varejao-interview-2013-ap.jpg

For three straight seasons, Anderson Varejao has battled injuries that kept him off the court for the Cavaliers and doing interviews in street clothes.

(AP file)

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Anderson Varejao is still coming down from the high of his September 7 wedding to Marcelle Silva in Rio de Janiero.

There were 1,000 guests and 22 bridesmaids and 22 groomsmen, including Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anthony Parker and their wives. The ceremony was at a beautiful church, and the reception was at the historic Copacabana Palace, where the guests danced to two bands and a DJ.

"It was good. Fun,'' Varejao said, beaming.

A honeymoon in the New York area was scrapped when his wife got sick, so instead the couple returned here, where Varejao reported to the Cleveland Clinic Courts more than two weeks ahead of the start of training camp on Oct. 1.

"I'm ready to get to work,'' Varejao told The Plain Dealer on Thursday afternoon. "I'm excited and I'm ready for the season. I can't wait."

No wonder. Varejao missed the last 56 games of the season after a quad injury and then a blood clot. It was his third straight season cut short by injury, coming on the heels of a fractured right wrist that limited him to 25 games in 2011-12 and a right ankle/foot injury that ended the 2010-11 campaign at 31 games.

"My goal this season is just to stay healthy,'' he said. "Everything else will come.''

Varejao spent most of the summer rehabilitating his quad in Brazil and working to strengthen his leg. He has only recently started playing pick-up games and, though his quad feels good, he estimates he's at about 70 percent heading into the start of training camp.

"I need to get rhythm back but it feels good," he said. "I'm very happy. I've been testing my quad in those pick up games, setting a lot of screens, going up for offensive rebounds -- that's my game.

"It feels good. It feels, actually, great. I don't even think about it any more, which is good."

Varejao said he hasn't worked out with new teammate Andrew Bynum yet, but has been going against development coach Vitaly Potapenko.

"He's a big boy,'' Varejao said of the former Cavs player who was gone by the time Varejao arrived in 2004. "It's good. He's helping me a lot because he's big, he's strong and gives a lot of resistance. It's good to have somebody like him to go against to get ready.''

Varejao has heard all the speculation about a healthy Bynum -- still no guarantee -- forcing him out of the starting lineup and the two splitting time at center in an effort to reduce the wear and tear on both, but right now that's the least of his problems.

"To me, it doesn't matter, as long as I'm important for the team,'' Varejao said. "That's the bottom line. I don't care. I'm going to work the same way, doing what do what I have to do to help the team. Whatever Mike Brown wants to do, it's his decision and I'm here to help.''

Brown always was a huge fan of the energy and effort Varejao brought, especially on the defensive end. So it's no wonder Varejao is thrilled to have Brown back.

"Coach Brown was good to me when we went to The Finals and for all of those years we were together here in Cleveland," he said. "I learned a lot from him -- on defense and offense. He's going to be good for this team, this young team. He's really into the details.

"He likes to teach a lot. I know it's going to be long practices and long film sessions but we'll be ready. When you have a young team, all of those things are very important. He's going to be good for this team. We need somebody like him to get to the next level."