Reportedly Sanders has lost a lot of the muscle mass that he once had. That and the fact that Cleveland feels he has to spend a month in the D-League to get his conditioning and timing in order has to tell you something about why so many teams passed on this guy. His game wasn't based on exceptional basketball talent like dribbling, ball handling, shooting, passing and scoring. It was based on out muscling, out jumping, and out timing opponents to positions on the court and to the basketball. Everything he has lost in the last two years is going to severely effect that part of his game, the part that made him good.
Its going to take time for him to build up that lost muscle mass, if he can. Its going to take a lot of time to regain his bounce, step and quickness to the ball. Its going to take a long time to get to NBA quality cardiovascular capabilities. Probably more time than he has this season.
Couple that with Sanders desire to be able to earn a guaranteed conteact for next year, and he obviously was a bad fit here. Danny knows he needs immediate help, not help that possibly wouldn't arrive until next year. And he wasn't about to guarantee money for Sanders for next year when he needs that money to attract a difference maker like Griffin or Hayward.
Given all that we know now, I don't see how anyone can be upset about not signing Sanders.Think about it, if signing Sanders meant the possibility you could get nothing out of him this year and that he might make it impossible to land Blake Griffin or Gordon Hayward, would you sign him? I wouldn't.