The Cleveland Cavaliers are the best team in the Eastern Conference right now, just as everyone expected, with their 26-9 record. The Cavaliers have been playing particularly well lately as they have won seven straight games which coincides with the team getting healthy. This Cavaliers team is so deep that there are very deserving guys out of the rotation and that has caused some problems with the team. Don't count Anderson Varejao among those causing trouble for not playing though as he is not expected to request a trade, according to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com.
Varejao was the Cavaliers starting center last season for the first 26 games until he tore his Achilles and was lost for the remainder of the season. Varejao's injury led to the Cavaliers trading for Timofey Mozgov and with both still on the team this season it was expected that Varejao would be Mozgov's backup. Instead, Mozgov has lost his starting center spot to Tristan Thompson and has had his playing time limited as well.
Head coach David Blatt has shortened his frontcourt rotation recently and because of that Varejao has only appeared in one game in January and that was to play seven minutes of garbage time. The 33 year old center still has plenty left in the tank and could certainly be playing for someone but he still does not want to request a trade away from Cleveland.
"If I go anywhere else and win a championship, it's not going to be the same. I want to win a championship in Cleveland. That's where I want to stay. I love Cleveland," said Varejao.
Varejao is set to make nearly $10 million this season and is technically under contract for two more seasons at more than $10 million but both of those years are non-guaranteed so he will almost certainly not see that money. Due to his contract situation the Cavaliers explored trade options for Varejao in the preseason to try and bring in a shooting guard like Joe Johnson or Jamal Crawford but were unable to work anything out.
Varejao has appeared in just 24 games this season and is averaging 2.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 8.8 minutes per game. Varejao has never played for another team in his NBA career and although he isn't in the rotation he would rather have a chance to get a ring in Cleveland than possibly contribute elsewhere.
