Cavs sign Anthony Parker; Varejao deal 6 yr/ 42.5 mil

Run BJM · Jul 8, 2009

Incentives can bring it up to 50 million.

The dollar amount per year (about $7 million per) makes sense. But six years?

That's the length of the deal agreed upon between Varejao, who once said that he'll never play for the Cavs again the last time he was a free agent, and GM Danny Ferry. Incentives can push the deal to about $50 million over the life of the contract.

And as is the custom with Ferry's negotiations, the last year of the deal for the 2014-15 season (yeah, you're going to be seeing Andy for that much longer) is only partially guaranteed.

This signing came on the same day that the Cavs reportedly agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent guard Anthony Parker, as detailed by Smooth earlier. Parker, at 6'6", gives the team a tall body on the perimeter and exceptional backcourt depth behind Mo Williams and Delonte West.

The Cavs had said since Day 1 of free agency that keeping Varejao around was their priority. Now, he's pretty much a Cav for life (something we wish we could say about LeBron, but that's another story), as the deal will take him through the end of the prime of his career. He also gets long-term financial security as well as a slight pay raise from the $6.2 million he would have made had he picked up his player option for next season.

It is alarming how many people across the internet don't like this deal. If you are one of those people, that's exactly why you don't have a job in an NBA front office and are instead sitting behind a computer taking shots at a guy who does.

The Cavs were out of options, and they have an old front court. If you have taken Economics, you know that one of the first things they teach you is supply and demand. The supply of young big men under 30 who are above-average defenders and rebounders was paper-thin. For the Cavs, the demand was extremely high, especially considering their lack of cap space and the age of Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

In fact, if they had lost Varejao, they wouldn't have a single power forward on their roster. Name one big man younger than 30 who averaged at least 8.6 and 7.2 while being a sharp defender for a good defensive team and could have reasonably been had this summer (reasonably being the key word, please).

It is unfortunate that with these Cavs, we will too often link them with the six games of the Eastern Conference Finals instead of the joyful 66-win season and the best record in the NBA. Yes, they didn't win the whole thing, but they were easily the third-best team in the league behind L.A. and Orlando, and Varejao had a lot to do with it.

There are at least 26 other teams who would have loved to have their season end the way that the Cavs' season did, and not a single fan could sit here and say that they expected the team to accomplish what they did this past season.

Big guys don't just grow on trees, and too often they get overpaid. Nene, another Dan Fegan client, got six years and $60 million three summers ago for playing a role similar to Varejao's. My only issue with this deal is the six years, not the dollar amount. With the salary cap going down next season, free agency in 2010 will not be the way to go to add talent to this team.

As for Parker, the 6'6", 215-pounder and brother of the more well-known Candace Parker of the WNBA was a target of Ferry's after coming over from Europe in the 2006 offseason, when the Cavs settled for David Wesley. Parker ended up signing a three-year contract with the Toronto Raptors and missing out on a trip to the NBA Finals, a Game 7 of the second round (or the second round altogether, considering he played for Toronto), a 66-win season, and a 39-2 home record.

If all works out for him, he could be joining the Cavs at the perfect time: just when they're about to win an NBA championship.

Last season, Parker played in 80 games, started 71, and averaged 10.7 points in 33 minutes per game. The year before, he played and started in all 82 games and put up a career-high 12.5 points. He also shot 39 percent (94-for-241) from 3-point range last year after shooting 43.8 percent (133-for-304) the year before.

If he replicates those numbers in Cleveland, the Cavs are really set. Having that kind of length and production for the first guard off the bench would be phenomenal for the Cavs, who lacked that from guys like Wally Szczerbiak and Sasha Pavlovic in the past. That's who Parker will replace, and if he's scoring 10 points off the bench behind Mo and Delonte, then this signing will be money by Ferry.

The Cavs will now have to replace Ben Wallace as the backup power forward, and former Knick and Trail Blazer Channing Frye is the odds-on favorite to win that distinction. While I am not at all a fan of Frye's after watching him for the last two years in Portland, you can't argue with a backup role for the former lottery pick.

Cleveland would also, for once, be getting younger in the front court after adding a 37-year old Shaq and moving a 34-year old Z to the bench.
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http://mvn.com/cavalierattitude/200...llion-deal-also-add-guard-anthony-parker.html

Dunno how legit that source is.

¹²³ · Jul 13, 2009

Cleveland Cavaliers finalize contract with guard/forward Anthony Parker

INDEPENDENCE -- The Cavaliers have called a 2:45 p.m. press conference today at Cleveland Clinic Courts to introduce their newest player, guard/forward Anthony Parker, who agreed to a two-year deal worth about $6 million this morning.
Parker, 34, played in 80 games (71 starts) this past season for the Toronto Raptors and averaged 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and career highs of 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals in 33.0 minutes per game.

"Anthony will be a solid addition to our roster. He is a very good, intelligent all-around basketball player,'' Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said in a press release announcing the signing. "Our coaching staff will especially appreciate the good shooting and solid defense that Anthony brings to our team.''

The 6-f6, 210-pound Parker has played six years in the NBA, averaging 10.1 points and 3.4 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game in 290 NBA regular season games. He played five seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv (2000-02, 2003-06) and one season with Virtus Roma (2002-03), winning five Israeli Premier League championships, five Israeli Cups and three Euroleague titles.

Parker was named Euroleague MVP and first-team All-Euroleague in 2005. He averaged 12.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 148 career Israeli Premier League games and averaged 16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 90 Euroleague contests.
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kobe23 · Jul 13, 2009

damn... teams are really stacking up...

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Cavs sign Anthony Parker; Varejao deal 6 yr/ 42.5 mil

Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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Cavs sign Anthony Parker; Varejao deal 6 yr/ 42.5 mil

Run BJM Heavy lies the crown. Staff Member Global Moderator

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kobe23 JBB JustBBall Member

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