Koutroupis: Varejao Still In Demand
Senior NBA Writer & College Basketball Editor
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Varejao Could Be Moved
Cleveland Cavaliers forward/center Anderson Varejao’s season is over due to a torn tendon in his right ankle. The injury occurred during practice on January 6th and he is set to finally have surgery on February 12th by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After the surgery is completed Anderson will require 3-4 months of rehab before being able to resume basketball activities. He is currently planning on doing his rehab in Cleveland. However, there is a very good chance that he could be moved sometime in the next 19 days before the NBA’s February 24th trade deadline.
Sources told HOOPSWORLD that there is still a great deal of interest in Varejao throughout the league despite the fact that he is going to be inactive for the remainder of the season.
{AUTHOR_BOX}In 31 games this season Varejao was playing so well that Byron Scott, his head coach, started going on an All-Star campaign for him. At that time Varejao was one of the lone bright spots for the Cavaliers, averaging just under a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds a night. He was also connecting on 52% of his looks from the field while blocking 1.2 shots a contest.
As one source put it, there are few players in the league that play with Anderson’s type of intensity and effort especially on the defensive end, making him attractive even while injured. There’s little concern that this injury will have any long-term effects on Anderson, so teams are looking at this as an opportunity to get him while his stock is low. Because he’s out for the remainder of the season the Cavaliers aren’t able to put the same type of price tag on him that they would if he were healthy.
Prior to the tendon tear the Oklahoma City Thunder were voicing strong interest in the Brazilian big man. Considering his health status, though, the odds of the Thunder or any playoff-bound team making a move for him is unlikely. Teams who have already accepted that they’re out of it, on the other hand, are far more likely to be willing to make a move for Varejao since they won’t have the chance to make any type of serious noise until 2011-2012 anyway.
Two teams that immediately fit that description are the Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Timberwolves are in the cellar of the Western Conference while the Raptors aren’t much better in the East in 13th place at 14-37. With their trade exceptions and amount of young talent they could have what it takes to entice Cleveland to accept a deal. They could also greatly use someone with Anderson’s combination of physicality and skill at the center position.
Varejao is greatly valued by the Cavaliers franchise and is someone that they aren’t going to give away for nothing. But a massive rebuilding process has become inevitable due to being in the midst of one of the worst losing streaks in league history.
Varejao is under contract through at least 2014 with a minimum of $25.2 million owed to him. His deal has a team option for 2015 that would pay him $9.8 million if picked up.
While that is a reasonable contract for someone who scouts compare to a slightly-less-effective version of Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah, it could be a little bit prohibitive in the Cavaliers rebuilding efforts. That’s why we could see Varejao’s rehab process moved to somewhere other than Cleveland in the coming weeks.
NBA Draft Stock Watch
A new mock draft has been released for the month of January. Here’s a look the reasoning behind a select group of player’s movement:
Derrick Williams (Arizona) – 6’8, 241 lbs. Forward
There have been a lot of people waiting for Derrick Williams to slow down on his current torrid pace and it just hasn’t happened. Williams continues to be a star for the Arizona Wildcats and a nightmare for opposing teams to match up with. Williams has played both forward positions for the Wildcats and cannot be stopped at either of them. Over the past month he’s had outings with 18 and 19 rebounds, while shooting an absurd 68% from three on the year. There are some mock drafts that have Williams as the top-ranked player and frankly it was very hard to keep him out of that spot. By the time the next mock draft is released he very well could be number one.
Tristan Thompson (Texas) – 6’8, 225 lbs. Power Forward
The Texas Longhorns have steadily climbed up the rankings in the Top 25 all year long and one of the main reasons behind their rise is freshman big man Tristan Thompson. Thompson is putting up 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks a night for the third-ranked Longhorns. Thompson possesses the length, explosiveness and upside that have NBA teams crossing their fingers for his entry into the 2011 NBA draft. He’s got a frame that can support more weight, which he’ll need to add first and foremost. Playing with close friend Corey Joseph could keep him in Austin for another season, but his improving stock has to make Longhorns head coach Rick Barnes feel a bit uneasy.
Staying The Same
Terrence Jones (Kentucky) – 6’8, 244 lbs. Forward
It’s been a tough last two games for Terrance Jones’ Kentucky Wildcats as they have lost on the road to Ole Miss and Florida. Jones has continued to play extremely well, though, leaving no reason to move him down our board. He’s a top 10 talent in terms of his potential and his production still justifies keeping him that high. There is a lot of room for Jones to grow; he’s still far from peaking. In order for him to move up even higher on our board he has to start taking command late in games and make the right plays, even if it isn’t necessarily taking a shot himself. Kentucky’s last two losses have been by a combined four points – if Jones takes over like he’s capable of late they win both and he’s in the top five.
Enes Kanter (International) – 6’10, 250 lbs. Forward/Center
This is our first mock draft since the official ruling came out from the NCAA that Enes Kanter is permanently ineligible. Because of that he’s no longer classified as a Kentucky Wildcat, although UK head coach John Calipari considers him a lifetime member of the family. While NBA scouts and GMs would have liked a chance to evaluate Kanter in the NCAA, they’ve seen him enough to know that he’s ready to play at the next level. The NCAA’s ruling guarantees that he’ll be in the draft and that is more important to them at this point anyway.
Harrison Barnes (North Carolina) – 6’7, 215 lbs. Forward
Our entire mock draft for early January can be viewed here. For those wondering about the absence of Duke’s Kyrie Irving, it’s due to the uncertain state of his current injury. Once he’s cleared or declares for the draft he will immediately occupy one of the top three spots.
Don’t Forget About Tony Parker
With the 2011 NBA All-Star teams now set there is a lot of uproar over the exclusion of Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom, to a lesser extent. There were a lot of people upset about Minnesota Timberwolves power forward Kevin Love also being on the outside looking in, but he was named as Houston Rocket center Yao Ming’s injury replacement by Commissioner David Stern.
A name that isn’t being talked about as a snub enough, though, is San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker. There are a lot of people in the San Antonio area who feel like Parker was undeservingly looked past, especially when you factor in the Spurs league-leading record of 42-8. If the Eastern-Conference leading Boston Celtics got four players in, San Antonio should at least have all three of their equally-important leaders in there, not just Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan.
Individually Parker’s numbers justify what would have been his fourth All-Star selection. He’s second on the team in scoring at 17.5 a night, while leading the Spurs in assists with 6.7. His efficiency also ranks amongst the best of his career as he is connecting 52% of the time from the field and 36% from deep. His numbers are better than they were last year across the board and the Spurs showed just how much they valued him this past October when they locked him up with a long-term extension.
Ultimately All-Star selections come down to being a numbers game. There are a lot of great players in every conference but only 12 spots. So, of course, when talking about snubs you have to look at who shouldn’t be there.
The first name that everyone is mentioning in the West is Parker’s teammate Duncan. But he’s a big man; Parker should only be put head-to-head with the other point guards selected.
As much of a case as Parker has, he’s not more deserving than reserve lead guards Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook.
The only point guard on the roster who Parker could justifiably replace is the starter in New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul. By no means is that saying Paul shouldn’t be there – he’s still one of the premier players at the position. It’s just that his production is very similar to Parker’s while his team has more than twice as many losses.
That leaves the blame on Parker’s exclusion in the hands of the fans because the coaches got it right in picking the backup points. Had Williams or Westbrook been voted a starter, Parker very possibly could have ended up in the showcase like he was hoping to.
HOOPSWORLD senior NBA and NCAA analyst Yannis Koutroupis will be hosting his weekly chat this Friday. You can get your questions into him here. You can also follow him on twitter.
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