Can you do that? Does that qualify when it comes to % increases, because I thought it has to be a certain % increase per season. 1.6 2009 1.6 2010 1.6 2011 2.5 2012 3.5 2013 I don't think that works because I don't think you can go past a 20% increase per year. I'll check.
The thing that scares me is the Luxury Tax. We're already over it and will have to make a trade to get below it. Signing Von will just make this that much more difficult. Now not being so realistic, I'd love to have him back, especially for a decent price. With this pretty much being a throw away season I'd love to see all of the young guys get that much more playing time, and when I say this I include Von. If Tayler were able to replace Von I'd be estatic, but I'm not holding my breath. Having instant offense and a 40% 3 point shooter could definitely help this team, but is that the best thing right now? I think the main concern for this team right now is getting under the Luxury Tax, followed closely by getting a center, then possibly resigning Von. 1 thing almost depends on the previous outcome, IMO. Pugs
What's the rush in signing Von freakin' Wafer? Ariza, Taylor and Budinger are all guys who are young athletic and have a chance to grow. You keep talking about Taylor and Budinger as "2nd round picks". Well what the hell does that make Von? Nba castoff? You haven't even seen Taylor play on an NBA court and yet you're already dismissing these guys? C'mon now. Its not even about the money, its about the roster spot. As it is we have 7 guys for two positions, what happens when either Taylor, White and/or Budinger are able to provide the stuff Von gave us at a rookie discount? As far I can see, no other team has offered Von a contract, not even a min one. If someone had he would have signed it by now just to spite DM and probably Adelman as well. Why sign him now for 3 million a year when you can have him for the min later on? Signing players is always a waiting game unless suitors are lined up. We sign him for 3 mill when no one even wants to offer him a min and we just made a Lewis signing, except much smaller in scale.
Yeah I'll choose Von Wafer over Allen Iverson any day come on. Von wafer is sooooo overrated it makes no sense. He basically made his decision when the playoffs were going on.
The difference is that Von has proven it in the NBA....he is now a known commodity, those guys are not. Pretty simple really. Those guys will get their chance and if they are better we will be able to trade Von or them to get the team even better. This is silly, first the big named free agents go, then teams get down to the smaller deals ones....it is all about the market setting the price first. Asset management 101. DD
I agree with you a lot. I think Von has proven a lot, he's also shown a great deal of my fears too. Before the season started, I speculated Von would be trouble in the chemistry department because of the number of teams he's been on, because even LA said he had attitude issues. LA, the team with miss drama queen herself KB24. Then Von pulls that stunt in the Laker game and suddenly my fears come to fruition. I understand, it's over and done with. Coach and Von cleared the air, he appologized, blah blah blah. It still doesn't take the fear away. With so many uncertainties of this team, Von's ability to be a team player isn't one I want lingering. I'm not saying let him walk, but MLE is far far too much. Anything more than a 3 year deal is far too long. I would like Von to stay, but I won't be heartbroken if he walks.
I don't agree with this. Not every team is in the market for those top free agents. If one of those teams wanted a stupendous, young up and comer like Streetball, they could make an offer. His agent implied there haven't really even been significant discussions with any other teams. He also said basically that they would consider a minimum offer from other teams. His own agent is basically setting his market value very low, while also inviting teams to offer him just over the minimum to save face. My guess is that his exposure in the playoffs and blow-up with Adelman have severely hurt his marketability to other teams. I'm not sure that I even want him for the minimum now, just because he's demonstrated he's prone to getting into it with the coach, and I doubt he's going to be happy playing for the minimum. I guess it would be OK as a one year deal, so he'd want to behave in order to stay out of Adelman's dog house and try to showcase for a contract next year.
Any new contract that lasts more than 1 year at this point cuts into our spending in the 2010 off-season. Cutting into that spending cuts into the team's future. Von is dangerous. He worked out well last year, so hopefully he turned a corner, but you can never be 100% sure. To potentially sacrifice a team's future by tossing longer-term money at a risk like that... it's hard to do. Then again, if Morey and the Rockets truly believe Von can turn into a starting SG, we may just want to make that leap.
Here's the thing, resigning Luis Scola in 2010 will basically eliminate our entire cap. Assuming we add no one right now, next year our projected salaries are at 38 mil. Reports are saying the cap will be somewhere near 50 mil. If we resign Luis to the league average (5.5. mil) it only leaves us with about 7 mil. Most of the players available in 2010 want more than that. If Yao opts out, which I HEAVELY doubt, then we have bank. Until then, we don't really have money. I think the way the Rockets see it, we don't really have the money next year anyways, so we might as well just spend our MLE right now.
If we target someone like Chris Bosh, re-signing Luis Scola becomes less of a priority. As much as I like Scola, if signing him blocks a signing of Bosh, I will happily pass. Then again, if the cap is near $50 million, even without signing Scola, we're screwed.
I don't get why Von Wafer is judged by a ridiculously strict set of criteria. Nobody is saying give him a max deal or even the MLE. We are talking about $2-3 million a year for a guy who was by far the most efficient scoring wing player on the team. He brought athleticism and shooting to a team that has not had those qualities in a long, long time. This team has plenty of "glue guys" so it's time to start adding and keeping the athleticism and raw talent it has. So what if he wasn't all NBA defensively last season or that he didn't always make the right pass? We are talking about a ROLE PLAYER getting paid role player money to continue playing and improving in his role. Since when does everyone have to have Kobe's all-around game to get paid anymore? At least we know he cares about his game, works hard and wants to compete. $2-3 million a year for 10ppg in 20mpg in a very efficient manner is a steal regardless of what he does or does not do defensively or whatever shortcomings he might have or that clutchfans posters manufacture.
That's why I'd rather push for someone like Bosh now, maybe give up something sweet to entice the deal, like Houston's first round picks for the next five years, haha. Just kidding. It's dicey because Yao makes it hard to cash in next year, and with the economy tanking and the cap lowering, I doubt many players will move. Bosh can't really get a max contract from any other team that doesn't own his Bird rights and still have a chance to play for someone good.
I'm all for signing Von for a bargain as you can see in my previous post, but I have three questions for you DD. 1. How do you rate Vons defense? 2. How do you rate Vons team play (getting others involved)? 3. What kind of contract do you think he is worthy of without over-paying?
Poor, but it improved a lot during the year with regular playing time. That is tough because his job is to score, and he did that great....when he was asked to be a little bit more of a playmaker, he did ok...I think with playing time he will be a nice guy at getting others involved, occassionally, but it will never be his strength. $2-$3 million a year for a 2 year deal with a 3rd year being at the team's option. DD
Generally speaking in the NBA, teams will go after the big free agents first, then the table is set for the smaller role player guys. Von's market has not been set yet......for a good recent example see Landry last year, he got no offers for a long time until the market had evened out then his value was set. Same thing will happen with Von. DD
