Page 22 - ATD20Febr2016

A22
SPORTSSaturday 20 February 2016
LeBron, Love power Cavs after trade of popular Varejao
By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer
CLEVELAND (AP) - There
was no loud music, none
of the usual joking around
inside Cleveland’s locker
room.
The mood was somber af-
ter a win. The Cavaliers no
longer have Anderson Va-
rejao.
LeBron James scored 25
points and barely missed
a triple-double, Kevin
Love added 15 points and
15 rebounds and the Cavs
looked refreshed and refo-
cused following from the
All-Star break with a 106-95
victory over the Chicago
Bulls on Thursday night.
James had nine rebounds
and nine assists in 35 min-
utes for the Cavs, who lost
their first two matchups
with Chicago this season.
But the Bulls are broken,
missing three key players
because of injuries.
‘’In the first two games we
didn’t match their inten-
sity and got beat,’’ James
said. ‘’Today, I think we an- Rose said. ‘’I’m going to
swered the call.’’
Cleveland has its sights
set on finishing with the
East’s best record and
earlier in the day the club
acquired forward Chan-
ning Frye from Orlando in a
three-team trade the Cavs
hope can get them an
NBA trade
Continued from Page 17
He was talking about his
team. He may as well
have been talking about
the league, where there’s
a clear wait-and-see ap-
proach about how the
massive cap jumps that
are coming will inevitably
change the way teams go
about their business. This
season’s cap was a record
$70 million. That seems
like pocket change when
compared to how next
season will likely top $90
million, and a cap of $110
million or more for 2017-18
is possible.
“The spike is something
we’re all aware of ... as
we’re thinking about things
and trying to create more
financial opportunities in
NBA title. But to get Frye,
the Cavs had to deal the
wildly popular Varjeao.
He spent 12 seasons with
the Cavs, endearing him-
self to his teammates with
his hustle and becom-
ing one of the city’s most
popular players, known as
‘’Wild Thing’’ for his all-out enraged Noah, who com-
style and long, frizzy hair.
James will deeply miss Va-
rejao, his teammate for
eight seasons.
‘’That’s the worst part of
the business right there,’’
James said. ‘’When you
lose a brother, lose a team-
mate, that’s the worst part
about it.’’
Derrick Rose scored 28
points and Pau Gasol had
14 for the Bulls, just 5-14
since they were a season-
best 10 games over .500 on
Jan. 9. Chicago is currently
without Jimmy Butler, Niko-
la Mirotic andJoakim Noah.
‘’We’ve just got to stay to-
gether through the good,
the bad and the ugly - and
it’s the ugly right now,’’
keep controlling what I
can control. We’re trying to
fight to be in the playoffs.’’
With the Bulls hanging
around in the third quar-
ter, James scored seven
points during a 15-4 run
capped by his dunk off a
lob from J.R. Smith. James
In this Nov. 30. 2015, file photo, Houston Rockets center Dwight
Howard (12) and Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond reach
for the rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game,
in Auburn Hills, Mich. Green for perhaps the
the coming summer, for
us to grow and get bet-
ter,” Atlanta coach Mike
Budenholzer said. “I’m sure
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving, left, passes against Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose in the second
half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, in Cleveland. The Cavaliers won 106-95.
celebrated his latest high- volve Gasol.
light clip, which gave the Instead, Chicago sent vet-
Cavs a 17-point lead, with eran guard Kirk Hinrich to
a dance that would have Atlanta for a future second-
round pick and acquired
plained about similar the- guard Justin Holiday from
atrics by the four-time MVP Utah.
in the past. The moves save the Bulls
Love was aggressive inside some luxury tax money but
all night in his first game they certainly won’t tilt the The negative is the uncer-
since sustaining a shoulder balance of power in the
stinger on Feb. 10. Eastern Conference.
The Bulls also were involved There had been loud rum-
in a three-team trade blings that Gasol would
before the NBA’s 3 p.m. be dealt, but the veteran
deadline, but it didn’t in- center is staying put and
Cleveland landed Chan-
ning Frye and the Los An-
geles Clippers got Jeff
two biggest player moves
Associated Press among contending teams,
while Miami got under the
every team is similar.” luxury-tax threshold and
There were several deals Orlando opened up about
Thursday, but no blockbust- $45 million in a pair of key
ers. accomplishments with an
eye toward the future.
Besides, with Golden State
off to a 48-4 start, there
probably aren’t that many
teams thinking they have a
legitimate chance of win-
ning it all this year anyway. the NBA knows exactly
Hence, wait ‘til next year —
or at least ‘til next summer
— might have been the
most prudent policy.
“We’ve been on the other
side of it not too long ago
when you never knew if
you were one piece away
or one move away or how
a trade could impact a

Associated Press
remains open to re-sign-
ing with the Bulls as a free
agent this summer.
‘’I was surprised there was
so much noise about it,’’
Gasol said. ‘’The positive is
hearing that a lot of teams
are interested in my ser-
vices.
tainty and waiting for your
team to pull the trigger. If
they didn’t trade me, the
assumption is they would
like to keep me. I assume
that’s their mindset.’’q
season either positively or
negatively,” Warriors guard
and reigning MVP Stephen
Curry said. “I like where we
are.”
Detroit was the most no-
table exception at trade
time, with the Pistons add-
ing Tobias Harris (his con-
tract that runs through
2018-19), plus taking a
chance on Donatas Motie-
junas. He’ll be a restricted
free agent, so Detroit will
have a chance to keep
him if it so chooses.
“I don’t think anybody in
what the market is going to
look like for guys this sum-
mer,” Pistons coach Stan
Van Gundy told the team’s
website. “You gauge it the
best you can. ... We weren’t
going to give away assets
for unrestricted free agents
and so we feel good about
it.”q