Feeling is mutual. Don't forget Dorsey's gf even talked to us! Lol. Depends on your preferences I guess. If you like older, more sophisticated looking women or if you prefer younger, more vibrant looking girls. You can't go wrong with either one. If I had to choose, I would go with Dorsey's gf.
I will not answer for DD, but here is my thinking on chase and taylor. I didn't understand the thinking because wafer is a better prospect than both playing the same position. Wafer has proven this year that he can get his own shot off the dribble, he can slash,cut, and finish, and he can knock down the 3 ball. Now if taylor or budinger were bigger,faster, more athletic, and more explosive than Von, ok, I would understand, but they're not. Not to mention that Von is only a couple of years older than both. So to me, instead of spending 6m on guys that aren't even better prospects than von, why not just give him some of that love? That's what I don't get. Why not buy the pistons 1st rd pick and draft Mullens since you already knew yao would be out for the yr?
Great post yoyo. Man how I hate the fact that I don't live in the USA. Australia is such a basketball hating country.
Thanks, be happy to answer, just once though, because we should not take this discussion into this excellent thread.... Well, if you have followed basketball at all, and it seems by your date of 1980 you have, then you would know that in free agency, the first guys that sign are the higher end more expensive guys, which set the table for the guys below them. Then it is the MLE guys, which again set the table....everyone wants to be one of these top two tier players and their agents are working to make them attractive here, but GMs are savvy, and they let the market set the price, so the simple answer to your question is that Von's price has not been set yet. A great example would be last year's situation with Carl Landry, it took forever until all the other big names were gone, and his price was set at $3 million a year. A similar situation is happening with Von, and when it gets to the $2 - $3 million range, I expect him to sign it....right now, he is probably hoping for more, but reality will prevail. Actually he is not a dime a dozen, Morey said he had elite level athleticism and quickness for a SG, and that is the truth. Players who score 10ppg in only 19mpg and shoot 44% overall and 40% from 3pt range..AND are still developing at the age of 23, are not a dime a dozen...he may never develop further, but his skills set him up to be even better going forward, it is why I like him so much, we need his speed, quickness, athleticism, enthusiasm, and scoring punch, as those are not easily found in the NBA, IMO. Great to have another old timer here, been following the Rockets since 1972. Also, I will not respond again to this point in this excellent thread..... Thanks, DD
My only problem with your Von points is while he is an exciting athlete with elite potential......is he's also soeems like he might be an idiot....and insanity will always trump athletisism lol
You forget the intangibles that Von brings... unforced turnovers, forced charges, matador defense, terrible passer, blackhole syndrome, lack of bball IQ. Not to mention he is just plain stupid to throw multiple tantrums during the playoffs without a future contract. Adelman and Morey know his positives better than any of us but they also know his negatives and they believe they outweigh his instant offense. Still they might consider a year deal if Taylor doesn't pan out. What budinger brings is good shooting a willingness to do what he is asked and a desire to play hard. I expect his defense to improve before the season starts and if it improves enough he may be a rotation player. I can't ell anything about taylor yet but he just looks like a more under control player. And in the end Ariza, Taylor Budinger and even White all look better than Wafer on defense and defense is just about hard work. And as Morey said hrd work is under rated. You think Wafer would have listened and done that work to secure his spot. Just stupid not too.
Very well said. Von makes Dorsey look like Albert Einstein on the basketball court. Taylors floor game has impressed me especially with his passing ability, something Wafer just won't do. You can have all the elite athletism on the planet, but if your not coachable and you don't make anybody else better on the court then whats the point. I'll say it again, Wafer really hurt himself in game 2 of the Lakers series, there is no way around it. I still wouldn't mind seeing the rockets resign him, but only at the rockets price.
Sounds like Taylor could use some time in Europe to make him realize he's not the man and fix his shooting stroke while Chase could contribute to the team next year. I thought it was the other way around right after the draft.
One explanation could be that they made their best offer to Wafer and he rejected. The draft happened before FA so no one knew what kind of offer Wafer would get, given his age and the poor competition in this FA class, Wafer seemed like one of, if not the best, young off guards this year. It was conceivable that he would get a big offer and bolt right away. While Taylor seems similar to Wafer, Budinger looks like a totally different player, so I wouldn't lump them all together.
Yeah that huge, .93 turnovers per game was a killer That is POINT 93.......as in LESS than one turnover a game, which includes the charges and turnovers you mentioned above, so it looks like they don't happen very often... His D needs work, and his passing actually got better as attested to his 1.1apg...not a lot but his job was to score the ball, and when he was the starter he was more into passing it around, but he was TOLD TO SCORE by Adelman, that was his ROLE, he was doing his job. His BBall IQ needs work, but he is getting better every year, we can't say that about other SG's we have had....(cough cough) Luther Head. Tons of players have done similar things, Melo this year for one...he is just competitve and young, he will learn, at least he plays with passion and fire. I like Budinger, Taylor and White look lost to me....Wafer has a place IMO. DD
The Rockets are no less capable of signing Wafer now than they were before the draft. The 6 million spent for the picks is off the books, and neither of the acquired players come with guaranteed contracts. I consider that a moot point. I don't follow college basketball, so I can't speak to the relative worth of Taylor and Budinger compared to a player like Mullens. I like that Taylor and Budinger cost us nothing (non-guaranteed 2nd round picks that we didn't have to give up any assets for). And I like that they are known to be talented offensive players, because more than anything else I feel that's what this team needs. I also think they're the type of players (at the type of non-guaranteed money) that could be appealing to other teams as an added chip if we need to make a certain trade happen. Out of curiosity, how much does it usually cost to buy a mid first round pick?
The most you can send to another team is 3m. I will not give up my source, but dumars was selling that pick, but no one came forward. Durvasa, technically, it didn't cost the rockets anything but cash to get the 3 picks, but cash is cash. We now know that morey knew before the draft that Yao would be out for the season. We know this because he applied for the injury exception before the draft and was trying to get rubio as a start over. If that is know, wouldn't it make sense to jump in the middle round and get Mullens? Is mullens a great player? No, but he is a good prospect who is a center. Similar to last year when I wanted Jordan in the 2nd rd because you fragile center keeps getting hurt, we instead gave cash to buy 2 sg that don't have a higher upside than Von. Now u may be right, maybe they offered Von a deal and knowing morey it was probably a low ball offer. It was probably about 1m per or so, but dorsey is over there with a 3 yr deal. Von is better than white,chase, and taylor right now and he's only a couple of years older. It just doesn't stand up to what you're trying to assemble. Von has more production than landrry had last yr when his contract was up. You never bid against yourself, I get that, but 3 yrs 9m probably wouldve secured Von.
Was he looking to sell the pick straight up for cash, or perhaps as part of a trade to shed some other salary? If all it took was 3 million to buy the 15th pick, I agree its a head scratcher that the Rockets wouldn't do that when they spent the same money on a second round pick.
