Report: Varejao has torn Achilles, likely done for the season
2014-12-24
Some very bad news, via ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst:
Tests Wednesday morning confirmed the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ fears that center Anderson Varejao has torn his Achilles tendon, sources told ESPN.com.
This has become sadly commonplace for the beloved big man — in the past four seasons, Varejao has played only 31, 25, 25, and 65 games, and it looks like he will only play 26 games this season, with no real guarantee that he will come back at 100% from this injury by the start of next season.
Obviously, this is a bummer, as Andy’s presence on the floor made LeBron far more comfortable due to the pick-and-roll ESP the two share with each other and Andy’s growing set of tools, including a nice passing game and an ugly but effective mid-range jumper he’d finally gotten comfortable with.
The pressure is now on Tristan Thompson and David Griffin. Thompson will take over Varejao’s starting spot, and while +/- numbers that say the Cavaliers have been significantly better with Thompson on the floor than Varejao this season, that hypothesis will now be fully tested. As for Griffin, the Cavs were thought to be in the market for an additional rim protector before, with Kostas Koufos and Timofey Mozgov being the names most often linked to the Cavs — the Cavs will now desperately need an extra center to have a chance at being serious finals contenders, because I don’t see this thing working with Lou Amundson and Brendan Haywood getting significant minutes. We’ll see how this shakes out in the coming weeks.
We salute you and wish you a good 2015 for everyone! Cavs fans from Barcelona! Feel very bad for Varejao’s injury and still remember him fondly developing as a player in FC Barcelona We hope for a good healing our opinion: 1) don’t rush with trades! wait until Tristan Thompson has 20-30 more games 2) donot trade Dion Waiters now 3) for the future… now get from the Hawks WALTER TAVARES 7,2 FEET FROM CABO VERDE playing since 5 years in Gran Canaria… a monster for the future… really developing by leaps in the last months… do it before the… Read more »
That Dion three was huge.
This is some hideous basketball.
No reason to rush to a trade. This team is built to see what they end up doing in the playoffs. They need to wait until much closer to the deadline before pulling the trigger on a trade. Let’s see what TT does with starter minutes, and see how the defense continues to (hopefully) improve.
Let’s also let Dion build up some trade value.
Houston trying to unload players to make room for josh smith—-one of those players is CLINT CAPELA/ 1ST ROUND PICK—-VERY ATHLETIC / LENGHTY / SHOT BLOCKER / RIM PROTECTOR / RUNS THE FLOOR VERY WELL / YOUNG / UNLIMITED POTENTIAL ——GOOD FIT FOR THE CAVS—–INTERESTED IN YOUR RESPONSE—–COULD COME RELATIVELY CHEAP AS MAYBE WE COULD NOW HOLD HOUSTON AT ” RANSOM “
fred I just looked up delemberts bio—-might be a good pick up —and possibly come cheap——the only problem is that every team is aware of our situation and going to hold us ” ransom ” when it comes to deals—-need to use reverse stategy on teams and try to hold them ” ransom ” —playing the card that other teams are very interested in certain players and are very willing to make a trade —- IT IS ALL A POKER GAME–NOT SHOWING ALL YOUR CARDS AND BLUFFING
just read an article about lebrons evolution / maturity as a person and as an athlete—attributes this to his family—as we all celebrate Christmas with our families –it is VERY REFRESHING TO SEE AN ATHLETE WITH LEBRON’S STATURE BE SUCH A GREAT FAMILY ROLE MODEL ( FEEL HE DOES NOT GET ENOUGH CREDIT FOR THIS )—-IT IS JUST ( IF NOT MORE EXCITING ) TO SEE THIS GROWTH / MATURITY AS A PERSON AS SEEING HIS GROTH AS A PLAYER —-JOB WELL DONE LEBRON ON BOTH !!!!
Considering the cavs realistically are looking for ~12 min a night at center, Samuel Delembert is likely available CHEAP! (like 2025 3rd rd draft pick CHEAP!)
Seems like an easy option w/o busting up the team.
PS: I am assuming Kirk is not yet ready. I suspect the cavs think he has the talent or they would not be bothering with him at all.
According to my understanding, the injury exemption and our other trade exception cannot be used together in the same deal.
agree with most of the blogs/ don’t trade dion / don’t go into panic mode and overpay on a trade / see what the 3 headed monster of haywood / kirk / admunson give you /——with andy’s injury didn’t they receive $ 5 million for an injury exemption— couldn ‘t that be used with the other $ million exemption to lure a potential trade —I might be totally wrong on this —— MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL YOU FELLOW BLOGGERS !!!!
Echoing the “DO NOT TRADE DION FOR CENTER” crowd. That would be a disaster. Dion has such a high ceiling and he is showing signs. As others have pointed out, AV has not been amazing this year. The big concern is depth, so if they can get another body they should be fine. In the short-run Amundson becomes a poor man’s TT, TT plays more minutes, Amundson plays 12-15, and you shift AV’s PnRs to KLove. With Dion playing better, Marion shifted to the bench, our depth is much much better than it was even 2 weeks ago. Just don’t… Read more »
Count me in on the “sell high on Dion” crowd. He does have a high ceiling and can be an electric player. The issue is that he needs lots of shots to be an impact player. Right now he’s taking 10 shots a game and Kevin Love is taking 12. One guy has a 48% TS% and the other guy has a 57% TS%. I don’t think I need to tell you which belongs to each player. I like Dion a lot, and when he’s stroking J’s it’s fun to watch. But if he plays decent basketball for a month… Read more »
Terrible news, terrible thing to happen to a great Cavalier.
I’m all for standing pat for the moment and taking stock of where the team is at. Throw Kirk, Haywood, and Amundson extended minutes and see what happens. If they play poorly, but we still win some games, at least we’ll have sapped some of the leverage from potential trade partners.
Kind of spooky that the game following me critiquing Andy playing 27 minutes in the first three quarters this happens. I questioned giving him $10 million a year, but hey it’s Dan Gilbert’s luxury tax bill not mine. It’s not the absolute end of the world though. Tristan has played phenomenally with Special K, and they can find a suitable guy to grab via trade. Totally agree with Gregg, I wouldn’t trade Dion for a center. As much as I value that Memphis pick, it’s doubtful they could find a player of Waiters caliber with it.
What are the thoughts on Kirk? 7ft and young has to be worth something. His highlights don’t look that bad but i am sure it is not the whole picture. What are the major cons on his game. Not interested one bit in trading Dion for a center if we can help it.
Agree with Gregg.
I had been hoping they would get him some run to see if he could hold his own, and get some experience. Of course, it is possible that he is just not ready or not good enough. If I was the coach, I would think about starting him in Miami to see if he can hold down the position before bringing TT in.
Can we maybe not go after someone close to 45 years old? I feel like that type of junk happened last time Lebron was in town…we went after weird old guys more often than not. 38 year old shaq, etc. if we have to overpay to get some younger than 29 center who can actually pass a physical without a bribe, let’s please do it. No tricks or funny business. Bismack or Mozgov or someone else with real legs would be nice
Some buzz about Jermaine O’Neal and Kenyon Martin?
Is there any buzz on anyone who’s actually playing in the NBA at the moment? I’m not sure there’s much tread left on those two particular tires.
What would people think of trying to acquire Biyombo from the Hornets? Fits in the trade exception, good shot blocker, possibly somewhat undervalued because of complete lack of offense, but might not need to do much on offense given the other players here.
Yes. Bitch-Smack would be a definite upgrade
Count me on the Bismack train. Best fit for the team all things considered.
Especially since he should be the easiest of the big men to acquire – imagine if the Cavs had to take back Lance Stephenson though :)
I assume that we will have to overpay in any trade — but right now, clubs can really hold us for ransom.
Can we tough it out till closer to the various deadlines where clubs will need to cut bait?
how aggressive will they go after mozguv ( my choice ) or lopez / wright / or is there some name not mentioned / thought of they are pursuing
I feel like the only person who thinks Varejao was not contributing much to this team. His defense has been terrible this season and his offense has dropped off. I wish he would have played as a back up PF like he’s supposed to be.
It was clear his defense has slipped and that he wasn’t meshing well with K Love. Cavs were much better when Andy was on the bench actually. Starting Tristian should also help the starters. This move obviously hurts the team’s depth though.
he had a great November. Rough December. I still think he’s incredibly valuable to this team.
They really need to acquire a big man now. I don’t trust TT or KLove to guard legit centers.
I feel bad for Andy. Maybe worse than I did for Z and his feet. Wishing him well and hope he can come back from this injury.
Amen to that. Andy is a great guy.
Yeah he’s gotta be devastated.