Especially since the two teams that went to the Finals, the Orlando Magic and the L.A. Lakers, had several significant restricted and unrestricted free agents from their own rosters to deal with.
Of course, we'll have arguably the most significant unrestricted free agent in the history of sports to deal with next summer (if it does indeed come to that) but that's a discussion for another day.
The Cavs had four unrestricted free agents: Anderson Varejao, Wally Szczerbiak, Joe Smith and Lorenzen Wright. Andy is the only core member of the team in this group, and Danny Ferry spoke several times about how re-signing him was going to be one of the front office's biggest priorities over the summer.
Of course, that's easier said than done. Especially after all that drama that went down two years ago between Ferry and Varejao's agent, Dan Fegan.
We all remember this: The two sides spent the entire summer engaged in a ridiculous staring match. Fegan insisted that Varejao was worth $10 million a year or something absurd like that, and Ferry was sticking to . . . something more reasonable. Maybe too reasonable.
Varejao (along with Sasha Pavlovic) missed the preseason, and then made the ill-advised decision to hold out of the actual season. Finally, in December, Varejao signed an offer sheet with the Charlotte Bobcats. The deal was 2 years / $11.1 million with a player option for a third year at $6.2 million.
Since he was restricted, the Cavs had the opportunity to match. And they did, obviously.
This past July 1st, Varejao opted out of his option for a third year and became an unrestricted free agent. That wasn't really a surprise. Then, about a week later, the Cavs and Varejao agreed on a new deal. It happened quickly and dramalessly. That, at least to me, WAS a surprise.
So everyone in Cleveland had to feel pretty pumped about that, right? Wrong. A lot of people were furious about the resigning. Why? Well, let's start with this: Andy got paid . . . like, a lot.
The deal was billed as 6 years / $50 million, but it wasn't quite that steep. The final year is a team option and is only partially guaranteed. It's actually a $42.5 million deal, with the potential to hit $50 million. That's a lot of coin, but I definitely don't consider it to be out of line here.
When I visited a few chat rooms after the signing, a lot of fans (although mostly of the doom and gloom variety) were blasting the signing, claiming that Ferry did the team a HUGE disservice by grossly overpaying Varejao.
National media types seemed confused about it, and ESPN'S Bill Simmons was aghast.
Really? Well, maybe I'm missing something.
Here's my argument:
1.) If we eventually choose to pick up the sixth year, the contract averages out to $8.33 million per season . . . if we don't, we'll pay out an average of $8.5 million for five seasons.
2.) The contract will start at $6.3 million this season, up just $100,000 from the $6.2 million option he had held for this season. Each subsequent year gives him an even, $700,000 bump. NBA salaries are configured in all sorts of ways, but that annual raise doesn't seem outlandish to me. (It ranges from an 11.1% raise early on to a 7.7% raise for the final year.)
3.) Sure, Varejao is a "just" an 8.6 point / 7.2 rebound player. But those numbers, his averages from last season, were part of his best year, statistically, in the NBA. And nothing about his performance last year had the warning signs to make it feel an aberration. He's gradually improving his game, year to year.
4.) Some say he "doesn't have a shot" or "an offensive game." OK, lets be straight here: Andy is not a Carlos Boozer. He's not going to be an offensive threat night in and night out. But his offensive approach has improved because of shot selection.
Last season, he was taking far fewer of those "Andy, don't do it" shots. (He still pump-fakes those shots . . . and my heart still skips a beat every time. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.)
He shot 54% last season, which was a career best. His free throw percentage is low . . . but he shot 62% on those, another career best.
5.) He's only 27, so this contract will carry him through the prime of his career.
6.) I think we can all agree that Varejao's value extends far beyond simple stats. The critics say that we overpaid for an "energy player," a "role player" and / or a "bench player".
But his "energy" is hustle . . . the intangibles that have saved us countless possessions (and games) over the years. That's not even including the offensive charges he gets, and the irritable, in-your-face way he takes on opponents to try to get them off their games.
These are things you can't quantify.
As for being a "role player" and a "bench player": He started more than half the regular season games last year (42), and all the playoff games. He's versatile. When Zydrunas Ilgauskas
or Ben Wallace went down, he could fill in anywhere. That's pretty valuable.
7.) Finally, you have to remember that big men of any skill set don't come cheap, especially not ones in their prime. And if you pay attention to Varejao's play, you know he is a rare talent.
And also remember that we aren't JUST playing for now. We have to keep an eye on the future too, because we have to have a team that LeBron James will want to stick around with. Andy is exactly the team-oriented kind of guy you want to build a core group with.
Again, maybe I'm missing something. But it's Dan Gilbert who's writing the checks, and it's Danny Ferry who's working the salary cap. So, let's all relax and watch him play . . . in our "Wild Thing" wigs.
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