Report: Thunder Strongly Interested In Varejao

The Thunder is showing strong interest in veteran big man Anderson Varejao, reports ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

Varejao was waived by the Blazers yesterday after being traded to Portland from Cleveland at the deadline. He’ll have to clear waivers before the Thunder can claim him. There’s an open roster spot in OKC thanks to the 2-for-1 trade that sent D.J. Augustin and Steve Novak to Denver for Randy Foye.

Varejao, 33, would bring experience to the Thunder bench and he was known for his hustle in Cleveland but he’s always been one of the more fragile players in the league. He averaged 2.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in 31 appearances for the Cavs this season.

Plus, the Thunder already has Enes Kanter, Nick Collison and Mitch McGary among the reserves; why add another post that plays a similar game to Collison? The money is there - thanks to the Nuggets for taking Novak’s contract - so Oklahoma City can offer a mid-level exception around $3.37 million for Varejao.

Windhorst also has the Clippers and Bulls perusing Varejao. His addition to the Thunder seems redundant, but maybe it’s GM Sam Presti’s way of showing Kevin Durant that the team will spend money to win in the short term?