LAS VEGAS -- Daniel Gibson closed his eyes and placed a towel over them for an extra layer of protection as a doctor with a big needle in his hand was about to come perilously close to his right eyeball.
Gibson wanted to be 1,000 percent sure that he did not see that needle.
"I hate needles," said the only player at the Las Vegas Summer League to be coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals. "I just let him do what he had to do. I didn't want to see what was going on."
Gibson needed several stitches to close a gash under his right eye after he was elbowed by guard Cheyne Gadson of the San Antonio Spurs during the second quarter of Cleveland's 67-53 victory Saturday afternoon. Gibson did not return to the game, but he was cleared to play Sunday, when the Cavs will face the Chinese National Team.
"I still need to get better. I still have a lot of areas in my game that I can improve on. So I'm here trying to get better. I'm still a second-round pick trying to make the team," said Gibson, who started at point guard and had two points and three assists in 12 minutes before getting hurt. "I'm trying to improve and get better so that maybe next year I can help my team win a championship rather than just get there."
Point guard was the one position where the Cavs were most lacking during the NBA Finals, their inability to contain Tony Parker being a primary reason why Cleveland was swept by San Antonio during last month's finals. General manager Danny Ferry is trying to address that area over the summer, but one potential playmaker apparently came off the market when, according to a report, Theo Papaloukas agreed to a contract extension with CSKA Moscow. Papaloukas' agent could not immediately be reached to comment on the report of an extension.
Another area that Ferry will be addressing Sunday is the status of backup power forward Anderson Varejao, a restricted free agent. Varejao is being heavily courted by the Memphis Grizzlies, but the Cavs have the right to match any offer he receives. Cleveland has not yet made Varejao a long-term contract offer.
"I'm confident we can get something done. The luxury tax is not an issue," Ferry told ESPN.com, adding that the Cavaliers would match any offer Varejao receives, even if it's above the midlevel exception of approximately $6 million.
The Cavs have one other restricted free agent, guard Sasha Pavlovic.
"We're going to look at each decision, and hopefully make good decisions. But I think both of our young players are important to our group," Ferry said.
Darius Rice scored a team-high 19 points and Shannon Brown, another second-year guard and last year's first-round draft pick, scored 18 for the Cavs, who held the Spurs to just 21 second half points in a game that registered an 11 on the ugly meter. San Antonio's Jackie Butler scored just seven points and committed seven personal fouls in a team-high 28 minutes, while starting small forward Donnell Harvey shot 0-for-4 with five turnovers and four fouls.
"We defended pretty well, and hopefully it's something we can build on. It was good to get revenge on the Spurs," Ferry said.
Chris Sheridan covers the NBA for ESPN Insider. To e-mail Chris, click here.