<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Many inquiries about Varejao ? General manager Danny Ferry said the player most asked about in trades is Anderson Varejao. Ferry said he received a call ``almost every day'' about the 6-foot-11, 230-pound power forward. Other teams love Varejao's hustle and rebounding. Ferry loves those things, too, which is why Varejao probably isn't headed anywhere. ? Along with coach Mike Brown, Ferry visited Drew Gooden at the forward's summer basketball camp to assure Gooden that they are not ``shopping him around the league.'' Ferry is smart enough not to promise Gooden that he'll never be traded -- but he wanted Gooden to know that the Cavaliers do have plans for him. ? Brown is Gooden's seventh coach in four years. The Cavaliers hope that Brown's communication skills and his accent on defense can help Gooden, who has been defensively challenged in the past. Ferry points to Gooden being only 23 and coming off a season where he averaged a career-high 14.2 points and 9.2 rebounds as reason for optimism. ? Despite all this, it would not be a shock if Gooden is traded. The Cavaliers know they need a defensive-minded power forward to play on the front line with Zydrunas Ilgauskas and LeBron James. One possibility would be to start Varejao and bring Gooden off the bench. But it's hard to know how Gooden would react to that, especially since he'll be a free agent at the end of the season -- meaning his playing time and stats will have a direct impact on his new contract. ? The Cavaliers have three power forwards: Free-agent Donyell Marshall, Gooden and Varejao. They also have had some preliminary talks with 36-year-old Dale Davis, who is 6-foot-11 and can play power forward and backup center. It's believed Davis has turned down an offer worth at least $1.5 million from the Indiana Pacers. The Cavaliers need a backup center, but it's hard to know how serious they are about Davis. ? There haven't been any recent contract talks with Robert ``Tractor'' Traylor. ? The Cavaliers thought they had a very good chance to sign Sarunas Jasikevicius, the European star who took a three-year offer from the Pacers. Supposedly, the Cavaliers' offer was slightly more, but the 29-year-old Lithuanian preferred the Pacers because he thought they'd win sooner than the Cavaliers. He was the best man at Ilgauskas' wedding and seems to have had a better opportunity to start here but still preferred the Pacers. ? I don't see the Cavaliers signing Marko Jaric, the restricted free agent from the Los Angeles Clippers who visited this week. He did average 9.9 points and 6.1 assists. He's a decent defender at 6-foot-7. But he's also restricted, and the Cavaliers believe the Clippers will match any reasonable offer that he receives. ? It's amazing that Jeff McInnis received a two-year, $7 million deal from the New Jersey Nets. He will back up Jason Kidd. For McInnis, this is a chance to re-establish himself after his stormy last season with the Cavaliers. The Nets are the sixth team in nine years for McInnis. ? The Cavaliers are looking at free agents such as Damon Jones, Steve Blake and Earl Watson as point guard possibilities. Jones makes the most sense, because he has the best outside shot and the most experience. But Jones declined a $2.7 million option to stay with the Miami Heat, so his price could be high and a challenge to fit into the Cavaliers' salary cap.</div> Source
