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Where In The World Is Anderson Varejao?

Anderson Varejao looks and plays like a bizarro Joakim Noah to me. That being said, you may have noticed (but probably not, because you have been so focused on LeBron James) that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been without Varejao since the beginning of the 2007-08 NBA season. His absence did not hurt the Cavs much last night as they knocked off the NBA’s best team, the Boston Celtics, in overtime.

Varejao is not on any NBA active roster because he is holding out from signing a deal that he believes would be a gross undervaluation of his services. He feels that the Cavs have played him like a fool and would rather continue training in Brazil instead of signing a low value contract with Cleveland. In fact, if Cleveland ends up signing Varejao, he hopes to be traded immediately [Varejao on Cleveland: ‘I don’t want to play there anymore’].

But Danny Ferry (GM for the Cavs) is not willing to give up on Varejao. He believes that there is still a chance to sign the center/forward and make him happy to stay in Cleveland. The problem is that Varejao has had just about enough of Ferry’s tactics to make him a Cav for at least another year.

Here are some things Ferry has done (or has refused to do), which has restricted Varejao’s immediate re-entry into the NBA:

  • As a restricted free agent, Varejao has to sign with the Cavs if they match another team’s offer. Ferry has threatened to match prior high dollar offers, and Varejao has refused to sign.
  • He has been unwilling to sign Varejao to a lower-paying one-year contract and instead wants to pay Varejao a “reasonable” long-term contract.
  • He refuses to go to an arbitrator, even though he does not want to deal directly with Varejao’s agent, Dan Fegen. Fegen has even endorsed the involvement of an arbitrator.
  • Ferry attempted to incude Varejao into signing with the Cavs in February by showing up to Varejao’s home unannounced and without giving any notice to Fegan.  Varejao was having nothing to do with working around his agent in negotiations.

This is a nice example of a contract negotiation gone very bad.  So bad that both sides are having extreme difficulties getting around their despise for one another.  Hopefully the Cavs end up getting some value out of their former player and Varejao ends up happy and with some more money in his pocket.  For anything to work out, though, Ferry needs to understand that Fegan must be included in all communication.

-Darren Heitner 

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.

3 replies on “Where In The World Is Anderson Varejao?”

Another take, per Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports:

“Monday, Varejao’s agent, Dan Fegan, apparently set him up with a writer to say he wants a sign-and-trade out of Cleveland. He’s rejecting the reported $32 million that Cleveland has offered him, and he thinks there are bigger riches on the market for him.

Maybe there’s a few more dollars, but not much more. Fegan has his client talking tough and he’s committing career suicide. He’ll never have it as good as chasing championships next to James for years and years. Varejao is letting Fegan use him to get his reputation back after the Yi Jianlian draft debacle, and that’s a shame. To hear Varejao insist he wants out is troubling to James. As much as anything, LeBron seems offended that a teammate would no longer want to play with him.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AreYb7WoMBfNVa3sPQOZOgy8vLYF?slug=aw-lebron112807&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

After reading some of the offers, I was quite surprised that Varejao refused them as well. But most reports say that it was Varejao who vetoed the deals, not Fegan. Varejao seems pretty adamant about getting out of Cleveland unless they give him a very overvalued contract. It looks like he’s pitching for a 1-year contract so that he can get rid of his restricted status.

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