I thought there was a "traded player exception" (TPE) that allowed you to go over the salary cap to sign a player if that player is used specifically in a trade. Maybe a moot point though - the only teams that would want to do a sign & trade to get Wafer are those already over the cap. New York is the only team I can think of that might be interested in him who are presently over their cap figure. ...totally off topic but did you guys know after New Orleans didn't resign Bonzi Wells he went and played in China and scored 48 points in his debut? That's funny and disturbing all at once.
Just because Morey drafted guards, doesn't mean that he's planning to get rid of Wafer. If we had drafted a power forward instead, it doesn't mean Morey wants to get rid of Scola, Landry, or Hayes instead. Same thing if we had drafted a small forward or another point guard. It doesn't mean we're trying to replace out current players with rookies. All that Morey is doing is bringing more depth and potential talent to this team, which is what a good GM does.
Why did we even get these picks? That money could have been used to resign Von Wafer. He is way better than any of these guys.
You're apparently Nostradamus all of a sudden. I'm sure you weren't overly delighted the night we drafted Brooks either. One thing I've learned over the past couple of seasons is to trust Morey. Just because you haven't heard about Taylor doesn't mean anything. There is a reason why he was conference usa player of the year. His fg % alone in his last 3 seasons shows me that he can def ball.
Who was conference USA Player of the year last year, or the year before, or the year before that? Has that conference produced anyone notworthy that went in the 2nd round? DD
That argument between Von Wafer and Adelman in the beginning of 4th in Game 2 against Lakers when we were trailing by single digits and got them into foul trouble with 10 minutes remaining, basically doomed the Rockets and Yao. That was NOT a smart basketball move by Von no matter how you look at it.
Brooks/Lowry McGrady/Taylor/Budinger/Barry Battier/Artest/White Scola/Landry/Hayes/Cook Yao/Dorsey That's 15 players, NOT counting Von Wafer. worzel gummidge is correct that there is no guarantee that both Jermaine Taylor and Chase Budinger make the team (although I'm fairly confident that the Rockets won't waive Taylor, given what they paid to get his rights). I see Jermaine Taylor being able to fill the Von Wafer role, and not just because he was a SG taken with a high second round pick by the Rockets. He actually possesses a VERY similar skill set to Wafer. He can shoot the rock, has range, is aggressive and can attack the basket. He is an ideal backup SG, capable of scoring in bunches off the bench. Sure, it would be great to re-sign Von (to a cheap deal), but having a guy like Taylor making at or near the rookie minimum is a MUCH better value than Wafer making $3M per season on a multi-year deal. I think Les and Morey has essentially made it obvious to Wafer, "take the minimum for next year, or good luck finding as good a playing situation on another team." Remember, the Rockets can only sign Wafer to above the minimum by tapping into the MLE. Until the Rockets resolve the free agent status of Ron Artest (either by re-signing him, losing him to another team, or signing and trading him), they will not know if they need to reserve the entire MLE for another significant player if Artest leaves. That is why (as I have been saying all along) NOTHING will be done with Von Wafer except to possibly offer him a contract for next season at the league minimum. Anything else would be lunacy on the part of Daryl Morey and quite contrary to every calculated move he has made as GM. Sure, it is likely that the Rockets will make at least one trade this summer in order to even out the roster (maybe even taking on a decent player with a bad contract in exchange for the expiring deals of Barry and Cook), so this roster is far from complete. But the draft choices (which were necessary, since the Rockets currently only had Brent Barry at the SG spot available for the start of next season) give the Rockets some distinct options. Other random musings regarding this draft: --I actually LIKE the fact that Chase Budinger is joining a Rockets team that already has Brent Barry, the NBA player to whom he is most often compared. Who better to mentor Budinger during his rookie year than a guy who's taken that same skill set (plus some extra passing skills) and turned them into a successful and lengthy NBA career? At least for (some or all of) next season, this is a nice pairing. Subject to future trades, that is. --Sergio Llull is a PLAYER. Picture Vassilis Spanoulis. Now, think about the major flaws in Spanoulis's game that prevented him from being a successful backup PG in the NBA. Okay, now take away those deficiencies. Can you picture that player? THAT is Sergio Llull. Plus, Llull plays in the Spanish League, which is an even more competitive league (and thus more indicative of a player's ability to compete at the NBA level) than the Greek League. Taking this guy was a genius move. The Rockets now have their own "All-Overseas Team": PG: Sergio Llull (legit future quality backup PG in the NBA) SG: Brad Newley (developing nicely, but less likely to come over soon after the Taylor/Budinger picks) SF: Lior Eliyahu (just signed 4-year deal in Spain; could be nice trade asset for future trade) PF: Maarty Leunen (nice "fit" guy; might be good addition in 2010 after Brian Cook is dumped) C: Sergei Lishouk, Frederic Weis (scrubs; will never be NBA players)
Why the second round only? There were 4 players drafted from this conference tonight. The most notable is at # 4 - Tyreke Evans, who was conference usa freshman of the yr.
Another great post. I wish you and some others would post this much during the season! Love your take on Llull. I really believe he's going to be a player for the Rocks in a couple of years.
I was looking at this too, good breakdown. It sounded like Morey said James White's contract is not guaranteed. I would bet there could be a roster spot battle between White and Budinger, if they're both with us come camp time. It'd be nice to keep Cook's expiring contract on the roster come trade deadline time, but we could always cut him.
I find Brooks, Landry, and Scola to be entertaining to watch. Shane on the defensive end as well. But otherwise I agree.
Couldn't you just as easily see it as we are loading up on tradable assets so we can keep Wafer? I like Wafer, hope he is a Rocket next season.
i dont know how you can say a rotation players time is limited just because of 2nd round draft picks that haven't even practicted with the team yet. you have to be kidding.
I am thinking that Barry is a pretty useful salary filler to make a trade. $2 million expiring contract ain't big, but is big enough to fill in some wholes to make the salaries match. Similar to Brian Cook's contract in that fashion. Adding the $2 million for Barry and $3.5 million for Cook, and a rookie salary something like that, and you are able to take back a pretty decently paid player.
I appreciate Wafer's contribution last year. But players like him are a dime a dozen. If you can get a rookie second rounder to do the same things, why pay Wafer with part of the MLE?
Besides giving flexibility with Wafer negotiations, could picking up Taylor and especially Budinger be in preparation to move Battier or maybe SnT Artest? If they only bought Taylor the Wafer angle would make sense, but getting both Taylor and Budinger - feels like another trade involving Artest or Battier is in the works.
