In the final hours of the NBA trading deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers have traded away one of their most popular players in a three team deal. Ideastream’s Mark Urycki reports..
Brazilian Anderson Varejao played all of his 12 seasons for Cleveland. He earned the nickname Wild Thing for his willingness to sacrifice his body fighting for rebounds and diving for loose balls… and for having the best hairdo in the league.
But the 33 year old missed most of last year due to an Achilles tendon injury and has been playing limited minutes this year behind forward Tristan Thomas and center Timofey Mozgov.
The Cavs are sending Varejao and a first round draft pick to the Portland Trailblazers. They also send young guard Jared Cunningham and a pick to the Orlando Magic. In return Cleveland gets forward Channing Frye, who’s about the same age and size as Varejao but a better shooter. Frye is shooting an excellent 40% from 3 point range this year so he can join Kevin Love and JR Smith as dangerous outside shooters.
Part of the deal is about money. Varejao would cost the Cavs 10 million dollars next year.