The Cleveland Cavaliers kept one of their own late yesterday, coming to terms with C/PF Anderson Varejao on a 6-year deal that could be worth $50 million. For Varejao and the team, the rapid pace at which a deal was agreed upon was in stark contrast to what happened in 2007 when it took 5 months and most of Training Camp to get Varejao signed, and that was only after the Bobcats signed Andy to a deal, which the Cavs matched.
This time, both sides knew they wanted to get something done, and fast.
"Andy wanted to stay in Cleveland," Fegan said. "He feels there is unfinished business -- to win an NBA championship."
There were likely teams out there that would have paid Varejao more - Fegan stated several teams would have went over $10 million per season - but both sides were able to get something down that in the end is probably fair, to both the Cavs and Varejao and keeps a key piece of the roster in place for the foreseeable future.
Stats and links after the jump -
NBA free agents: Free agent Anderson comes to an agreement with Cleveland Cavaliers - ESPN
0 recs | 79 comments
Nice to have Andy Back
Onward!
IBHMC - July 9, 2009
I will probably be in the minority here, but this is a bad contract for a role player
Roger Dorn - July 9, 2009
Bill Simmons
was saying the same thing, but I don;t think Andy is a role player. He averaged over 28 minutes a game, and after 2009/10 he will be the only big man(Center) on the roster, as it stands now. That, and the fact he can play 2 positions, and $7 mil per season almost seems like a bargain.
John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) - July 9, 2009
I probably need to look at other contracts for 4’s and 5’s, but I also take issue with the length of the contract not just the dollars
Roger Dorn - July 9, 2009
I agree. The duration seems long for a guy with severely limited skills with the ball. Is his pick-and-roll work that effective?
JulioBernazard - July 9, 2009
First, big men, specifically those who can play the 4 and 5, always command the most money compared to their actual production.
Second, the number of years is really probably the best part of he deal for the Cavs. Anytime you can can sign a big man in a depressed market it’s a good thing. (The same concept applies to signing restricted free agents. If the player is worth signing at the beginning of the contract, the team should want to maximize the reduced rate by asking for more years. Usually the rfa wants a mid-length deal in this case.
Third, the last (and most costly) year of the deal is not guaranteed (I believe $11 million). So the deal is more like 5 years at less than 8 million per, probably starting at less than $7 million.
Last, don’t discount age as a major factor here. That and the possibility that Z will get traded. Anderson is different from the other PF’s on the market, in that he’s a legit backup at the center position. This gives the team insurance in the event of a trade or injury. From a team-building perspective, his versatility is what makes him a $7 million/year guy instead of a $6 million/per year guy.
randallhank - July 11, 2009
This is right on the mark. Andy will be a Cav through his prime years.
hans - July 11, 2009
Yes.and
he’s our only proven young big. He locked up for his prime years. Anybody trying to say he was just a role player for us was’nt watching…..
Juannieboy - July 9, 2009
I was watching. He is a solid player, but has a number of clear flaws. He can’t hit a spot up jumper. He can’t defend the better big men in the league. His offensive game is almost entirely dependent on the amazing ability of Lebron to find open players.
He is a very good rebounder particularly on the offensive glass, and finishes very well around the rim. He also is good for several key plays a game.
I view those traits as a role player which doesn’t necessarily mean not good enough to start. It just means he will probably never be a top 3 option on offense and is not quite big enough to defend the best big men in the league.
Roger Dorn - July 9, 2009
How many big men can’t he guard? The handful or so, like Dwight Howard, that almost nobody can?
And if he had a jumper, he’d be an all-star, and getting paid twice as much, like Boozer, who, with his defensive deficiencies, isn’t that much better overall than Varejao. And while he’s not skilled offensively, no other big man on this team, in the entire Lebron era, has had as high a FG% as Varejao. If it was entirely Lebron-dependent, you’d think someone else might be able to match that level of efficiency.
7foot3 - July 9, 2009
I don’t trust Andy to guard anyone who is effective to/beyond the 3 point line.
rufio - July 10, 2009
So now we’re judging Varejao’s defense solely on the Orlando series? Do we not care about the previous 90 games and other 28 teams?
7foot3 - July 10, 2009
You worry about a guy’s defense against the best teams in the league, the teams you will face from the 2nd round on in the playoffs. If it is insufficient in those series, then yes, you neglect some of the regular season benefit. The playoffs are a whole different animal than the regular season in the NBA
Roger Dorn - July 10, 2009
But there is no guarentee that we’re going to face Orlando in the playoffs next year. What if we face Boston in the ECF, do we know how he will perform against them? You can’t build your roster just to play against one team. We talked about this at length in another thread.
Buckeye Brad - July 10, 2009
I mentioned against the best teams. I include both Boston and Orlando. Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Nuggets.
Would I trust Andy to guard Garnett? No. Who guards Garnett?
Tim Duncan? No
Gasol? Probably not.
That is four of the best teams that I think we have a major matchup problem. Who guards those guys on the Cavs?
Roger Dorn - July 10, 2009
But those guys provide matchup problems for every team, not just the Cavs. And who else that was a free agent should the Cavs have signed instead of Andy to guard those players? Guys who can guard Duncan and KG aren’t easy to find, you know.
Buckeye Brad - July 10, 2009
It’s not that no one else is available, it’s that we shouldn’t pay this much for a guy who can’t provide that kind of defense.
Roger Dorn - July 11, 2009
Who can provide that kind of defense, and how much do they get paid? The guys who can guard Duncan, Garnett, Gasol are . . . Duncan, Garnett, and maybe Gasol.
They’re paying Varejao 7 mill a year; as defined by the mid-level exception, the average player gets 5.8 mill. He’s not getting paid like he’s a star. He’s getting paid like he’s a solid 4th/5th best player on a good team, which he is.
7foot3 - July 12, 2009
And it’s not like this moves prevents the team from making moves down the road. It’s Varejao at 7 mill/year or Frye at 2 mill/year. Overpaying Varejao a little bit is still a better option than starting a below average big man, on both sides of the ball, when you are this close to a championship.
7foot3 - July 12, 2009
…and I totally missed this before I opened my yapper.
I completely agree with this. I don’t think I trust him to guard Amare, or Odom (or probably several other players that I am forgetting about) either.
rufio - July 11, 2009
yes, but doesn’t playing alongside Shaq change everything? People are acting as though the Cavs lost a frontcourt player, when in reality they added arguably the second best center in the league.
randallhank - July 11, 2009
you can’t even judge Andy by the Orlando series. He shows better than any man his size on the perimeter. His perimeter defense suffered because he (and our guards) were so preoccupied with doubling on Howard.
randallhank - July 11, 2009
The thing that angered me the most about his defense was when he didn’t close out on Lewis at the end of one of the games. He made a huge mental error there (just let him drive for the 2 points!) and it cost us.
I am trying to not let that be the only play by which I judge his defense in that series. It was one play. It was a slight movement based on a split-second decision. But it was huge and you can’t blame it on Howard.
rufio - July 11, 2009
I haven’t seen him do it effectively in any game. I probably wouldn’t trust him to slow Duncan, KG, Gasol, Odom, etc. if my life depended on it either.
rufio - July 11, 2009
Also:
rufio - July 11, 2009
I’m not sure why we’re picking on Varejao’s defense unless its the Orlando series. Right, he can’t guard perimeter players that well. We rarely saw 4s and 5s on the perimeter, the most noteworthy was Lewis. It’s nearly worthless to say he can’t guard guys at the 3 point line.
7foot3 - July 12, 2009
I’m not trying to pick on him, I just don’t trust him to guard the elite 4s/5s who we will probably face in the playoffs. There is no one better out there right now, and we didn’t pay him like he is KG as you point out above…but he isn’t KG. Elite is where we want to be, not just good, right? I’m not saying he is terrible, I’m just not sure if he is going to win matchups for us; he has limitations defensively.
I simply don’t see his D as being elite. Feel free to disagree with that, it’s an opinion. He can’t guard the most athletic 4s and 5s who can penetrate from out there and he can’t guard 4s and 5s who can hit jumpers out to about the corner 3. He isn’t at his best in space, and he can’t guard the elite in the post.
Saying Andy can’t defend out to the 3 point line isn’t completely worthless outside of the Orlando series. It is relevant when playing any team with a really good 4 or 5. I was not judging his defense solely on the Orlando series and I don’t appreciate you putting those words in my mouth.
rufio - July 12, 2009
i don’t think this is true. rare is the 4 or 5 who must be chased out to 22 feet. and i find that andy defense against the guys who shoot the 15-18 footer is pretty good…in fact, i feel that’s where he excels on defense.
DontCallMeJoey - July 13, 2009
Dirk, Odom, Gasol, KG, Duncan, Bosh, Jamison, KMart, Josh Smith when he isn’t playing like an idiot, Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu are all people who could play the 4 that I think Andy will need lots of help with. That isn’t including a team like Houston who could go small with Battier and Ariza at the 3 and 4.
Maybe Beasley (based purely on his 40%+3PT% and the fact that he is athletic and can probably drive) and Al Harrington are guys that sound like they could threaten AV but I don’t watch enough non-Cavs to know. Maybe Aldrige too.
There are a whole host of players who are/were in the league because they are 6’9"+ and can shoot the jumper, no? Scalibrini, Jinlan, Bonner, McDyess, Horry, etc. need to be chased out to 22. Then again, Andy can probably still guard them without too much worry so maybe I am more worried about someone who is a threat to both shoot and drive, which means a lot fewer players.
Also, with some of those teams you can help off of inferior players Varejao isn’t guarding and it doesn’t hurt you much.
I think keeping Andy was the right move. I think he is slightly but not criminally overpaid. I think he does things that don’t show up in any metric.
I also think his value is inflated during the regular season because he does things other guys won’t do: taking charges, going after loose balls, playing hard every night, etc. But when the playoffs roll around all of a sudden Mr. Lazy McTalented on the other team starts doing those same things and his level of play improves, while Andy has been giving 100% the whole time and can’t give any more.
If I am just in the minority on this and people think I am an idiot, that’s fine. Hopefully it doesn’t matter and LeBron/Shaq/Mo dominate enough to let Andy do what he does and contribute.
rufio - July 13, 2009
I agree with most everything you said. Additionally it is not so much the salary per year that we gave him, but the length. 6 years for no sure thing is quite a risk.
Roger Dorn - July 13, 2009
As a GM/coach, you don’t expect him to get better defensively over those 6 years, right? And his “upside” on offense is pretty limited?
rufio - July 14, 2009
Why would you say this? He’ll be entering his age 27 year next season and is a center, a position that tends to age well relative to the other positions (i.e. guard like our new friend Anthony Parker may look a year from now). At the least I’d expect him to get better over the next year or two and plateau out into that last year of his deal, maybe regress a bit there, but at that point he’s a trade-able asset
hans - July 14, 2009
I sure hope you are right.
I would guess his upside on O is limited because his jumper looks like Tara Reid without makeup. His FG% is the highest among bigs who have played with LeBron mostly because he cuts well and gets easy looks from LeBron, right? I don’t know if I can realistically expect him to get better at that.
His game is based on athleticism and hustle, and it’s hard for me to expect him to improve there on either end of the floor after age 25. Marion made an ugly jumper work, though. How would Andy hypothetically improve at either end of the floor?
rufio - July 14, 2009
shoot the jumper, absolutely…shoot the 3, the number is a lot lower…and then, you make an excellent point, shoot the 3 AND drive/post, the number is A LOT lower.
andy can guard the one-dimensional 4’s. when you start to get to the elite, things begin to change, as you would expect. i liked your list of elite 4’s, but i found myself kind of chuckling…i actually think andy guards dirk VERY well (trying to find numbers to back me up); i think he does a good job against duncan; i think he guards jamison and kmart extremely well; and then a guy like aldrige is down the list from elite, but he guards aldrige rather effectively, too.
rashard lewis gives teams fits b/c he is a guard…but he’s 6-10 or 6-11. andy guards the guys he should guard (one dimensional), and i think is pretty effective against most of the good guys. for $7mm, i think you take that.
DontCallMeJoey - July 13, 2009
At least we didn’t give him 10+mil/year. Hopefully with Shaq inside, Andy can get more help and looks better against all of those guys.
Maybe he does a statistically good job of guarding those guys and I just don’t know what I am looking at (entirely possible), but there are some defensive 4s/5s out there who are fairly cheap and look like they give the elite more problems than AV. I am trying to remind myself that we can’t just pluck those guys off of other teams and sign em to the Cavs roster at our discretion.
We needed to have him back, but I still don’t think it was ideal.
rufio - July 14, 2009
Of those guys you listed, just about, oh, all of them require defenders to get help. Anderson Varejao can’t shut down an all-star. He’s not a first-team all-NBA defender. We all know this. But he is a small step below that. I feel very comfortable putting him around 15th in the league, defensively, among NBA big men.
Is he a star? Of course not. He’s the 4th or 5th best player on this roster, and he doesn’t compare poorly to other elite teams’ 4th or 5th best player.
7foot3 - July 13, 2009
I don’t really see how that contradicts what I’ve said?
I would probably rather have Perkins, Bynum, and Odom over Andy, but that’s just my preference. I don’t think it’s overwhelmingly clear that Andy is better/worse than those guys.
This all started because Dorn and I don’t think he can guard elite 4s and 4s who really play like guards. I don’t see how that applies solely to the Orlando series, or see that as picking on him. In fact, I am pretty sure we agree here. Anderson Varejao: good defensively but not elite.
rufio - July 13, 2009
Again, all you’re proving is that Varejao isn’t a borderline all-star, like Odom or Bynum. (Perkins though? Really?). He isn’t far below that though. And how many 4’s do you think that he can’t guard? Not even Duncan or Garnett shut down each other or a Dirk or Bosh. Anderson played well defensively, up until he got asked to guard Lewis, which is pretty much the limit of the 4s who play like guards (and he’s been a 3 for most of his career and he’s going to be playing a lot more 3 now that the Magic have Anderson and Bass)
7foot3 - July 15, 2009
Really all I ever meant to do.
rufio - July 16, 2009
Your back
yard needs some major work. Maybe you need to hire a professional landscaper because you don’t have a clue to what you are doing. Funny because you also don’t know anything about basketball either.
E5 - July 12, 2009
I have no idea where that picture was taken. It’s supposed to be a straw man, and I thought more obvious choice was a little too rude in response to 7foot3:
rufio - July 12, 2009
Don’t even bother; it was over his head.
Buckeye Brad - July 13, 2009
E5, he knows much more about basketball than you do, that’s for sure. And you missed his point completely.
Buckeye Brad - July 13, 2009
You guys need to lighten up
and learn how to take a joke. Seriously no sense of humor at all.
E5 - July 13, 2009
Without getting too much into, I agree. I think we’re kicking ourselves for this two years down the road.
Turkmenbashi - July 9, 2009
I don’t have any problem with the dollars per year, but the length is pretty unforgivable in my view. This just comes off as a reactionary move from a team who hasn’t had the best fortune in free agency so far.
gahnki - July 9, 2009
The only contract length that would have been more preferable would have been a one year deal. Once we pass the summer of Lebron, this contract won’t seem like a big deal at all. Assuming we couldn’t have gotten anyone decent on a one year contract, signing Andy to a longer deal was the right move. As I posted above, the length was part of the value for team. Say we sign or trade for an all-star caliber power forward and slide Andy over to start at center? I am no huge Varejao fan. In fact, I wish we would have traded him in 2007. And of course there is always risk involved in these things, but that $7 million won’t seem like much in two years if he’s been productive.
randallhank - July 11, 2009
This may be a little too much money, but I’m glad to have Andy back. He was an important part of the team and did a lot of things that didn’t show up in the stat line. He’s valuable since he can play either the 4 or the 5 and we don’t have any centers on the roster past 2010.
Buckeye Brad - July 9, 2009
I didn't want to troll your site and write a separate entry, but ...
how come I can’t find anything on Fear the Sword about LeBron’s alleged snuffing of the camp video in which he get’s dunked on?
I figured I could get some great commentary here … what’s the deal?
Vacafan - July 9, 2009
Because it is a complete non-issue...
Nike has rules about the camp, the videographer(s) broke the rules, Nike took the tapes. Had nothing to do with LeBron being dunked on.
LeBron has been dunked on before, on national TV, during NBA games. The fact that a college player that can jump out of a gym did it is no big deal to me….
John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) - July 9, 2009
If you really believe that...
I’m sorry but you need to take LeBrons nuts out of your mouth. There are many reports of LeBron asking this Lynn guy (Nike employee) to confiscate the tapes. If you really think they were allowing the videographers to tape when they had this supposed rule about not allowing video taping after hours you are blinded by your love for “The King”. Plain and simple, LeBron and his Nike people were afraid of this hitting you tube and becoming a sports center highlight. Now they have made it worse by refusing to let people see it.
lrh86 - July 9, 2009
See what???
It happens to every player. Why would they care? Oh, LeBron won’t be LeBron if someone dunks on him? Alot of guys can dunk, and alot of great players have been dunked on. Who Cares?
People who hate will continue to hate, but this is ridiculous.
John Bena (aka CavsBlogger) - July 9, 2009
Wrong. Everyone knows that if there is no video than it will not be remembered as long. You can argue all you want whether it was right or wrong, or against the rules of the camp, but you cannot say it will be worse refusing to let people see it. well, i guess you can say it, but you would be incorrect.
fivekmd - July 9, 2009
Or maybe you have blind hatred for “The King”.
Buckeye Brad - July 9, 2009
I have no such hatred.
He is a great player and is fun to watch but I don’t have wine and gold glasses on like all you cleveland fans.
lrh86 - July 9, 2009
Well
you could start your own blog and rant about it all day long. I’ll bet Skippy Bayless and you could compare notes.
Juannieboy - July 9, 2009
I think he is
Skip Bayless.
SSreporters - July 9, 2009
We don’t. We crticize the Cavs plenty on here when it’s called for. But we don’t make a big deal about non-stories like this. Most of us are more mature than that.
You come here just to crticize the Cavs and LeBron. I think that says all it needs to about you. You don’t want intelligent conversation about sports, you just want to tear down LeBron to make yourself feel better (I guess).
Buckeye Brad - July 9, 2009
It’s funny, if he would read upthread a little he would see a few people questioning a move made by the Cavs.
Roger Dorn - July 9, 2009
People like that don’t let facts get in the way of their arguments.
Buckeye Brad - July 9, 2009
You would be better served staying on your own blog and discussing Greg Oden, his injuries, and his future in the NBA. That is a FAR more important topic for you to be concerned with.
johnnyphoenix - July 9, 2009
Besides that, you need also be more concerned with the Lakers…
johnnyphoenix - July 9, 2009
you would be much better served if you had any idea what you were talking about. in this, and really in general.
DontCallMeJoey - July 9, 2009
Because nobody over the age of 12 cares about this “story”.
Buckeye Brad - July 9, 2009
This is probably the biggest negative with the improvement of access to news and the internet. People will turn complete non-stories into a big deal.
Roger Dorn - July 9, 2009
2010 - 2011 Salary Cap
I posted this on the fanshot of this news but nobody’s on that anymore … so im just gonna ask here.
quick question .. not sure if anyone knows. the whole salary cap thing in the nba confuses me. i know that we are allowed to resign our own player (LeBron) to go over the salary cap. Apparently Gilbert and our Chinese investors are OK with this. So according to hoopshype.com we have 35.9 locked up next year … and with Varejao’s new contract that would go up to 42.9 unless its really back heavy in increments. According to most rumors the cap will be around 50 million next year. So that leaves us with around 7 million to sign someone? Does anyone know how this works. I really want to learn more about it. If LeBrons salary comes off which ive heard that it does and it doesnt … then it would be around 24 million which is better obviously. Can anyone clarify this?
jsneides - July 9, 2009
given your math (42.9mm in salary, 50mm in cap), yes, we would have 7mm to sign free agent. there are also annual exceptions (you’ve probably heard of the mid-level exception and/or the bi-annual exception) that can be used by teams over the cap to sign free agents. in broad terms, to resign our own free agents (we have “bird rights” to those players) we can go over the cap in order to keep current cavs, with some rules associated with that.
as to LeBron, his salary only comes off the books if we renounce his rights (which we won’t do), or he signs with someone else (which he won’t do). so, for purposes of calculating out 10-11 cap figure, you should use ~17.5mm for LeBron — which is the value of the max contract he will sign in summer 10. so, again, given your math (which is a little bit off, but not enough to get worked up about), you should go w/ the 42.9mm…forget about the 24mm.
the cap is WAY complicated, and we could have a much more detailed conversation about it. but those are the general answers to your questions.
DontCallMeJoey - July 9, 2009
cool thanks man … i just hear soo many people explain it so many ways and its just confusing the hell out of me … thanks again
jsneides - July 9, 2009
no worries. as a rule of thumb, keep in mind that you can go over the cap to sign your own free agents, but not someone else’s. also, until a free agent signs with someone else, or his rights are renounced, that free agent will still count against his most recent team’s cap.
DontCallMeJoey - July 9, 2009
i'm not quite sure what to make of this deal
just because the cavs missed out on some free agents doesn’t mean they need to overpay/overextend varejao’s contract. the financial climate is such that most teams can’t afford to go over the mid level. fegan is blowing smoke up ferry’s butt with the 10 mil a year crap from other teams… no way. if lamar odom isn’t going to get 10 this year, no way varejao is coming close to 10. not as a 5th or 6th scoring option, even if he does grab offensive rebounds every now and then. why not sign a shorter contract and see how the FA market plays out in 2010 or 2011?
whorge - July 9, 2009
Nene.
rufio - July 10, 2009
I posted this in my other thread, but here’s Varejao’s WARP, PER, ORtg, and DRtg.
5.5 WARP, 14.6 PER, 116 ORtg, 100 DRtg.
He’s a bit more valuable than most give him credit for.
hans - July 9, 2009
and you forgot his awesome hair in those stats … i mean how often do you get see a sideshow bob love child play basketball … i think i have man crush on his hair … i need help
jsneides - July 9, 2009
Word out of Toronto tonight is that he hasn't signed his offer sheet
and may be getting an offer from the Raptors to stay. I hope this is true.
Hardcore Legend - July 9, 2009
Parker, or Andy?
JulioBernazard - July 10, 2009
Has to be Parker.
gahnki - July 10, 2009
Parker.
Hardcore Legend - July 10, 2009
Yeah Parker is a risky signing, he’s nearing the point where his shooting skills might drastically drop off, and his defense is good but not great. But, I’m not sure what else they should go after to fill the need for a good defender at the guard position.
hans - July 10, 2009
Linas Kleiza
E5 - July 10, 2009
kleiza plays forward, and his DRtg is 1 point lower than parker.
DontCallMeJoey - July 12, 2009
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Fear The Sword to post a comment.