More LARRY SANDERS! plus NBA demographics and John Henson on the spot

Larry Sanders officially signs extension
With little else going on around the league, the Bucks' big man and his new $44 million contract are attracting plenty of national attention. That's right: the Bucks are actually in the spotlight for good reasons!

• SI.com | Jenkins: The Larry Sanders Show. In case you missed it back in April, Lee Jenkins' profile of Sanders is an absolute must read that provides terrific insight into both Sanders the player and Sanders the man.
• Grantland | Lowe: What the Bucks Big Man Must Do to Justify His New Contract. As always, terrific stuff here from Zach Lowe--the originator of the LARRY SANDERS! nickname--on why Sanders deserves his new deal and how he might develop beyond what we saw a year ago.
• TrueHoop | Strauss: Larry Sanders wins one for the geeks. It's nice when the Bucks do something that smart people think is smart, isn't it?
• Brew Hoop | Goldwire suggests Sanders "didn't come to play every night". I doubt Anthony Goldwire would go out of his way to call out Sanders for no reason, though it is a bit odd to see a guy in need of a coaching position criticizing players he was working with just a few months ago. I'm not sure if it's worth reading too much into it either way, other than offering up further evidence that last year's squad was a trainwreck waiting to happen. In other words: Herb Kohl was kidding himself (and us) when he thought that an entire organization of people with expiring contracts would be able to function properly over a full season. As for Sanders, there's no question that he remains a work in progress in more ways than one, though I can think of much worse sins for a player to commit than calling out Monta Ellis during last year's disastrous playoff sweep.

HispanosNBA.com | NBA teams data comparison
Ever wondered how tall, heavy, old and expensive the Bucks are relative to every other team in the league? Wonder no more. This sortable table reveals some interesting demographic data which may or may not be important. The Bucks rankings:

• 15th in average height (expect higher if you went by wingspan)
• 25th in average weight (oldresorter, you're not going to be happy!)
• 4th youngest in average age (25.0)
• Cheapest in terms of average salary

These numbers appear to include the rumored-to-soon-be-released Slava Kravtsov, which would tend to lower the age and salary figures while driving up the height and weight numbers. The data also appears to be simple averages rather than weighted by (expected) playing time, which would tend to distort the height, weight and age data somewhat.

WSSP | Hammond joins the Big Show
From Friday, John Hammond talked a bit about Sanders, John Henson and Giannis Antetokounmp with Ted Davis and company on WSSP. Note that this was before the Sanders deal became official, so he was relatively coy on it. One interesting tidbit: he thought Henson was the best player at Tim Grgurich's recent NBA camp in Vegas, which also featured Giannis facing NBA talent for the first time.

Mahoney | Henson among young players on spot in 2013-14
Rob Mahoney is one of my favorite national writers--his take on the Bucks always seems spot on--and in his latest he pegs Henson among the youngsters who'll be looked to for major progress in 13/14.

The bulk of that effort will center on Henson’s sharpening his work on the block, but he’d do well to develop a baseline jumper that could be leveraged with pump fakes. His shooting from anywhere outside the paint was pretty dreadful last season, though Henson was aware enough to express reluctance in taking those shots. That’s wise for a young player looking to earn minutes under a tough coach, but earning slightly more latitude in his second season could empower Henson to build out his offensive game. A face-up repertoire will help Henson succeed in the kind of role that the Bucks will likely need him to fill.

Grantland | Lowe: The Definitive Guide to NBA Team Names
Even when it comes to nicknames, the Bucks are neither the best nor worst. Just kind of...there.