Anderson Varejao Out Indefinitely With Broken Wrist

by Conrad Kaczmarek on Feb 12, 2012 3:58 PM CST in Cleveland Cavaliers in the News

Bleehhhhhhhhhh. That's my reaction to this news. We thought it was just a sprained wrist when the initial x-rays came up negative. Later, the MRI revealed that he had a fracture in his right wrist and that he will be out for some time.

Just as the Cavs were starting to get healthy with Daniel Gibson coming back from a neck infection and Kyrie Irving presumably coming back on Wednesday from a concussion, Andy goes down. When Varejao got hurt last season, the Cavs then plummeted to the cellar and lost 26 games in a row. I doubt that will happen this time around, but it will definitely be a rough stretch.

It doesn't appear that the Cavs will make any sort of trade for depth up front, but their interior defense will inevitably take a hit. Having Semih Erden, Ryan Hollins, and Samardo Samuels playing significant minutes is never a good thing.

For those of you that wanted the Cavs to tank and get a better draft pick, you might get your wish. The loss of Anderson Varejao will lead to many more losses and I could see Cleveland falling to get the 5th or 6th pick in the draft now. Obviously we'll see how his absence affects the team once they play a few more games without him, but I'm not confident.

There is currently no timetable for his return and we'll learn more once he gets evaluated again by team doctors. I'll keep you updated, no worries.

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shit

My first reaction upon hearing this news was, “Well, at least we’ll get a better draft pick.” But these games are gonna be really, REALLY tough to watch with him out. At least Kyrie and TT are here now to show us some fun stuff, so it’ll be better than last year.

Cincy Jungle: Where the Rocky Mountains are in the Pacific Ocean

by sexsalad on Feb 12, 2012 4:23 PM CST reply actions

Nice. I won’t have to listen to the trade Andy camp now.

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Feb 12, 2012 4:32 PM CST reply actions

if they trade Jamison the losses will be plentiful, and we will still get to watch kyrie. the best of all worlds. I know it worked out for us last year, but I really hate the lottery. im going to be having nightmares of us getting the 11th pick

by davidzavac on Feb 12, 2012 4:56 PM CST reply actions

I have that same nightmare, David.

With or Without the H

by johnf34 on Feb 12, 2012 6:01 PM CST up reply actions

but good lord would a top 5 pick be beautiful. Would we be able to score enough if we took a guy like MKG? thats my biggest worry. Defensively, having Irving, MKG, Gee, Tristan, and Andy would be stifling. getting points would be an issue

by davidzavac on Feb 12, 2012 5:05 PM CST reply actions

trying to decide between Drummond, Barnes, or MKG would be a wonderful problem to have, though. ill stop talking to myself now haha

by davidzavac on Feb 12, 2012 5:06 PM CST reply actions

I agree. I think I’d take them in the order that you just listed them

FearTheSword, SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers blog

by Conrad Kaczmarek on Feb 12, 2012 5:11 PM CST up reply actions

would a Sessions and Jamison for Al Jefferson from the Jazz trade work for Utah? They have Kanter, Millsap, and Favors even without him. Jamison gets them cap space that they dont have, and Sessions gives them a better pg option than Devin Harris. For us, adding in Jefferson and a wing through the draft would make us contenders, or at least close to it.

by davidzavac on Feb 12, 2012 6:29 PM CST reply actions

It will produce more data for us to gauge Varejao’s true value. Not really for trading, but how much winning happens with him on/off the team.

Last year was a pretty good hint.

by MondayNightTebow on Feb 12, 2012 8:33 PM CST reply actions

Right, but last year’s team was so incredibly flawed in other ways. We’ll be able to see how much of it was adding Irving and how much was adding Varejao.

FearTheSword, SBNation's Cleveland Cavaliers blog

by Conrad Kaczmarek on Feb 12, 2012 8:37 PM CST up reply actions