Cavs Ink Varejao and Parker

Well, there you have it.

It must’ve been a late night Wednesday for Danny Ferry, but he managed to get forward Anderson Varejao resigned, while adding 6-foot-6 guard Anthony Parker from the Toronto Raptors.

Varejao was reportedly signed to a 6-year deal worth $50-million, which is probably right around the amount the team wanted him for. I’m glad Ferry and company manned up and got Varejao back. He’s steadily improved offensively and on the boards every season since arriving in Cleveland in 2004, and at just 26 years old, his upside is tremendous. Plus, no one in the NBA can flop like Andy.

As for Parker, he’s likely to play back-up to Delonte West at the two, but he fills a much needed void the Cavs needed for a large shooting guard. Last season for Toronto, Parker averaged 10.7 points per-game, about two points lower per-game than his previous two seasons with the Raptors. He was making just over $4-million per-year with the Raptors, and will probably make around the same in Cleveland I’m guessing. He was originally drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 1997, but ended up in Philadelphia for a couple of seasons before going to Orlando in 1999-2000 and then heading to Europe where he really made a name for himself. Parker was named the Euroleague Most Valuable Player in 2004-05 had a storied career playing overseas basketball. But more importantly, he is the brother of WNBA All-Star Candace Parker, who is married to former Duke forward Sheldon Williams. They actually just had a child and Candace is back on the court, pumping breast milk for the newborn just before tip. Niiiiceeeee.

Oh, and on a different note, I'm not sure where you come out on the whole LeBron James tape saga from the Nike Camp, but I want to see it. LeBron needs to man up and allow that tape to be illegally put on YouTube for all of us to see. He looks like a pretty big baby in all of this, and if it would've been him throwing down a ridiculous dunk on one of those college players, I guarantee it would already be on YouTube and Nike wouldn't have confiscated it. Maybe it will surface in the coming weeks, but who knows. Plus, it's a Xavier kid, Jordan Crawford, who threw it down on the King. WE NEED TO SEE THIS!!!!!

What Now?

Another free agency period looks to have come and gone in the blink of an eye, and with Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza all but off the table, the Wine and Gold look to be making what would be considered “Option C” in getting a player like Anthony Parker from the Toronto Raptors, all while attempting to keep Anderson Varejao in a Cleveland uniform.

If there’s one thing the Cavs don’t want, it’s another holdout situation with Varejao like they had in 2007. Hopefully they can agree to a new contract sometime in the near future, but if we’ve learned anything, it’s that Varejao’s agent seems to have somewhat unrealistic expectations about how much Andy is actually worth. Granted, Varejao has made significant strides to become a much better player on the offensive end, averaging nearly two points per-game better this past season compared to 07-08, but 8.6 points per-game and under 10 boards per-game isn’t worth over $10 million per-year in my opinion.

These next few weeks will be interesting. It looks like the Cavs will land Parker from Toronto after the Raptors just stole Hedo Turkoglu from Portland, and they might even get Antonio McDyess from the Pistons for a reasonable price if he doesn’t choose to sign with San Antonio, which is close to his home.

I think in the long run, the only person to somewhat blame for not landing high-caliber players like Artest and Ariza is LeBron James. He hasn’t given any indication on what the hell he’s going to do after the 2009-10 season, and let’s face it; no one wants to be stuck in Cleveland in the post-LeBron Era. Hell, I don’t want to even be around for that. But it's hard to fault him for not signing an extention or giving an indication of what he's going to do. He's focused on winning right now, which is what we all want as Cleveland fans. Reports came out the other day with about a conversation he supposedly had with Trevor Ariza about how he plans on staying in Cleveland past 2010, but those reports were quickly shot down by Chris Broussard from ESPN. Broussard didn’t actually interview the King, but said sources close to LeBron told him the original reports were not true. I like Broussard, being that he has ties close to the Cleveland area, but I’ve always questioned ESPN’s agenda when it comes to reports on LeBron staying in Cleveland. It seems at times they are almost campaigning for him to come to New York, when no reports have EVER come out with him saying he’d like to play for the Knicks when his contract runs out, but when an actual report comes out with a source saying he’s staying in Cleveland past next season, they are quick to shoot it down with a source that’s probably just as legitimate as the original report. Maybe it’s because NYC is close to Bristol, who knows. All I know is that when the King decides to stay in Cleveland after the 2010 season it seems like it will be a dark day for the World Wide Leader. Alright, time to step off my soapbox.

Indians Deal DeRosa to Cardinals

Other than perhaps Victor Martinez, Mark DeRosa has been one of the only bright spots in the Indians' lineup this season. But after last night's loss, the Tribe's ninth loss in their last 11 games, DeRosa was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for right-handed reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later (probably not Albert Pujols).

Generally speaking, reactions seem to be pretty negative to this trade because of how well DeRosa is playing and how little the Indians got for him. But on the other side, the team isn't in any position to contend for a playoff spot this season and DeRosa is on a one year deal and isn't likely to stay with the Indians if he continues his career year.

Sitting 11 games back in the AL Central, the Indians don't look to be making a run at a postseason berth anytime soon. They have an immediate need to quality arms in the bullpen, and with Jake Westbrook coming back and if Fausto Carmona can get his head on straight, this team, if healthy, has enough quality players to make a run at something next. As for this year, they are clearly done.

As for the other end of the trade, Chris Perez has the stuff to be a great arm coming out of the bullpen. A 24-year old former first round pick out of Miami, Perez has tallied 30 strikeouts in 23.2 innings this season and is a much needed right-handed power arm in the bullpen until Rafael Betancourt can come back.

Man, is this summer going to suck or what? It's not even July and the Indians are done. The Browns will be their usual train wreck in a few months, and the Cavs don't start until mid-fall. If anyone has any good concerts or anything fun to do this summer, send them to theclevelandsportsanimal@gmail.com because sports don't seem to be a viable option for entertainment for awhile.