavares and Jones, as noted below. Those deals figure to be made official later today.

APRIL 11, 9:06pm: The Cavaliers will waive Larry Sanders and sign Edy Tavares, according to Sham Charania of The Vertical. The scribe adds that Cleveland had no issues with Sanders during his time with the team and the two sides mutually decided to part ways since there were no plans to add him to the rotation.

Bobby Marks of The Vertical (Twitter links) notes that Cavs were able to waive Sanders because his contract was not expiring. Earlier this week, the Pistons were unable to complete the transaction of waiving Beno Udrih because every team would not have the opportunity to claim him on waivers. Sanders contract runs through the end of next season, though had it expired this season, the Cavs would not have been able to waive him.

Cleveland will have a busy day on Wednesday, signing both Tavares and Dahntay Jones. The team opted up a roster spot for Jones earlier this week when it waived DeAndre Liggins.

Tavares is a 7”3” center who played 12 games for the Hawks this season. He has been a key member of the Raptors 905, Toronto’s affiliate, during their D-League playoff run.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 4/5/17

April 5th, 2017 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

With the NBADL playoffs now underway, here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Cavaliers assigned Larry Sanders to the D-League on Tuesday, presumably intending to have him play for the Canton Charge in their first playoff game tonight. However, Cleveland has since recalled Sanders to the NBA roster. With Tristan Thompson out for at least the next two games, the Cavs may need Sanders on their active roster for frontcourt depth purposes.
The Celtics have recalled Jordan Mickey from the D-League, according to the team (Twitter link). Mickey played a major role for the Maine Red Claws’ on Tuesday night, racking up 26 points and 16 rebounds in a Game 1 overtime win over Fort Wayne. I’d expect Mickey to return to the Red Claws in time for Game 2.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 4/4/17

April 4th, 2017 at 10:55pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Here are Tuesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

The Cavaliers have assigned Larry Sanders to the Canton Charge, according to the team’s website. Cleveland’s D-League affiliate is in the playoffs and Sanders will be available for Wednesday’s game.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/26/17

March 26th, 2017 at 3:50pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Check out Sunday’s D-League assignment and recalls:

The Pistons have recalled Henry Ellenson from their D-League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, Rod Beard of The Detroit News tweets. Beard notes that the rookie will be available for Detroit’s matchup with the Knicks on Monday.
The Cavaliers have assigned Larry Sanders to the Canton Charge, per Sam Amico of Amico Hoops (Twitter link). Sanders has only seen two minutes of action for Cleveland this season.
The Spurs have assigned Davis Bertans and Bryn Forbes to the Austin Spurs, according to the team’s website. Bertans has appeared in three games for San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, while Forbes has seen action in 18 contests.
The Mavericks have recalled Manny Harris and Jarrod Uthoff from the Texas Legends, Earl K. Sneed of Fox Sports tweets. Both players will see their respective 10-day contracts with Dallas expire at the end of the day on Tuesday.
The Rockets have recalled Chinanu Onuaku, Isaiah Taylor and Troy Williams from their D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, per the team’s Twitter feed.
The Grizzlies have recall Wade Baldwin and Deyonta Davis from the Iowa Energy, according to the team’s website. Baldwin has played in 33 D-League games this season, while Davis has seen action in 11 contests.
The Pelicans recalled Cheick Diallo from Greensboro, the team announced through a press release. Diallo, who has averaged 22.3 points over his last three D-League games, will be available for tonight’s match-up with Denver.

Cavaliers Notes: Thompson, Sanders, J.R. Smith

March 26th, 2017 at 10:24am CST by Arthur Hill

Coach Tyronn Lue is concerned about Tristan Thompson‘s playing time, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, but the Cavaliers have few other options at center. Thompson is playing 30 minutes per night, his highest total in three years, and Lue is concerned that he might get worn down by playoff time. “We just have to try to figure out ways to get him off the floor like last night, getting his minutes down,” Lue said Saturday. “Then getting him off the floor tonight trying to do the same thing. He’s the only center we have. He has to play right now.” The Cavs thought they solved that problem when they signed Andrew Bogut last month, but a broken leg in his first game took him out of the equation.

There’s more news out of Cleveland:

Free agent center Larry Sanders, who was signed as a replacement for Bogut, appears far away from being ready to help, Fedor notes in the same piece. Sanders has seen most of his action in the D-League since joining the Cavs March 13th. He has played just two minutes in two games at the NBA level. “Well, we have to try to get him in some better shape. Right now his timing and shape is not good,” Lue said. “That’s why he’s been in the D-League playing and trying to get ready. The guys in the D-League say he’s been great. He’s just trying to work and trying to get to that point.”
Lue said J.R. Smith is going through “training camp” after missing a major part of the season with a fractured right thumb, Fedor relays in a separate piece. Smith, who has shot just 31% from the field in the 10 games since his return, was moved back into the starting lineup Wednesday. “It’s like preseason for him,” Lue said. “Just trying to get these games under his belt to get his rhythm, get his timing, get his legs defensively and lock into what we’re doing. When you miss training camp early in the season and then you get hurt early in the season it’s been tough on him. He’s got to work his way through it and I know he will.”
Starting Smith has weakened the team’s defense, according to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic (subscription site). When Iman Shumpert or DeAndre Liggins started, they defended opposing point guards. Since the change, that task has fallen to Kyrie Irving, and the Cavs surrendered a combined 65 points to Kemba Walker and John Wall in back-to-back games.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 3/23/17

March 23rd, 2017 at 9:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Cavaliers recalled center Larry Sanders from their D-League affiliate, the Canton Charge, the team announced on its website. Sanders signed with Cleveland on March 13th after Andrew Bogut suffered a leg fracture. Sanders made a brief appearance in one game with the Cavs last week and also played a game with the Charge before his recall.
The Thunder assigned forward Josh Huestis to the Oklahoma City Blue, according to a team press release. Huestis is averaging 14.0 PPG and 6.3 RPG for the Blue, who play the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on Friday.
The Bulls assigned point guard Cameron Payne to the Windy City Bulls, according to the D-League team’s Twitter feed. Payne played against the Iowa Energy on Thursday and had 14 points and eight assists in 26 minutes.