Though it would be cool to see former Cleveland Cavaliers big Anderson Varejao back playing in the NBA for some team’s rotation, the Cavaliers shouldn’t be the ones to do so.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a team that is likely years away from being back in the Eastern Conference postseason, as KJG contributors have mentioned often.
With the team being amid a full-rebuild, that likely means that the next few seasons will be predicated on player development and accumulating future draft picks, and though I still would prefer the Cavaliers keep Kevin Love for the long haul to aid in the progression of young talent and help the team gradually learn how to win, I wouldn’t be particularly in favor of the Cavaliers bringing in another veteran piece just as a locker room mentor that would be another player that would add to their 5 man pileup.
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The Cavs currently have three natural centers in Tristan Thompson, John Henson and Ante Zizic, and Love, who is Cleveland’s best offensive option, could reportedly see plenty of minutes at that spot this year, too, (per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor) and with Larry Nance Jr. on the floor with him.
Thompson and Henson are on expiring contracts, though, as KJG contributors have touched on many times, and it would seem that either and/or both could feasibly be dealt before the 2020 trade deadline, as they have proven to be plus interior defenders when healthy, which matters in the postseason, and both are good screen setters, too, so perhaps Cleveland could get future draft capital for one or both of them as the 2019-20 season progresses.
Nonetheless, Cleveland should again, not be interested in taking an older veteran big on their roster as simply a locker room presence/mentor, though, because Love has proven to have stepped up plenty as a leader since last offseason, as has Nance, and in my opinion, Dellavedova can fill in as another primary leader if Thompson and/or Henson are eventually dealt, anyhow.
I emphasize this because former Cleveland Cavaliers energizer big Anderson Varejao reportedly hit on how he’d seemingly be interested in coming back to the Cavaliers in a recent interview with The Athletic‘s Joe Vardon (subscription required and h/t Cavaliers Nation’s Brad Sullivan); currently, Varejao is playing in the 2019 FIBA World Cup with his native country, Brazil, and since his NBA tenure seemingly ended in 2017, has played for the Flamengo club in Brazil, per Sullivan.
That being said, per Vardon and h/t Sullivan, Varejao highlighted how he was a huge fan of Cleveland, and it seems that the soon-to-be-37-year-old is aiming for an NBA return.
To be clear, though, the Cleveland Cavaliers have not reportedly expressed interest in Varejao, nor should they.
Yes, Varejao (10.0 points on 56.8% shooting and 7.0 rebounds per game, per FIBA’s 2019 World Cup statistics) has played well for Team Brazil in the aforementioned FIBA World Cup currently going on in China, but even with potential injuries happening as the 2019-20 season progresses for the Cavaliers and with Thompson and/or Henson feasibly getting traded, I still don’t believe the Cavs should sign Varejao, who was last in the NBA, again, with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 (he signed there after being waived after Cleveland traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2016).
As Forbes’ Evan Dammarell detailed, Varejao played really well in his years with the Cavaliers, and was absolutely, just like Matthew Dellavedova still currently is, a fan favorite in his time with Cleveland.
Varejao had 7.6 points per game on 51.2% shooting, to go with 7.5 rebounds and 0.9 steals in 25.0 minutes per game in 11-plus seasons with the Cavs (per Basketball Reference), and he truly was beloved by seemingly all Cleveland fans for a big stretch when he was healthier, due to him being an energy piece, a quality defender that drew so many charges and was solid in pick-and-roll coverage, and with him always embracing the city.
That being said, if the Cavaliers are eventually interested in giving presumably a veteran’s minimum contract to an aging player, it should be a natural small forward, which is a position the Cavs don’t have much of, really.
Though Dammarell, who seems to be in favor of Varejao potentially making his NBA return with the Cavs, hit on how Cleveland likely wouldn’t be playing Varejao much, I still would rather Cleveland stay away from Varejao, who might make more sense on a possible postseason team in an end-of-bench role, but is again, almost 37.
I believe Cleveland head coach John Beilein, though he’s not coached in the NBA yet, has enough of a quality staff (most notably associate head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who has previous head coaching experience in the NBA) around him to help form a strong locker room, anyway, and Cleveland needs Ante Zizic to further progress in his development, too, and he doesn’t need even more potential competition for minutes-share in meaningful parts of games.
So again, though Andy is a player that was as hard-working as it gets for the Cavaliers when he played for them before, I would still not be in favor of them potentially bringing him back, and would rather the team have their 15th roster spot open for possible trades down the road.
I do agree with our own Tyler Marling in that I believe Varejao should be on the team’s Wall of Honor set to debut in the 2019-20 season at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse when Varejao is eligible for that, however, as he was such a crucial role player for Cleveland for a long period of time.