Astute reader Will just posted in the comments that Sasha Pavlovic has re-signed with the Cavs, thus ending his holdout. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, though according to sources it is a three-year contract. Anderson Varejao remains unsigned.
What does this mean for the Cavs?
Honestly, probably not much. Pavlovic has been in Europe this entire time so it’s anyone’s guess how close to being in game shape he is. He very well could have spent this entire time sitting on his ass. He also missed out on learning the intricacies of the new Mike Brown offense, which should put him about, oh, three days behind (I assume he still knows how to stand around and watch LBJ hold the ball).
More seriously, of the two holdouts Pavlovic was of lesser importance, and in Devin Brown the Cavs had already found a player to replace him — at a fraction of the cost to boot. As I wrote at the time of the trade, Devin Brown is significantly better than Pavlovic. Signing Pavlovic is more like window dressing on a team that is in desperate need of an athletic big man who’s strong on defense and can run the floor. Someone like, oh, Varejao.
Until the terms of the deal are disclosed it’s probably best to refrain from making any final judgments. If the contract is worth in the vicinity of $30+ million then this was probably a huge mistake. If it’s worth closer to $20 million then things look much better. We’ll have to wait and see.
According to Brian Windhorst the contract is worth between $4-$5 million per year.
