The Cleveland Cavaliers’ collateral damage is the Golden State Warriors’ savvy midseason pickup.
Golden State announced on Monday that it officially signed Anderson Varejao:
The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors have signed free agent center Anderson Varejao to a contract, the team announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Varejao, 33, won’t see a ton of minutes with the Warriors. Festus Ezeli is out with a knee injury, Jason Thompson was released and Andrew Bogut is forever an injury risk, but Golden State likes to run super small and Varejao doesn’t have the reach on his jump shot to log minutes as a stretch 5.
But the Warriors will need him for spot duty, and he’s a clear upgrade over Thompson. He keeps the ball moving, makes some quick decisions on the move, not unlike David Lee, and can generate extra possessions with his ability to cage long rebounds.
Signing with Golden State puts Varejao on a collision course to face his former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in the NBA Finals. A rematch of last June’s dance is still the most likely outcome of the postseason bracket, and there would be something painfully ironic about Varejao contributing to a title run at the expense of the team he spent the entire first part of his career trying win for.
