Anderson Varejao Waived by Trail Blazers After Trade: Latest Details, Reaction

A little more than an hour after the Portland Trail Blazers announced they landed veteran big man Anderson Varejao in a trade, the team waived him on Thursday.

Erik Gundersen of the Columbian reported on Varejao's swift departure from Rip City. The 33-year-old had spent all 11-plus seasons of his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers.    

Cleveland had phased Varejao out of the rotation during the 2015-16 campaign, and injuries plagued him in prior years. Even without him, the Cavs advanced to the NBA Finals last year, so it wasn't surprising that Cleveland unloaded him Thursday.

The Cavs will have to go primarily with center Timofey Mozgov and rebounding specialist Tristan Thompson up front. They're deploying smaller lineups more often under new head coach Tyronn Lue, who demands an uptempo offense and will welcome Channing Frye, a stretch 4, into the fold, courtesy of the Varejao trade.

Portland wasn't an ideal destination for Varejao in terms of prospective playing time. He wound up being a salary dump and wouldn't have fit with the Blazers' current makeup.

With young bigs such as Noah Vonleh, Meyers Leonard and Ed Davis on the roster, Varejao had little chance of remaining in Portland with such a big contract, which pays him $9.6 million this season.

Bobby Marks of The Vertical reported the Cavs aren't eligible to sign Varejao in the event he was waived and also explained how his lucrative deal isn't as much of a burden on the Blazers as it may seem on the surface:

Injuries have been an unfortunate theme for Varejao, so he'll need to prove he can still contribute and stay healthy to have a chance at earning a spot on another team.

The fact that he was buried on the bench in Cleveland over the past season-and-a-half makes it difficult to evaluate Varejao and project his NBA future. Any team that's thin up front may at least give the newly available veteran a look.