Anderson Varejao Can Not Replace Kevin Love in Playoffs
The Cleveland Cavaliers do not know how long Kevin Love could miss after today’s malicious attack that led to a separated shoulder. We wondered, and had a number of people ask us, if Anderson Varejao could come back to replace the Cavs power forward if he were to miss significant time.
Varejao was injured early in the season and some hoped he would be able to return near the end of the season or for the Playoffs. GM David Griffin and Head Coach David Blatt stated near the end of the season that the Cavs would be careful with Varejao’s recovery and that he would not be returning at all this season, even for the Playoffs.
That was all before the Boston Celtics player that we do not want to name pulled and ripped at Love’s arm and pulled it out of socket. (Angers me as I write that.) It led to the question about Andy’s possible return. It makes sense to ask the question. Andy would give the Cavs another big man who is active, long and a good defender even in limited minutes. Andy seems like a better option than Kendrick Perkins for double digit minutes.
We reached out to a person close to the team to ask about Andy’s status, before we just decided to Google it. My source made it simple: Andy is not on the Cavs Playoff Roster and could not be added. So that ends any speculation about the return of “The Wild Thing.” We then did our own research and right on NBA.com we confirmed our sources thought:
"The NBA PlayoffsEach team that qualifies for the NBA Playoffs must submit a list of its players eligible to compete in playoff games on the day following the end of the regular season.Because there is no Injured List for the NBA Playoffs, each playoff team must designate the 12 players eligible for the playoffs from all of its regular season lists (Active, Injured and Suspended)."
We couldn’t find the Cavs’ official Playoff roster anywhere. The boxscore on ESPN has the 13 players including Mike Miller, Shawn Marion and Brendan Haywood. They don’t have Joe Harris or Andy. One of those 3 is not active and won’t be for the Playoffs. We will have to take a look at which of the 3 is not dressed. If you have that information let us know.
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If Love is to miss a number of games James Jones and Perkins is likely to pickup some of the big man minutes while Tristan Thompson starts in his place. We expect Iman Shumpert to get more minutes as well. Have to wonder if Miller gets dusted off, if he is on the roster, to help spacing on the floor.
The good news from our source is that they do not expect Love to “miss a game or two. If that.” Not trying to get anyone’s hopes up but just one person close to the team’s thoughts. We are hopeful for sure. This was our sources “hunch” so do not take it as a report, at all.
Were you hoping Anderson Varejao could come back to help cover for Kevin Love?