Anderson Varejao Reportedly Traded to Trail Blazers in 3-Team Deal

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao had played for the Cavs franchise his entire career, but now he is reportedly on the move after being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Sam Amick of USA Today reported Varejao will land in Portland as part of a trade that will send Channing Frye to Cleveland from the Orlando Magic. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported the Magic will get a second-round pick in the deal.

Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reported Portland will likely waive Varejao once the deal is completed. He will not be able to re-sign with the Cavaliers for another year under the league's collective bargaining agreement.

The Cavaliers have depth in the frontcourt with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov, so losing Varejao won't be a crippling subtraction in terms of the rotations.

What's more, Cleveland is chasing the Golden State Warriors after Stephen Curry's team defeated the Cavs in six games during last season's NBA Finals. It is difficult for any squad to match up with Golden State, especially when it plays small ball with Draymond Green as the de facto big man.

Having so many options down low is helpful on the glass and in order to keep everyone fresh over the course of a long season, but Cleveland can realistically only play one of those three in addition to Frye for long stretches at a time if it hopes to keep up in a hypothetical Finals rematch against the Warriors. Considering the goal is to ultimately lift the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the 48-4 Warriors have to be considered.

As for Varejao, he is averaging a modest 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds a game, but he brings veteran experience to the table and is not far removed from two consecutive seasons in which he averaged a double-double in 2011-12 (10.8 points and 11.5 rebounds) and 2012-13 (14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds).

He is also a solid perimeter defender despite his status as a 6'11" forward. According to NBA.com, opponents are shooting 5 percent worse than their normal averages from beyond 15 feet when Varejao defends them.

Trevor Magnotti of Fear the Sword pointed to that perimeter defense as one reason Varejao has seen more time in recent games (19 minutes Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers and 27 minutes Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans) instead of Mozgov:

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Varejao playing more as Mozgov continues to get less time has been a recent point of discussion because of Andy's play, and it's something the Cavs very well could and should be considering. Varejao has a great rapport with his teammates, he's a guy who rarely makes mistakes on either end, and the Cavs could use him simply for rebounding and perimeter defense, two areas Mozgov has been struggling in all season. Varejao's long been a very good defender when it comes to rotating to spot-up shooters, and while he has his issues in the pick-and-roll, Mozgov's been horrible at defending these as well, so it's not like there's really any drop-off there.

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That rapport with his teammates and his defense will likely be appealing once he hits the open market, but Varejao's overall health is a red flag, especially in his 12th season in the league. Here is a look at how many games he has played in recent years:

Season	Games Played	Games Started
2010-11	31	31
2011-12	25	25
2012-13	25	25
2013-14	65	29
2014-15	26	26
2015-16	31	0

Alas, he is healthy now and recently tallied eight points and six rebounds against Los Angeles and 10 boards against New Orleans.

With a number of playoff teams needing help inside, Varejao shouldn't have an issue landing on his feet once he hits the open market. As it stands, it's the end of an era, as Varejao's dozen-year run in Cleveland is over regardless of Portland's decision.