http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-41-170/Leon-Powe-is-Unemployed.html Sad story. But if he has a good chance of coming back from severe knee injury, a team should try to sign him to a longer-term near-minimum wage contract, so that essentially they pay him to rehab for a year or two, and get the benefit of a cheap PF in later part of the deal.
I don't worry about Powe, he's gonna find some teams in the NBA that are willing to get him. And talk about Celtics, imagine if Rockets were like that. Half of our roster would be dismissed.
Nobody is going to sign him to anything long term until he proves he can play. Paying somebody like Powe to rehab a couple of years makes no sense. He isn't an impact player. He'll get a one-year offer (maybe not even guaranteed) and if he has a good year, payday will be next summer. I feel sorry for Powe too. Hopefully this turns into one more thing he overcomes.
Its hard to blame them for not wanting to pay for an injured player when they already have a high payroll. I really hope he comes back healthy because he had turned into a good role player. It does make me respect the Bulls who paid Jay Williams a buyout, when they could have just voided his contract. I always feel bad for players that get injured and aren't so lucky.
if Yao gets hurt his last year of his contract would you want the rockets to give him a pity contract?
He will make it to a roster spot by opening night. The Celtics might just give him another chance. The guy did show some spunk and game when healthy.
Powe did show signs of hustle and energy, but does he really have much of a skillset? Watching him in last year's playoffs, he pretty much had nothing besides dunks and a few putbacks. His post-game is pretty horrendous and let's not even get to jump shots. He would be a D-leaguer if it weren't for his athletic build and his hustle. IMO Hayes is a less-athletic but far smarter version of Powe. But yeah, the injury came at a pretty bad time since he was on a roll.. but it's not surprising that he's unemployed.
Oh cry me a river..."my client was only paid high six figure salaries for 3 years" He made more in those 3 years than a lot of Americans make in 30 DO NOT PITY (plus someone will resign him when he is rehabed)
He wouldnt be the only player who's career and pay was diminished by injury, there's a huge list there. I ask that question all the time about the ethics of being provided a living, should capitalism have more conscience. But what if they paid him the money and he comes back only 40% what he was, or he gets reinjured again? Then they'd be getting hammered by fans for taking the risk on him when healthier options were out there
I feel bad for him, but it's just a severe case of unfortunate timing. He'll bounce back though. He could be a valuable contributor on any team.
You guys are aware of his story, growing up poor in foster homes without a father and his mother dying when he was in high school. He's overcome a lot of obstacles and I'm sure his salary supports his siblings and family. I heard Rivers say they wanted to sign him even after the injury, Ainge and the Celtics need to do the right thing and sign him. http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/120803aab.html
^^^^ He really is a good guy and has overcome a lot of obstacles in his life. if anybody were to deserve a break it'd be him. I really hope Boston does the right thing and signs him. I can see him bouncing back from this latest obstacle but he could use a break for once in his life.
I am thinking now that they are probably going to sign him at the minimum, rather than the QO (which would be a bit higher). He really does remind me of a Carl Landry: good quick player, nice rebounder, efficient scorer (though not quite as high efficiency as Landry, I think). Of course, we are talking about "when healthy." But when healthy, I think he can be a very good sixth man in this league, if not a starter. Don't think the Rockets need him now (Landry is similar, Scola and Chuck are productive PFs), but if one of the current PFs get traded or if we anticipate one of them leaving via free agency next offseason, it wouldn't be bad to invest in this guy.
He is such a hard worker and is still young. He will bounce back and get a nice contract before his career ends. A torn ACL isn't a death sentence to an athletic guy's career like it was 10 years ago. I wouldn't be surprised to see the guy running and jumping like it never happened before the end of the season.
