(SB Nation Cleveland, Chris White) Anderson Varejao has been penciled in to start at center for the Cleveland Cavaliers pretty much since day one. The veteran center is one of the better players on roster lacking front court depth. The Cavs are a team that has been dominated by a rookie though, young star Kyrie Irving. They might need to start yet another rookie, Tristan Thompson, in Varejao's absence with a veritable black hole at the center position.
Kyrie Irving is in another relatively hilarious commercial, this time for Pepsi MAX.
There are a few roster issues I've noticed that many people aren't quite aware of on the site of late so today we're going to clear that up. I'm also going to archive you back to any of the stories that Conrad or I wrote about this stuff so you can read about it in more detail if you want.
Manny Harris has no ties at all to the Cavaliers anymore. He was cut on December 22nd and cannot simply be "called up" at any time. To rejoin the team somebody would have to be waived. Check out Conrad's post on the day Manny got the ax.
That issue is related to the next thing we need to clear up. Anthony Parker and Luke Harangody are not going to get cut. All contracts that were non-guaranteed like Harangody's are now fully guaranteed for the season as I wrote very recently. Alonzo Gee is also here to stay but I didn't mention him because it's obvious he's not getting waived. That deadline was important. You'll notice how Mychel Thompson got cut right before it. Since all those wing players aren't going anywhere it is tougher for Harris to get a shot back in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers aren't simply going to get rid of Parker or Harangody since they are guaranteed money. Here's what I wrote when Parker signed.
Also, Anderson Varejao is not getting traded.
Sidelined with a sore back for the past seven games, Cavaliers starting shooting guard Anthony Parker remains doubtful for Wednesday's game at Quicken Loans Arena against the Indiana Pacers.
The 6'6 Parker, who shoots 0.9 free throws per 36 minutes, is averaging just 6.0 points per game this year and just over 2 rebounds and assists.
Should Parker not get to full fitness by Wednesday, it is likely that Daniel Gibson again will start in his place.
With injuries mounting on the Cavaliers it is nice to see the team in a prolonged home stand.
As Conrad noted earlier, Anderson Varejao will not play Wednesday and this is unfortunate because I would have liked to see him thoroughly outplay ALL-STAR Pacers center Roy Hibbert as I suspect he would have. Oh well.
Anyways, Varejao will be missed. Parker won't.
Bleehhhhhhhhhh. That's my reaction to this news. We thought it was just a sprained wrist when the initial x-rays came up negative. Later, the MRI revealed that he had a fracture in his right wrist and that he will be out for some time.
Just as the Cavs were starting to get healthy with Daniel Gibson coming back from a neck infection and Kyrie Irving presumably coming back on Wednesday from a concussion, Andy goes down. When Varejao got hurt last season, the Cavs then plummeted to the cellar and lost 26 games in a row. I doubt that will happen this time around, but it will definitely be a rough stretch.
It doesn't appear that the Cavs will make any sort of trade for depth up front, but their interior defense will inevitably take a hit. Having Semih Erden, Ryan Hollins, and Samardo Samuels playing significant minutes is never a good thing.
For those of you that wanted the Cavs to tank and get a better draft pick, you might get your wish. The loss of Anderson Varejao will lead to many more losses and I could see Cleveland falling to get the 5th or 6th pick in the draft now. Obviously we'll see how his absence affects the team once they play a few more games without him, but I'm not confident.
There is currently no timetable for his return and we'll learn more once he gets evaluated again by team doctors. I'll keep you updated, no worries.
The title of this post is pretty much exactly what I plan on exploring: how did we get Kyrie Irving? If you're like me, you see that Kyrie is blossoming into one of the best point guards in the NBA and certainly has superstar potential. Even if he is merely a perennial all-star, that's pretty damn good. So how, exactly, did he end up playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, you ask? Let's take a stroll through some weird history of the franchise.
Let's start at the top and work our way down. If you didn't know already, Kyrie was selected with the first overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. That pick was not the Cavs own pick (the Cavs had the 4th pick), but rather the pick that was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. So let's look at that trade.
Worst game of the season? Worst game of the season. It wasn't exactly a surprise unless you were ignoring the obvious signs. The Sixers came out with way more energy and jumped out to a big lead in the first half. The Cavs kind of hung around and didn't let the game get too out of hand, but were never able to cut into the lead. It ended with a 99-84 loss to Philadelphia and dropped the Cavaliers to 10-16 on the season.
Cavs Leaders: Points: Jamison, 20; Rebounds: Jamison. Thompson; 8, Assists: Sessions, 8
Quick Thoughts:
The idea that this game was going to be horrible was pretty clear to me. It was Cleveland's fourth game in five nights, the Sixers are a really good team, and the Cavs were without their two best players. Initially, it seemed the Anderson Varejao merely had a sprained wrist, but an MRI revealed that he had a fracture in his wrist. Ugh. Once this was announced, it seemed like much of the excitement and energy around the Cavaliers dissipated. Without their star rookie and emotional leader, the Cavs had nothing to offer and sleepwalked through this blowout.
