29-year old center Anderson Varejao is taking his game to a new level for the Cavaliers in 2011-12.  In his last four games, Varejao is averaging 16.8 points, 15.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  He has now played in 22 games (all starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 31.9 minutes, 10.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Varejao already has 12 double/doubles this year in points and rebounds as he has been very effective around the basket this year.  I don’t see any reason to think that Varejao is going to slow down any time soon.  His all out effort on both ends of the basketball court often inspires his teammates.

29-year old center Anderson Varejao brings all out hustle on both ends of the court and it often rubs off on his teammates.  He has played in 7 games (all starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 30.9 minutes, 9.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.9 blocked shots per game.  Varejao is starting to move up the all time charts for the Cavs.  He is now #9 in rebounds with 2,967 of them, which has him 60 rebounds behind Bingo Smith.  He is also #10 in blocked shots in Cavs’ history with 310 of them, which has him 15 behind Mark West.

19-year old point guard Kyrie Irving and 20-year old power forward Tristan Thompson are off to fast starts for the Cavs.  Irving has not shot the ball too well (33.3%) as he is 7 of 21 from the floor, but, he is still playing solid overall basketball.  Irving has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 23.0 minutes, 10.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He won’t likely see an increase  in playing time any time soon because Ramon Sessions has been outstanding for the Cavs off the bench so far this year.  Tristan Thompson is backing up Antawn Jamison at power forward and he brings a lot of energy to the second unit for the Cavaliers.  Thompson has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Cavs so far this year and he is averaging 21.0 minutes, 12.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game so far this year.  He is also shooting 64.3% from the floor so far this year as most of his shots come close to the basket.  He also is an emphatic dunker.  Thompson will eventually replace Antawn Jamison as the starter at some point this season.

25-year old PG/SG Daniel Gibson turned in a solid, if inconsistent, year for the Cavaliers in 2010-11.  Gibson played in 67 games (15 starts) for the Cavs last year and he averaged 27.8 minutes, 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.  He has now played in 316 games (67 starts) in his first five years with the Cavaliers and he is averaging 23.7 minutes, 8.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on 41.8% shooting from three point range.  “Boobie” Gibson is now #5 in Cavaliers’ history in 3-pointers made with 467 of them.

When Mo Williams went down to injury, 25-year old point guard Ramon Sessions took advantage of the situation.  Sessions played in 81 games (38 starts) for the Cavaliers last year and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 13.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  Sessions has now played in 259 games (85 starts) in his first four years in the NBA and he is averaging 25.1 minutes, 11.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.  If the Cavaliers decide to take point guard Kyrie Irving with the #1 overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, the Cavaliers will likely deal Ramon Sessions on draft night, trying to add another late first round pick.

22-year old power forward J.J. Hickson’s 2010-11 season was a tale of two halves.  In the first half of the year he appeared to be sleepwalking which got him banished into Byron Scott’s Dog House.  But, after Anderson Varejao went down for the season due to injury, Hickson turned into a double-double monster for the Cavs.  Hickson played in 80 games (66 starts) for the Cavaliers last season and he averaged 28.2 minutes, 13.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has now played in 223 games (139 starts) in his first three years with the Cavaliers and he is averaging 20.9 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  The best is yet to come for Hickson, who the Cavs must now consider a core player for the future.

26-year old center Ryan Hollins is starting to show signs of life lately for the Cavs.  In his last five games, Hollins is averaging 28.4 minutes, 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot.  In those five games, Hollins is shooting 52.6% from the floor.  Hollins has now played in 64 games (11 starts) for the Cavaliers this year and he is averaging 15.7 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game.  Hollins showed some real toughness in the Cavs’ win over the Heat recently and they hope he can start playing with a chip on his shoulder.

The three guys the Cavaliers acquired (Baron Davis, Luke Harangody and Semih Erden) have been so-so since coming over in trade deadline deals a couple of weeks ago.  31-year old point guard Baron Davis has been very solid when he’s been on the court for the Cavs so far.  He has played in 3 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 28.3 minutes, 18.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  He is shooting 47.5% from the floor overall but he is 10 of 18 (55.6%) from three point range.  He is missing time right now to attend his grandmother’s funeral but he should be back later this week.  23-year old forward Luke Harangody has been up and down for the Cavs so far.  He has played in 4 games (0 starts) for the Cavaliers and he is averaging 15.8 minutes, 6.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game but he is only shooting 34.6% from the floor so far.  24-year old center Semih Erden has been banged up since becoming a Cavalier.  He has only played in 1 game in which he was on the court for 11 scoreless minutes in which he had 5 rebounds and 1 blocked shot.  The Cavaliers are going to be depending on all three of these guys the rest of this season and in the near future.

22-year old center J.J. Hickson has been outstanding since moving to center for the Cavaliers after Anderson Varejao’s season ending injury.  In his last 13 games, Hickson is averaging 35.4 minutes, 18.2 points, 10.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Hickson is finally turning into the player the Cavs thought he would be when they rejected trading him last season for Amare Stoudemire.  Hickson has now played in 59 games (45 starts) in which he is averaging 26.9 minutes, 12.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  He is starting to look like a player the Cavaliers can build around.

24-year old point guard Ramon Sessions is having a good month for the Cavs.  He has played in 10 games so far in February and he is averaging 35.2 minutes, 19.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 8.7 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  He is shooting a scalding 57.5% from the floor so far this month.  Sessions has now played in 57 games (23 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he is averaging 26.1 minutes, 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game.  Despite Sessions great play this month it sounds as if Byron Scott is planning on starting Baron Davis over him.