Written by James Hebert at CBSSports.com
After letting Timofey Mozgov walk in free agency, the Cleveland Cavaliers have played this whole season without a second rim protector behind Tristan Thompson. They’ve had plenty of frontcourt talent — when Kevin Love and Channing Frye share the court, no 4-5 duo shoots better — but they have lacked versatility. While they could go small with LeBron James or Richard Jefferson playing power forward, they didn’t have a big, bruising center to set hard screens, rebound and defend the paint when that was needed.
Andrew Bogut, signed last week after the Dallas Mavericks bought him out, was supposed to change this. Bogut, 32, is one of the best and most physical defensive centers in the league when healthy, and he seemed like the perfect guy to give Cleveland a different look. He made his debut on Monday and, in absolutely awful news for him and the Cavs, he broke his leg less than a minute into his first stint .
Cleveland’s front office could decide to leave the roster as-is. Mozgov, after all, wasn’t a part of the rotation during last year’s playoffs. If the Cavs do decide to explore other options, though, here is a (purely speculative) list of possible options:
Larry Sanders
This is my favorite choice, and he met with the Cavaliers just a couple of weeks ago . If he can play like he did before he left in the NBA in the middle of the 2014-15 season, then he’s their best option and it’s not close. Sanders was one of the best shot-blockers in the league, and he had the quickness to defend smaller players on the perimeter, too. It’s unclear whether or not Cleveland will be interested in him and trust that he is indeed committed to resuming his career, but there’s nobody out there who has a higher ceiling.
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