I feel like I get drup into this with a lot of guys that don't understand production and potential. Look at a guy like Ariza who came out too early. He was a top notch athelete and defender coming out, but couldn't shoot. In the same span, he's on his 4th team. I think its something to be said for a guy improving. Wafer is getting better as a player and all peopl keep bringing up is the teams he's been on. Well, look at billups and jackson. The rox have a chance to get a guy that can be 6th man of the yr like ricky pierce for cheap,but people want to bank on a few summer league games by chase and nothing from taylor. Wafer isn't the next coming of mj, but what he brings offensively, the rockets haven't had in a long,long time.Put on the tape and watch him come off a staggered for the jimmy. Put on the tape and watch him curl close and come down the lane. Watch him size a guy up off the dribble a burn a jumper in the defenders face. Does he need work? Yes, but his ball of clay is big enough that the guy can be a 18ppg 45% type of sg. I mean how many young guys can be that efficient with that kind of room to grow?
Wafer's a decent player, but he wants to much money for what he brings. He's had one season where Yao opened things up for him. I think his ball handling would be even more exposed without Yao to draw a defender.
so then is it guaranteed that von is with the clips? or is Morey going to get a deal in? he seems pretty happy to be going to LA. gonna miss that spark. always was exciting to watch.
What never ceases to be hilarious is that for the last 5 years or so this team has been overrun with players who play defense but either don't or can't score, players who pass on good shots and players who either can't or won't finish at the rim. Finally, we get a cat who goes to the rim like a maniac, looks to score first and does it efficiently and suddenly everyone hates him because he isn't another offensively challenged, defense only player who passes up wide open shots. Von Wafer would not bring anything new to a team like Denver or Golden State. He would be redundant. A team like the Rockets, however, needs a guy like him on the roster. You can't build a team with nothing but blue collar, defensive minded, glue guys. You need a gunner who can come in and turn thing upside down from time to time. Wafer can do that and he can do it cheap.
I agree to a certain extent but my argument was that comparing this one season from Wafer to Landry's rookie year is like comparing apples to oranges. You can't compare an athletic, offensive-minded wing player who has fought to even make a roster for a few years to a nice, all-around big contributing in his very first season in the league. I'm not against Wafer and I like what he brings to the team, but I also don't see him as a MUST HAVE piece to any team. He's a nice offensive spark off the bench on many nights but not all. As good as he played offensively, I just don't believe he is in anyway a good team offensive player. In just my opinion, that's what he always be and nothing more and it's why I won't be distraught if/when he decides to sign elsewhere. I would almost guarantee you that this past season will be the best of his career, ESPECIALLY if he joins one of the other teams that have expressed interest in him.
Did you even read my post? Here it is again (slightly edited): Wafer was good enough to make an NBA roster at a much younger age than Landry was. Why does he get penalized for that?
Lets say we agreed to a 3 year deal with Wafer. He gets the rest of the MLE this year (like 3.5 mil?), and we get team options the next two years at that same salary. Btw, lets assume we've already signed Budinger, so giving Wafer the rest of the MLE won't affect our ability to give Chase extra years. Would there be any downside to that? Any at all?
I just think it's a "basketball IQ" type argument. Wafer is certainly a guy who can score - but can he ever learn to play both ends and share the rock? I guess he can learn, but at what cost? And is there a shortage of guys who can come in and score 10ppg without playing any D (Luther Head offers the same output with better court awareness/ worse ability to make his own shot) Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying I hate Wafer's game - but the fact that he hasn't been picked up just yet might lead one to think that he's not the most valuable commodity on the market. As others have said, with the question marks hanging over him, I'd rather give the minutes to Jermaine Taylor (at 700k) and see what he can do; get Ariza some more shots and see what happens; put White on the wing and let him play. White and Taylor certainly haven't got the NBA production that Wafer has - but White's D-League performance outstrips Wafers, and Taylor's body of work at college puts Wafers to shame. Let's see if either of them has anything while we're losing - because (to me) Wafer isn't a starting SG on both ends of the court - and I don't see him learning to be more than an offensive sparkplug!
Yes - in terms of luxury tax. I think we're already over - and it would just mean a bigger bill to foot. I'm all for paying it if needs be - but not for Von Wafer! And not in a year that we look like struggling!
Exactly my thoughts. Couldn't have said it any better. People need to hop off of the Wafer hate-train. Respect and admire Battier's blue-collar style of play and his unmatched work ethic, but show some appreciation for the passionate kid who capitalized on an opportunity to prove himself on his 5th stop in his young career in the league. While Shane plays with unmatched intensity and is very fundamentally sound on the defensive end of the court, Wafer brings fire and passion to the Rockets offensively with his confident demeanor, brash style of play, explosive ability at the rim, and efficient trigger from downtown. Stop pointing out his flaws defensively, and recall the fact that he stepped up and filled the void at shooting guard off of the bench a number of times throughout the season. He knocked down a game-winning three on the road against the defending champs, threw down many vicious dunks (monster reverse dunk on Portland comes to mind first), and scored in double figures in 12 straight games when he was given the opportunity to start. Sorry for the rant, but I'm going to hate to see this kid drop 14-15 ppg with a pathetic franchise like the Clippers or Knicks next season.
OK...lets assume Les Alexander said he didn't mind paying the extra luxury tax. Would there be any downside then?
If Money wasn't an issue - then NO. But it would be - especially if we signed Chase. It'd put us to 17 roster spots, meaning that we'd have to eat salary too. When JT signed I think it pretty well closed the door on Wafer altogether. Unless some trades make a roster spot available I doubt we'll see him in Rockets Red this year.
I honestly don't think the door is officially closed on Wafer, just because we signed Taylor. Morey might be using him in a trade, kinda like he did last year with Donte Green. Who knows what will happen with Von, but I hope because of his tantrum during the playoffs, it doesn't hurt him in the long run, he has heart when he plays, he just needs to learn to take his big boy pill and listen to the coach, the coach knows more than he does. Whether it's Adleman or someone else.
I don't understand how anybody can conclude Wafer is gone from the signing of Taylor. It's like concluding Chuck Hayes was gone, because they traded for Scola and drafted Landry. It's ok to have more than 1 player at a position.
DrN, scola and landry are just as bad on the defensive end as wafer and shane and chuck are as bad offensively as wafer's defends. Now we can all agree the playoff things was immature, but jr smith and stephen jackson are 2 examples of guys that have matured and are key contributors on winning teams. No one can deny the offense didn't look better when started. To those saying he must not be that good cause no one has signed him, sessions is better than most pgs in the league and he can't get a deal. People are loading up for next yr so they're hesitant to spend this summer.
