The Cleveland Cavaliers and forward Anderson Varejao have agreed to a multi-year contract, the team announced Thursday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that it is for six years and could be worth as much as $50 million. The paper also reported guard Anthony Parker could be signing a contract within the next few days.
Varejao averaged a career-high 8.6 points last year while also averaging 7.2 rebounds over 81 games, which included 42 starts. Over five seasons in the NBA, all with Cleveland, he has averaged 6.6 points and 6.5 rebounds over 312 games.
"We are very happy to announce that we have agreed to a multi-year contract with Anderson," Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry said. "From the start of free agency, Anderson made it clear he wanted to be a part of our future and that he loved being in Cleveland. For us, we have been one of the better teams in the NBA the past four years. Andy has played an important role with our team during that time and continuity is important to us. He brings many valued contributions to our team on and off the court and plays with relentless passion and energy every play. He is an elite defender and we want to continue building our strong defensive identity."
In 60 playoff games over the last four seasons with the Cavs, Varejao has averaged 6.0 points and 5.6 boards.
Parker, 34, has spent the past three seasons in Toronto and in the 2008-09 campaign he averaged 10.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists over 80 games.
For his career, which has also included stops with Philadelphia and Orlando, he has averaged 10.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists over 290 contests.
http://tsn.ca/nba/story/?id=284188