[Rockets Reject] Who will pay Wafer and and how much?

Hmm, how about the Orlando Magic? They could probably use someone to give their second unit a boost if it didn't cost too much. But they'd probably want a more experienced player for their playoff run.

Another team I can see Wafer doing well on is the Clippers. He can take the place of Novak as the shooter off the bench.

There would probably be plenty of playing time on the current Rockets as well, that is at least for the first half of the season.

 

Wafer looks like he has upside, but if you think about it honestly you'd realize that he really doesn't.

Wafer's positives: athletic, good dunker, nice J.
Wafer's negatives: no handles, awful court vision, poor decision making, poor defense.

Wafer's positives are very very common skills in the league. Defense can be improved with good coaching, but ball-handling, court vision, and decision making are all quite hard to improve. Can he really improve those enough to be more than a 1-dimensional player?

Think about just how many light years behind Shane he is in court vision, defense, and decision making. And Shane is only a role player himself!

 

I would love to have him back, but it was disheartening watching SV absolutlely OWN him in the playoffs.

 

Agreed that the 2/3 situation may be a little crowded with the roster as currently constructed (Ariza, Battier, Taylor, Budinger, Barry, and Brooks when playing in the backcourt with Lowry), but I doubt that Budinger or Barry would be in the rotation next year anyway. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the Rockets give Budinger the "Maarty Leunen treatment" and kindly ask that he go play overseas next year so the Rockets can retain his rights while opening up a roster spot. I don't see Budinger agreeing to this (he is a MUCH better NBA prospect than Leunen), but it's worth a try.

 

I think we may need to pump the brakes here. You're probably the first poster I have ever seen disagree with the Von-JR comparison. I think you're vastly overrating JR's game. He rarely displays his handle (or lack thereof) because he's best at doing exactly what he does: playing off the ball, next to stars and killing teams with his 3-pt shot. Sure, he puts the ball on the floor sometimes but it's nowhere near as often as it should be.

The similarities between the two are striking: both are talented headcases that bounced around the league not due to their lack of talent but due to their selfishness/immaturity/baggage. Both can shoot you in-and-out of games with their erratic play and shaky shot selection. Both never pass. Both take a strong percentage of their shots from downtown. Both get "the look" from their coaches quite often. Similar production Per 48 minutes.

JR is better, no doubt. I just see nothing wrong with saying he's JR Smith Lite. And the Kobe stuff is just way off. If anything, JR is like a poor man's version of Jason Richardson.

 

Save the FauxHawk, sign VON !

Now that the team still has the MLE available, let's resign Von Wafer to a decent contract...about $2 million a year for 2 years with a team option for year 3.

The guy has massive upside, and has done great against NBA competition, since it looks like we are going to run run run....let's get a guy that is tailor made for it....sign him up and hope he continues to develop.

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Yes, that is Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson he is schooling, not some Conference USA stiff.......

Who wants VON back?

DD

 

You don't think other teams would see that massive upside and offer him more than a 2 million/year contract?

What do you think he's worth?

 

I don't think I've agreed with you in over a year. But I think Wafer's worth that deal.

 

If Von is smart... he'll take it... that's if we actually offer it to him though.

 

I'm a big Von supporter. I wouldn't mind paying him around 2 mil a year.

 

Actually, I think he is risky, he could go all the way to Super star (he has the ability) or he could be out of the league ala Rhodrick Rhodes as a knucklehead.

It will all depend on his maturity......but I don't think many teams are going to be signing guys in the $2 million range this year....so if the Rockets offered, he probably would accept.

DD

 

Question isn't whether we want to offer him 2mil a year. Question is if he will take it.

 

get it done Morey!!

 

Lol i feel the same way but i think he's probably wanting around 3mil n id be willing to give him that

 

I completely agree. Anytime you have the opportunity to bring a 10+ ppg scorer off the bench, that is still maturing as a player, you have to take that risk. I trust that the coaching staff to work with Von, attitude wise. Also, I feel like we can acquire a better center through a trade, as opposed to through fee angecy.

 

Rockets may be lottery bound this year anyway, regardless if Von is or is not on the team. Why not keep the salary cap space to combine w/T-Mac's expiring to get a quality all-star in 2010?


If Von is willing to sign cheap, 2M/year max, then maybe. I tend to doubt this, didn't he reject a better offer earlier this year?

 

that's a great deal for us. von will think he's worth more and i'm sure some team will offer him that. he has starter potential.

 

To answer your question: Yes, they do. Sort of.

Typically, many mid- to late second rounders elect/agree to go play overseas. So long as that player is playing overseas and for one year thereafter, his NBA team continues to hold his draft rights.

However, if the player does not agree to go overseas, in order for an NBA team to continue to hold rights to that player, they must tender him a qualifying offer equal to a one-year deal for the rookie minimum. If the player accepts the offer, then he's got himself a one-year NBA contract and can try his hand at restricted free agency the following summer. If the player refuses the qualifying offer and does not otherwise sign a contract with the NBA team or a team overseas, then the player may not play professionally for one year and may re-enter the draft the following year.

This is EXACTLY what the Rockets went through in 2007 with Carl Landry. Due to the glut of guaranteed contracts on the roster, the Rockets asked Landry to go play in Europe for a year so that the team could avoid having to buy out someone like Jackie Butler or Justin Reed. As a high second round pick, Landry was offended and refused. After negotiations broke down between Morey and Landry's agent, Carl ended up taking the Rockets' qualifying offer of a one-year rookie minimum deal. At least, I think that's what happened based on what Jonathan Feigen was reporting at the time.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not 100% positive on the "qualifying offer" part. I know that a player can always sit out for one year and then re-enter the draft, though.