Anderson Varejao 360
Posted by thesplog on December 7, 2007
This isn’t CNN, and the subject of this post isn’t a Vanderbilt who drives the ladies wild. Yet another Anderson has come full circle, far from the comforts of a television studio in Atlanta.
Anderson Varejao, the energetic Brazilian power forward who had been embroiled in a bitter contract squabble with the Cleveland Cavaliers, will reportedly be re-joining the club. In case you missed it, here’s a quick blow-by-blow recap of the saga:
- During the 2006-07 season, his third in the NBA, he averages 6.8 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24 minutes per game. The year culminates with Cleveland’s improbable run to the Finals, during which Varejao proves to be a valuable post presence off the bench. His salary for this campaign? $945,600. When the final whistle sounds, he officially becomes a restricted free agent. Let the games begin.
- Along with agent Dan Fegan, Team Varejao decides to ride the wave of the Cavs’ success (and his newfound national exposure) in an attempt to parlay them into a contract extension [read: raise].
- Throughout the summer, Cleveland brass and Varejao’s camp sling offers back and forth, with nothing close to a compromise reached. At first, the contention is over the dollar amount (Varejao’s people propose $8-9 million at one point), but it then becomes a battle over the length of the contract. Fegan wants the team to cave and allow his client to become a free agent sooner (a short deal but a high per-year amount), but the club wants to lock him up for more years at a lower rate per season. Back and forth we go. Cleveland and Charlotte discuss a sign-and-trade that would send the forward to the Bobcats, but it falls through. The months drag on, and as training camp approaches, it becomes clear that Varejao won’t be on the Cavs’ opening day roster.
- The season begins, and sure enough, he isn’t a Cavalier. In fact, he even considers playing in Europe for a year.
- The two sides effectively arrive at a standstill, and all is relatively quiet on the Varejao front…
- But fast forward to this week. On Tuesday, word comes down the wire that those very same Charlotte Bobcats have signed him to an offer sheet worth $17.4 million over three years. The key, of course, is the player option in the final year of the deal. Cleveland is now on the clock, with a week to match the offer or let him walk.
- The next day, Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal reports the Cavs intend to match, but because they’re currently sitting at the roster maximum of 15 players, another move must be executed before he can re-join the club and begin mending a rift that has now reached chasm proportions.
So here we are. He is now scheduled to make $5.3, $5.7 and $6.2 million over the next three years. If indeed the club bites its tongue and swallows the contract, the two sides have some serious damage control to do. Varejao’s bitter words about the Cleveland organization were recently made public, and you can bet they’re still fresh in the minds of their intended targets. So what now? After all is said and done, one thing’s for sure. This could be awkward.
Oh, to be in the Cavs’ locker room when Varejao comes strolling in. Perhaps he should call Stephon Marbury and ask him how he handled re-joining the Knicks after abandoning them in mid-season.
In light of everything that’s gone down in this bizarre, unreasonable, ridiculous series of events, was it worth it? He clearly got lucky after Charlotte showed their desperate need for a big man, forcing Cleveland (who aren’t loving life without LeBron James) to retain him. Fegan got what he wanted. Varejao gets to return to the NBA. But what was really going on here? Did Cleveland want him all along, despite occasionally hinting at the contrary?
What we’re left with, finally, is a compromise. They just took a perplexing path to get there.
So welcome back, Andy. Oh, and if any Cavs’ equipment managers/cheerleaders/medical staffers are reading this, please remember to cue up your HandiCams the moment he steps into that locker room and do us a favour by posting it on YouTube. This could be the most awkward reunion since The Police announced they were going back on tour.
In the end, after months of bickering and nit-picking, they’ve got him. Or, they’re stuck with him. Any way you slice it, Anderson Varejao is reportedly soon to be a Cleveland Cavalier again.
I think I speak for everyone in NBA circles when I say I never thought I’d be typing those words.
