Cleveland waives Samardo Samuels

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The Cavaliers have waived forward Samardo Samuels.

Samuels made one start and played in 18 games this season for Cleveland. He averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds.

The Cavs signed Samuels, who played at Louisville, as a free agent before the 2010-11 season. The 6-foot-9, 260-pounder appeared in 109 games - 11 starts - and averaged 5.9 points, 3.4 and 15.8 minutes per game.

The Cavs are 8-27. They lost at home to Houston on Saturday night, dropping their record to just 3-12 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Cleveland has played its last nine games without center Anderson Varejao, who has been out with a bruised knee. Varejao, the NBA's leading rebounder, is expected to return to practice on Tuesday and it's possible he could be back on the floor in games sometime this week.