Cavs in Tough Position - Sign Varejao

With the Charlotte Bobcats and Anderson Varejao coming to terms on a 3-year deal that is reportedly in the $17MM range, I am going against my previous posts and saying it is now time for the Cavs to sign Varejao.

After watching the Cavs play the Nets tonight, it is very apparent that this team needs all the help they can get at this point. I understand that Lebron was on the bench hurt, but Vince Carter was on the bench for most of the game as well. What was the difference in the Nets embarrassing the Cavs on their home court tonight? They had Jason Kidd & Richard Jefferson to fall back on. The Cavs have no one to fall back to after Lebron, so it is going to take a collaborative effort of a group as a whole to back up Lebron this season.

Separate from the fact that they need all the help they can get, it's actually not the worst deal ever for the Cavs. As Chad Ford of ESPN puts it, if the Cavs were willing to offer Varejao 5-years at $32MM, why wouldn't they match an offer of 3-years at $17MM. That actually probably is the going rate for a 7 point - 7 rebound guy anyway. Let's hope though, that Varejao can be a 10 and 10 player for this much money.

The Cavs have one week now to match the offer and it looks like it might happen regardless of the ill will between the Cavs front office and Varejao. The Cavs are riddled with horrible contracts that don't expire for another 2-3 years anyway, making it virtually impossible to sign major free agents and impossible to trade away a lot of these average players with star-money contracts. Varejao would have an opt-out-option, which he would probably exercise, after 2 years. This means this deal would expire right about the same time they can unload some of the other dead weight they are carrying.

Coincidentally, that will be at the same time as when the Cavs will be offering Lebron James more money than Bill Gates takes home in a year. Over the next two years, this team needs to do anything possible to please one person - Lebron. Matching the Bobcats offer for Varejao may not mean 20 points or 10 rebounds a game, but strategically it shows Lebron that the team is making every effort in their current situation to improve and win a championship now, not later.

The Cavs have looked so bad lately, that it was even nice seeing Eric Snow on the court tonight. This is no different than last year's frustrations, so let's shoot for a middle seed in the playoffs and hand Lebron the ball on every play come playoff time. With Varejao flopping all over the place in the playoffs and Lebron averaging a triple-double, this team can still make a run at a title.