This summer the Cleveland Cavaliers lost grip of LeBron’s sidekick Carlos Boozer.
Boozer not only turned his back on the Cavaliers but also the city of Cleveland.
General Manager Jim Paxson of the Cavaliers immediately needed to make an impact and fill the void that Boozer left.
Boozer is almost an irreplaceable player whose talent level is extremely high and many in Cleveland doubted that Paxson could fill the void.
Only a few days later after Boozer’s backstab signing to the Utah Jazz, the Cavaliers traded Tony Battie and two second round draft picks for Drew Gooden and Anderson Varejao. Currently Jim Paxson and the Cavaliers are sitting in first place in the central and second place in the Eastern Conference because of the impact of the power forward tandem Gooden and the “wild thing” Varejao.
Gooden was drafted as the fourth overall selection in the 2002 draft. He had a rocky start to his career being traded three times in three years. Gooden was always known as a scorer but this year Coach Silas has challenged him to rebound and play more aggressive defense (to fill Boozer’s role).
Through 30 games this season, he has averaged 10.2 rebounds a game and 13.8 points a game. His numbers are significantly higher then his previous seasons with Orlando and Memphis.
Gooden has the intensity, rebounding skills and scoring threat mentality that Boozer had in his two seasons with the Cavaliers. In Cleveland it’s now all Gooden.
Varejao is nicknamed the “wild thing” because of his aggressive attitude on the court and his afro hair style. Anderson hardly speaks English but somehow has rejuvenated this Cavaliers’ team.
Varejao is from Brazil and was drafted in the second round of the 2004 draft.
Like Carlos Boozer in 2002 wants to prove that he is better than other second round picks and deserves a higher appreciation for his talent.
He’s averaging 3.9 rebounds a game and 4.5 points a game this year, but the young Brazilian is more focused on the most important factor in a NBA game — hustling.
Boozer in his breakout season in 2003-2004 averaged 11.4 rebounds a game and 15.5 points a game.
Adding Drew and Anderson’s stats together they average 18.3 points a game and 14.1 rebounds a game.
But adding stats together doesn’t show the whole impact the two bring to the table at the forward position.
If the Cavaliers still had Carlos Boozer they may still be sitting in great position to make the playoffs but with emerging players like Gooden and Varejao, depth is added to the roster,
This makes the Cavaliers contenders, not pretenders for the NBA title.
