Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Cavaliers start to the regular season has been anything but glorious thus far.

Kyrie Irving is on the sidelines with an injured finger, rookie Dion Waiters is still getting adjusted to the NBA game, and the team sits second from the bottom in the Eastern Conference at 4-14.

That’s not exactly the start fans of the franchise were hoping for.

Nine-year veteran Anderson Varejao has been one of Cleveland’s lone bright spots in an otherwise dismal beginning to the year.

He’s currently averaging career-highs in points (15.2), rebounds (15.4), assists (3.2), steals (1.5), free-throw percentage (77.8%) and minutes played (36.4). His 15.4 rebounds are best in the association.

His stock is at an all-time high at the moment.

It may seem farfetched, considering how the Cavaliers are lacking viable options on offense and defense, but with Anderson playing as well as he is, wouldn’t it be wise to put him on the trade market and see what assets you can acquire for him?

Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has more.

The Anderson Varejao trade talk will heat up again, especially with the incredible Cavalier leading the NBA in rebounding — by far — at [now 15.3] per game. And he’s averaging 14.9 points, without the Cavs running a play for him. Varejao is shooting a career-high 78 percent from the foul line, and making 15-footers regularly in the flow of the game.

In the past, there has been a lot of trade talk about Varejao, but the Cavs never were real close to trading their 6-10 veteran. Their price has always been high — something like a lottery pick and perhaps other young players. The teams that treasure Varejao’s skills are contenders with low draft picks. That has not created suitable trading partners.

It’s possible — with Varejao having a career season — that could change. Oklahoma City owns multiple picks, including a possible lottery pick that originally belonged to Toronto (protected for picks 1 to 3). You can imagine Varejao adding some lightning to the Thunder. But who knows if there will be a deal.

What Cleveland needs now is young pieces and draft picks to help build towards the future. Irving, Waiters and Thompson are the only untouchables (that I can see) on the roster. If Varejao can bring in something along those lines on the market, why wouldn’t the Cavaliers strongly consider it?

His health may be a concern for teams interested in his services. Anderson has only played over 70 games three times during his career. 

That’s a definite red flag.

If he can remain injury-free for the remainder of the season, potential trading partners will find themselves with a solid defensive big man who can rebound, defend the post, bring a high-level of energy on the court and grab offensive boards at a high rate (6.2, first in the NBA).

But what would be the purpose of trading away the Cavaliers best player (healthy) at the present time?

Well, despite his breakout year, Varejao is still 30 years old. He doesn’t necessarily fit into the Cavaliers new “youth movement”.

Also, how much longer can Cleveland truly expect Anderson to keep producing those amazing numbers? It would be hard for anyone to maintain that level of play, especially a player like Varejao (no disrespect of course).

His value can only go down from here. If the Cavs are serious about salvaging this season, or at the very least, receiving young pieces/high draft picks so they can compete over the next 2-3 years, then trading Anderson Varejao sooner rather than later would be the best thing possible.

He can be the ultimate difference-maker this season for a team just on the cusp of competing for an NBA championship.

I would be shocked to see him in a Cavaliers uniform after the trade deadline in 2013.

As his former WWE doppelganger would say……now that’s “chews apple” ……Cool. 

Christopher Walder is the Lead Editor for Sir Charles in Charge. You can follow him on Twitter @WALDERSPORTS

If a 2-8 start to the year and a six-game losing streak wasn’t bad enough, the Cleveland Cavaliers will now have to go through the next month of the season without their starting point guard.

Kyrie Irving will miss the next four to six weeks of action after hurting his finger during Saturday nights 103-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. He suffered the injury during the third quarter, but still managed to finish the game with 26 points.

The diagnosis is a hairline/non-displaced fracture of his left index finger.

Through 10 games, Irving was averaging 22.9 points (sixth in the NBA) and 5.6 assists.

A combination of Donald Sloan and Jeremy Pargo will take over the point guard duties in the meantime.

The Cavaliers next game is Wednesday against the Philadelphia 76ers.

What does Irving’s injury mean for Cleveland?

This could not have come at a worse possible time.

Cleveland currently sits fourth in the Central division and 13th in the Eastern Conference. They’re not exactly taking the league by storm at the moment.

Not only is Irving their floor general at the point, but he’s also their best player and team leader. Losing him for the next 30 + days will be hard to overcome.

The Cavs will play 15 games over the next 30 days. 10 of those will come against teams who currently have records of .500 or better.

It looks like rookie guard Dion Waiters is going to have a baptism by fire, so to speak. He immediately becomes Cleveland’s number one option on offense.

So far, Waiters is putting up 13.7 points and 2.2 rebounds a game. However, he’s only shooting 38.8% from the field. This is a perfect opportunity for the rookie to halt any doubts skeptics had of him being taken fourth overall in this past summers draft.

Anderson Varejao (14.3 points, 13.3 rebounds) will also need to continue his hot start to the season. Anderson is not the type of player that creates his own offense in the paint. He was usually a recipient of Kyrie Irving’s playmaking, as well as his own buckets off of the offensive glass (4.9 offensive rebounds a game, 3rd in the NBA).

It’s not impossible, but for the Cavaliers to be even remotely competitive in the East, “Uncle Drew” is going to have to heal up fast.

The truth of the matter is Cleveland isn’t a great basketball team, even with Irving.

Just imagine how bad things can get over these next 30 or so days without him.

Christopher Walder is a sports blogger and lead editor for Sir Charles in Charge. You may follow him on Twitter @WalderSports