A Premature Farewell to an Old Friend
2012-01-11It’s been nearly a year since Kendrick Perkins switched teams, but if you canted your ear toward New England last night, you could hear, as the 7-footer ducked under the hoop and converted a nifty reverse lay-in to put OKC up eight over Memphis, some dude named Sully slurring curse words into his whiskey. These drunk expletives aren’t birthed solely from a bitterness over the fact that the Thunder are a thriving young squad that will compete for a championship this season, and that fruition of the Celtics’ fragile title aspirations depend upon the rapidly-disintegrating knees of Kevin Garnett. Jeff Green’s failure to rise to the occasion in last year’s playoffs and the subsequent revelations about a heart problem that might prematurely end his career (get well soon, Jeff) has something to do with it, but Sully and Celtic Nation mutter rancorously to themselves whenever Perkins’s scowling mug appears on a television screen mostly because it’s painful to watch an errant son carry on without them. Ask any Celts fan: Perkins’s departure hurt because he was as close to family as athletes get. They watched him grow from an 18 year-old man-child who would have been better served to spend a few years at a major college program into one of the most crucial components of the best defense in the league. Trading for big names and acquiring all-stars via free agency is exhilarating—it’s not like Clippers fans are complaining about how they got CP3—but the best-loved players on a team are often those plucked directly from the amateur ranks and developed over a half-decade. I don’t agree with many arguments that say LeBron should have stayed a Cavalier, but it’s true that no fanbase will ever adore him like Cleveland did.
Of the rubble LBJ left behind, Andy Varejao is Cleveland’s best-loved relic. He’s a player, like Perkins, with whom one has to spend time to appreciate. Most NBA analysts and commentators characterize Varejao, whose physique resembles a long, tanned stalk of broccoli, as either an energy guy or an irritant. They mean this as a compliment—media types always have a twinkle in their eye when they talk about player who accumulates a lot of floor burns—but it casts the lanky Brazilian as an archetype that’s not altogether accurate. While Varejao has always shown hard on pick and rolls, taken his share of charges, and competed relentlessly for rebounds, he was the second-best player on a series of championship contenders because he’s made of more than grit. Beneath that shock of undulating hair is one of the better minds in basketball. Few big men know when and at what angle to cut to the basket better than Varejao, and he can finish with either hand once he gets to the rim. Though often overmatched physically in the post, the Cavs have trusted him over the years to play some of the league’s best forwards and centers one-on-one without fouling himself onto the bench.
The player I describe is, of course, suited perfectly to help transform a contender into a champion, sort of like what Tyson Chandler did for the Mavs last season but with less handsomeness and more panache. The Perkins-for-Green trade was met with such outrage in New England because Perk was already where he belonged: alongside his mentor Garnett and his best friend Rajon Rondo, on a team where the talent around him maximized his own unique skills. Varejao was once in the same perfect situation—LeBron James’s court vision got him 2 to 4 easy buckets a night, and all he was required to do each game was play hard on both ends of the floor—but on a young, inconsistent team, he doesn’t quite belong. He warms the hearts of Cavalier fans with his effort and serves as a sterling example for Cleveland’s young roster, but he, like all great glue guys, deserves to play with exceptional talent around him. Anderson Varejao should leave Cleveland.
The logistics of that move are unclear at the moment. The Clippers would be a logical fit, but the Cavs just drafted their starting point guard for the next five-to-twelve years, and Eric Bledsoe, despite possessing a shooting guard’s skill set, is listed at 6’1″. The Celtics, Heat, and Lakers don’t have any assets, and neither do the Knicks or Spurs unless one possesses an irrational love of Landry Fields or Kawhi Leonard. The Grizzlies have O.J. Mayo, Josh Selby, and Rudy Gay. Portland has Wesley Matthews and Nic Batum, though I don’t know why they would trade either of them for frontcourt depth. Chicago already has a Varejao of their own in Joakim Noah, and Dallas is hoarding cap space to go after Dwight Howard or Deron Williams this summer. Regardless, as the hours tick down toward the trade deadline, I think a contender will find a way to secure Varejao. Some team that realizes either that its window is right now (the Celtics or Lakers) or that it’s one good player away from a title shot (the Clips or the Grizz) will finagle an overly-complicated three or four-teamer that involves draft picks, expiring contracts, and access to Warren Buffet’s secret archipelago off the coast of French Guiana. Or it will happen in the offseason, when teams have more cap flexibility and newly-drafted rookies.
It will happen, is my point. Anderson Varejao will leave Cleveland, and I will miss him. My favorite Andy Moment—even more than the head-punching against Orlando or the “Chosen 2” Sharpie tattoo—is also my favorite Delonte West moment. (Together, these two composed the goofy core of the most fun team I’ve ever rooted for.) In West’s internet-famous stint as a correspondent for Jim Rome is Burning, he rolls into a team photo shoot with fried chicken and Tahitian Treat (“how player is that?”) and clowns then-rookie J.J. Hickson (“you betta have my donuts!”), but the best part of the clip comes when he and Varejao go fake Bruce Lee on one another before cracking up and breaking into a bro-hug. It makes me smile every time to see the gigantic Varejao and tatted-up West—both of whom seer with intensity when they’re on the court—goofing off like a pair of jungle cats on holiday.
The only remaining players from the days when the Cavs were miming pre-game family photos and winning 60 games a season are boringly nice guys: Anthony Parker, Antawn Jamison, and Boobie Gibson. While they’re all consummate professionals, I wonder how invested one can be as a veteran on a rebuilding team that, by the time the rebuild is complete, probably won’t need you anymore. It has to be like playing basketball aboard a slowly sinking ship. Either mutinous thoughts grow in your brainpan or you have accepted your fate. Then there’s Andy Varejao, writhing on the deck like a lightning-struck marlin. He doesn’t know any other way. God bless him.
The Cavs may not be a contender this year, but they’re possibly a playoff team (if they can shoot a little better), and are a playoff team for the next few years, should Kyrie and TT develop appropriately. V is one of the most efficient players on the team, the best defender, and the only rebounder. Seriously, stop giving Grant trade ideas.
The Clips do own MIN’s 1st rd pick next year and could include DeAndre Jordan if they are replacing him with Andy for the next 3 years. So don’t rule them out. Also keep an eye on Philly with all of the assets they have.
Decent article, I guess, but Andy’s contract isn’t up next season or even the season after. Everyone in the media has penciled him in on 5 other teams in the league. But WHY would we trade him. He’s relatively inexpensive, has three years left and it would deplete us at a needed position. Trading Andy because he needs to play on a contender is a reason that only works for him and said contender. I just really don’t understand why and how he gets traded unless we somehow get the wizards first round pick. I don’t see how he doesn’t… Read more »
Wow, when I first started reading this article I thought he had been traded and that I must have missed the news splash. My frisrt thought was let me keep reading to see who we got for him. Then when I realized that this was a ‘premature’ article, not saying we are saying goodbye to soon to Andy, then I realized that at the end of the day I’m a Cavs fan. As much as I like Andy and he’s my favorite current Cav, I’d trade him tomorrow if I thought it would make the team better in the short… Read more »
My favorite Andy moment – when the team was playing in the finals against SA and had a chance to win a game in the final seconds and turn the series into real match and Andy inexcusably throws up a shot after spinning out of control. Not only was the series a sweep, but it indirectly pushed LJ to attach onto another team given his view that the Cavs cannot compete on the highest level. Ya, hes a hustler, but fact is that his best defensive move, the flop, is now being more closely watched and he is undersized for… Read more »
Great article. I know you are right, but the irrational side of me hopes you are wrong.
Ok, as a Cavs Season Ticket holder. [Screw] you. Trade Andy, the fans favorite player? He’s a important piece, on of the only good pieces we have, and you want to get rid of him? Every team needs a guy like Andy, and we have him, no way we should get rid of him. But thanks for thinking the Cavs suck to bad to have deserve having a guy like Andy on our team. You should get fired you piece you [poop].
I am not following this post. Are there any credible rumors that the Cavs want to trade Varejao? What is the basis of the assumption he will be traded? His age and contract are a great fit for what the Cavs are doing right now. Of course Grant should consider offers for him, but I imagine he will demand a ton in return. As such, I really don’t see him getting moved. Am I missing something?
One of the best articles I’ve ever read on this (or any Cavaliers) blog. And that’s saying something.
Not Andy, but I wonder what we could send to Sacramento to reduce the protection on that pick. Anything?
Really nice post that definitely made me prematurely nostalgic.
I kind of hope Andy is here for this team’s resurgence — A) because he’s Andy, and B) as you noted, I can’t think of a fit who also has something worthwhile to send back. (Harden made a little bit of sense last year, but I’m not sure that’s happening now.)
I’d like to do right by Andy…just holding out hope that we can do right by him here.
I almost wish he was already traded because I like him so much. I want his career to have the sort of legacy (bling) his character deserves.