Bogut Embraces New Teammate Varejao
 

With Anderson Varejao being the first player in NBA history to have suited up for both NBA finalists in the same season, one might assume he will secure his first championship ring regardless of the series' result.

But for Varejao -- who spent his first 11 full seasons in Cleveland before being traded to Portland in February, waived and subsequently picked up by the Warriors, perhaps knowing that his inside knowledge on the Cavs could pay off in June -- it's not quite that simple.

There's no NBA rule mandating players traded or released from eventual champions mid-season to be rewarded with rings – each team's front office is respectively given the task of determining who's deserving of the jewelry.

Former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra was rewarded for his nine-year Boston career after the Sox broke their 86-year title curse in 2004. In a situation more similar to Varejao's, Rangers catcher Bengie Molina was given a ring after Texas lost to his former team, the San Francisco Giants, in the 2010 World Series.

Anderson Varejao During Cavaliers Career

Like Molina, Varejao switched teams during mid-season and they ended up each other in the championship series. Varejao had played with the Cavs since 2004, remaining loyal to the team through the dark ages of LeBron James' time with the Miami Heat, resulting in James praising the center in his famous 2014 "I'm coming home" essay.

"Right now, my focus is on this series," Varejao told Cleveland.com, somewhat evading the question. "We're trying to win this. Everything is part of a business, as far as what happened to me, and now I'm here. I'm a Warrior. That's what I want to focus on now."

Cleveland.com writer Chris Haynes mentioned that sources told him that in the hypothetical scenario in which the Cavs win the series and Varejao subsequently requests a ring, the team would have no problem honoring it.

But as Haynes later wrote in the same story, "it might not be a good look for Varejao to start sporting the ring of a team that just beat his own team," further demonstrating the delicacies of the still very theoretical situation.

For what it's worth, James told Cleveland.com "that's not for me to debate" on whether Varejao should get a ring if the Cavs win. But he did proceed to give overwhelmingly positive thoughts on his longtime teammate.

"I think good things happen to good people," James said. "So either way he would have been part of The Finals. He's done so much in his career. He's sacrificed a lot. For him to be in this position, I think is great for him, his family. No matter what has happened, he would have been here anyways."

If James has anything to say about it, this situation will turn from fantasy to reality, but most statistical metrics seem to think that Varejao won't have to worry about the added stress. FiveThirtyEight gives the Warriors a 69 percent chance of winning the series, while ESPN's Basketball Power Index gives Golden State an even more generous 75 percent.

More Warriors:
-- Harrison 'The Senator' Barnes Makes Voter-Education Video
-- Bay Area Will Need to Buck History to Celebrate Double NBA-NHL Titles
-- Here's What Curry Said to Durant After Game 7