Luv Von and thankful we got him but this line of thinking is what got us stuck with Moochie, Maloney, Cato and whole host of others signed long term cap killing deals. Let's not overvalue our latest man crush fellas. Von keep doing your thing, we appreciate it fo realz!
lol, that says more about Carrol Dawson than it does about Von. I love Wafer, but let's get serious here. Guys like that are not a rare commodity in the NBA. Still, glad to have him.
true, since we have one we don't want him to leave. I've been high on him even before his blowout game in the preseason where he hit 7 3pters. I do like the way he drives and consistently dishes it off for an easy layup or dunk for his teammate. at least a 3 yr deal , sign em up. (23 yrs old)
Kirk came to the Rockets at the wrong time, had a coach who does not like to use young players, and got injured. When Wafer came to Rockets this summer, he was remembered as the player being dunked over by Snyder. See how much different situation they are now? Maybe, just maybe the French center got dunk over by Carter wasn't that bad?
Kelenna Azubuike has around Landry type money ($3 mil per season). Roger Mason a little more ($3.5 mil). There's possibilty Wafer (if he keeps it up) can get a 2.5- $3 mil offer. Especially still being 23. He'll still need a couple 25+ point scoring outbursts to create "buzz". 18 is his career high now. Gonna need to really stuff the stat sheet like he did the preseason game with 7 threes, or like Donte Greene with the 40 point game in summer league.
lock him up, cd him up for 3yrs? one year guaranteed at the most. as long as the rockets have a chance to sign a wade, lebron, etc they should keep their options open.
Snyder was on the team much of last year during Adelman's reign, and didn't play. Snyder's probblem isn't one coach not liking young players, Snyder's problem is he can't shoot well and makes too many mistakes.
Wafer is much better than Snyder.... Wafer shoots better, passes better, and is just as good at finishing. DD
Then it's a good thing that Morey traded for him. Seriously, though, the Rockets shouldn't go overboard trying to re-sign Wafer. Once (if) the team gets healthy again, Wafer probably won't even be in the rotation. He'll have T-Mac, Shane, Artest and Barry playing ahead of him. If the team re-signs Artest this summer, it will be the same story next season as well. Still, it would be good to have Von back in the fold next year. Too bad that Morey likely won't offer more than a minimum deal. The team has no Bird rights on Wafer. The Rockets can't use its LLE (since it used it on Barry this year and can't use it two years in a row); and Morey will likely want to reserve the entire MLE for a quality free agent that would be good enough for Les to be willing to go over the luxury tax to get.
Who is really gonna be available and in the MLE range, though, and be worth paying the tax for? Besides, I think the Rockets might be reluctant to sign anyone to a long term MLE deal due to 2010 cap considerations. I think $2.5-3 million for Von Wafer may be the best way to spend the money... won't impact 2010 cap space much. Also, with the injury history of Artest, McGrady and Barry, there will be plenty of minutes in which they will need a Wafer.
You never know. There could be a player or two who get bought out (see Francis, Steve; McDyess, Antonio; Payton, Gary; Barry, Brent; etc.). There may be a quality player who misses out on another team's cap space and is willing to take a full MLE deal with a contender. But the more likely scenario would probably be that, if necessary, Morey will dip into the MLE to re-sign Wafer. Of course, how much Wafer is offered will probably depend on the size of Artest's deal.
I doubt the Rockets sign Artest, I think there is a good chance they do a S&T with him.....IMO, this is probably a one and done type of deal with him. DD
I doubt there are that many teams keen on throwing a lot of money on Artest at his age in this economy, given his history, the overall salary situation of teams, and the fact that Rockets have his bird right. A reasonable deal should be reachable. My guess is Artest goes out to find another deal, but will eventually become a Rocket.
Maybe...but it would have to be a real reasonable deal.....the problem with Artest is how much and for how long? Any team would be, or should be weary of the guy, he is a nutbag, and giving him anything more than a couple of years is a major risk. Personally, I think they will do a S&T maybe for someone like Bibby. DD
Artest might resign only if we keep Head and let him go off the books. I forgot about the MLE though that would help resign Wafer too. Artest would be making more then he is now though, but other teams could give him more like the Lakers if they let Odom walk, or the Cavs. There is alot of teams who would offer Artest more. This is all about Ron and where he would like to play and i think Adelman has the other teams beat ATM.
At 29 this is going to be Artest's last big long term contract. It'll be interesting to see what the Rockets do. At 260 pounds, given his age, and his injury history... Could those factors point him towards more frequent injuries? He already has problems defending quicker guards. How would it effect his overall game when he eventually slows down especially at that weight? How much would it effect his abilty to play spot minutes at the 4? Statistically 30 is meant to be the magic number for wing players. If you followed in the off-season there was a lot of talk about Kobe and whether it wa the start of a significant decline for him as he had reached that age.
I kinda find it funny when people says you can't get quality players for mle money. Hedo and Salmons were both mle players. Just like any other signings, you have to know what players fit with what you're trying to do. Wafer is what I've been screaming about forever. Many people on this board want standstill, spotup players, yet they want to try to run this motion type offense that asks for slashing and cutting. Morey will probably drag his feet as usual, but I think Wafer is going to be a decent bench player.Its nothing wrong with that. To those saying he's probably not going to play when we're full strength, Adelman is loyal to a fault, but if Wafer isn't playing ahead of barry, that's a problem. In fact, Wafer should cut into shanes minutes. If he sticks to Battier and Tracy starting, that's 96 mins at the 2/3. To me, Tracy and Ron should play 30 mins a night, Wafer and Shane 18mins a night, Barry on the bench or spot duty at the point. As for the offseason. Resign Artest for 4 yrs at 10m per, give Wafer 3yrs at 2.25m per. Trade Shane for a te or package him with scola or rafer to get something better at the pg or 4. After next season, the rox still have Yao,Brooks,Artest, Landry, Wafer and a spot for either Bosh or Wade. Now you have Brooks,Wade,Artest,Landry or camby, and Yao. If that doesn't work they can have Brooks,Tracy(9m),Artest,Bosh,Yao.
