Utah Jazz: Four Possible Solutions to Improve Frontcourt

Give Larry Sanders a Shot

OK, now I know some of you think I’m bordering on crazy now, but if Utah doesn’t want to make a trade or doesn’t like their offers, there is another route they could go by exploring the current free agent pool.

Of course the Cleveland Cavaliers who according to team president, general manager, owner, head coach and star player LeBron James are in desperate need of a playmaker, are the latest to make headlines by working out a handful of former NBA players – Mario Chalmers, Lance Stephenson, Kirk Hinrich and Jordan Farmar – who currently find themselves as free agents.

While it has yet to be seen whether any of the four players will make the cut, it just serves as another reminder that it’s not uncommon for teams to look to bolster their roster by adding free agents late in the season.

And while Sanders has unquestionably had his issues throughout his career, when the news broke that he was looking to make an NBA return, it instantly caught my eye.

Attitude concerns aside, there’s no questioning that Sanders was at one point an up-and-coming force in the paint that had an extremely bright future. Given that the Jazz wouldn’t have to trade anyone to acquire him, he could fit in nicely off the bench behind Rudy Gobert while keeping Favors in the starting lineup to hopefully get back to his old ways and not have to log so much time as Utah’s backup center.

True, Utah would have one too many players on their roster by adding Sanders, but with four point guards currently on the team, there’s no reason why Shelvin Mack or Raul Neto couldn’t be moved for a draft pick, for example, to free up space for him.

Still I fully realize that there’s a ton of question marks involved with this one. Is Sanders really in NBA shape? Can he still make an impact? Is he still a head case whose attitude would do more harm than his skills would help? Would the Jazz even be able or willing to make any sort of offer that would convince Sanders to join up with them?

I obviously don’t have the answers to those questions, but putting them to one side and considering talent alone, the 2012-13 version of Larry Sanders could very well be a nice spark coming off the Jazz bench and allow them to shore up their frontcourt depth (specifically their center depth) significantly.

If that version of Sanders still exists, the Jazz have little to lose by taking a look at the very least.