Anderson Varejao has had a terrible run of injury luck over the past couple of years. He's played in 81 games... over the past three seasons combined. Last year's was especially terrible, as blood clots in his legs ended his season and threatened his life. But it's been a summer, he's gotten married, and he's on track to return to full strength... eventually.
"My goal this season is just to stay healthy,'' he said. "Everything else will come.''
Varejao spent most of the summer rehabilitating his quad in Brazil and working to strengthen his leg. He has only recently started playing pick-up games and, though his quad feels good, he estimates he's at about 70 percent heading into the start of training camp.
"I need to get rhythm back but it feels good," he said. "I'm very happy. I've been testing my quad in those pick up games, setting a lot of screens, going up for offensive rebounds -- that's my game.
"It feels good. It feels, actually, great. I don't even think about it any more, which is good."
via Newlywed Anderson Varejao ready to get back to work for Cleveland Cavaliers | cleveland.com.
So, only being 70 percent headed into camp after so long off is not great, but that's what happens after a traumatic medical condition befalls you. And that's big here. It wasn't an injury (last year). It was a serious medical condition that developed. So you can understand it.
The Cavs need Varejao healthy. They need Kyrie Irving healthy. They need Dion Waiters healthy. They need Andrew Bynum healthy. They're banking on a lot of injury concerns to clear up and everything to come together in a special soup. Varejao's not so much the onions as the base of that soup, that's Kyrie Irving. But he's definitely the carrots. It's really important that they're not moldy, or the whole thing is ruined. No one knows how this soup's going to come out, but you have to be excited to taste it.
So concludes your Cavaliers soup update.
