Varejao Breaking Bank for Cavs

This week, I had my overnight orientation for Temple U so I was kind of disconnected from the sports world a bit. When Darren tweeted me about the Anderson Varejao story, I was shocked! I did not think in a million years that Varejao would get a 6-year, $50 million contract; especially with Shaq incoming. Personally, after reviewing the facts, I believe Varejao is now extremely overpaid. But, I would be wrong to not present the facts before jumping down Andy’s throat.

Here is a comparison of Varejao’s 2008-2009 statistics against those of Tim Duncan, Pau Gasol and Amare Stoudemire:

• Varejao – 81 gp, .536 FG%, .616 FT%, 7.2 rpg, 8.6 ppg
• Stoudemire ($15 million in ‘08-’09) – 53 gp, .539 FG%, .835 FT%, 8.1 rpg, 21.4 ppg
• Duncan ($20.5 million in ‘08-’09) – 75 gp, .504 FG%, .692 FT%, 10.7 rpg, 19.3 ppg
• Gasol (15 million in ‘08-’09) – 81 gp, .563 FG%, .786 FT%, 9.5 rpg, 18.9 ppg

All the details of Varejao’s contract have not been released, but if you base his $42.5 million in guaranteed money (final year is partially guaranteed) over six years, it equals a little over $7 million per year.