All that playoff experience is for naught if his shot isn't on and is getting beat repeatedly off the dribble, which I can see happening also. Like I said, depending on matchups, Von will get his chance first then if he's really struggling Adelman will go to Barry. If AB and Lowry are also stuggling then Barry will come in also. Either way, I don't think it's a good omen to see Barry on the floor more then those guys against most of the projected playoff teams, it means to me Plan A isn't working and Adelman has to revert to Plan B. My sentiments exactly. I do see incremental improvements lately in that he looks for other guys when he has the ball, the D is still a work in progress. Some guys pick up things quick on the fly and only needs to be told once, others like Von need continual coaching and reminding to keep him focused in the game.
No way he gets the full MLE from anyone. His ceiling is about 3 million. He'll get between 6-9 million for 3 years.
Rockets does have more player than other teams on those shoe deal. I wonder how the leage see to this. Just like Yao's charity fundation was forced to seperated from Clutch City Foundation to prevent salary-cap circumvention. Only if Les own any share of Anta or Li Ning....
jarren jackson comes to mind. and we see how his career went. paying full mle money to wafer is ridiculous. given the state of the economy, it has already been speculated that more and more top free agents will have to take less than their perceived value. von wafer is far from a top free agent. he's scrap heap that MAY be polishable into a diamond, but likely isn't. after all 3 (?) teams have already discarded him. he's athletic, full of energy, and serves as a sparkplug in our offense. that's fantastic, but certainly replaceable. the james white signing (off the scrap heap as well) illustrates not only the commonality of finding these sparkplugs, but also sets the market price. 2-3 mil per year over 3 years is a sizable raise and, I'm sure, welcome job security for someone who barely made the opening day roster.
QUESTION: Are we expecting VON to do like Cat Mobley did and take less money to stay here? Or will he take Cat Mobley as an Object Lesson that if you take less to stay . . . that does not mean they won't trade your *ss in a New York Minute? His situation reminds me of that cause other teams could offer more than the Rockets could Match. Is that the same here? Rocket River
I really enjoy and love watching Von play but let's not inflate his value too drastically. I would offer him at best half of the MLE, he still needs to get better on the defensive side of things. He's a streak shooter that needs to improve his passing and decision making. I think he can be a huge part of our bench but if he's looking to start/make more money, there's nothing we can do since we don't have his rights. I really see this guying be a JR Smith type with less baggage but then again, how many of us really know Von??? Go Rockets!!!
Crap, I just remembered we have no bird rights on him. I was really hoping to snatch a good free agent this off season...oh well.
DD i'm not really convinced by the stats to say that he's not turnover prone. I agree with you on the fact that he recently learned how to pass the ball when defenders are closing lane but due to his style(and low basketball IQ) he remains turnover prone. You say Barry is turnover prone (this year) but Barry has a better assist/TO ratio than Von. I'm impressed and, i admit, surprised by Von : - really a big boost off the bench - you know he will bring points, free throws and energy - he's now starting to adapt to the defense - i wouldn't have thought he would be able to drive and dish (at least not so soon in his career!), so he might not have a so low BB IQ after all(maybe that's his style that give me this impression) - a GREAT first step, shoots well, doesn't think too much( to say the least !) Still, IMO full MLE would be overpaying him, a good point was made about seeing how he performs during the playoffs. We need to see if he can play this good when defense will give him more attention. In his position many other guards, paid at the MLE, would have played as well, NBA isn't lacking SG to say the least... And the economy is down so no i don't see teams chasing him for the full MLE (and that's good for the Rox!) ps : that's my first post, i've been reading this board almost daily since artest got here. I'm not very good at writing in english cause i'm french but hope it's not too painful to read me
I think if you want this team to contend next year, you offer Von whatever it takes to sign him right after you secure Artest. That should be the measuring stick, secure Artest first, then Von second. We are not in a position to lose either one and remain competitive next year. Tmac won't be back probably until the second half of next year, if we don't trade him anyway.
Interest will be a lot lower than people suspected, in part because of the economy, in part because we are all deluded homers that overrate our level of talent. Did you know Will Bynum has a PER of 18+??? Wafer's great with his 44 FG% and 40 3PT% (much better than T-Mac ever had) but he's still at just under 15. There's a lot of good talent out there like Von Wafer, just waiting for Morey to scoop them up. Congrats to Wafer if he can re-up with us, and good luck if he can't; I trust Morey either way.
one thing people are overlooking is the option of lettign von walk and spending MLE money on someone else. if another team wants to overpay for von so be it. morey can find another FA SG. maybe james white becomes next year's von. maybe they trade tmac for 2 or 3 good players rather than look for one all star.
JR Smith signed a 3 year, 15MM deal. That was during good economic times. JR Smith is a 6th man award candidate. smith's stats are quite good 14.9 ppg 39.2 percent from 3 44.5 fg percentage 2.9 apg 3.7 rpg 16.41 PER 23 years old much longer track record of performance, quality shooter from unlimited distance. Can play some pg also, or at least does for Den sometimes. ========= In short, Smith is vastly superior to Wafer. If he's pulling 5MM/year, Wafer is about 2MM per year, maybe 3 at the most.
There are some bottom feeder Gm's and teams that will give Von a big contract (Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Washington, OKc etc...) However, that doesn't mean we should overpay. His D is very shaky
lets say some team over pays for von and the rockets let him walk. here are some unrestricted FA's that could easily replace his scoring and wont break the bank to sign: flip murray rodney carney mo ager matt barnes anthony parker then again we always have james white. and of course, we could always trade tmac for a couple of wing scorers.
Woah....I disagree here, Smith has more street cred, but he is not nearly as athletic as Wafer, and certainly not as fast. I think Wafer has more athleticism.... And Smith is even more of a chucker. 3 assists tonight...Von is attacking and assisting now..... And isn't Smith only like 6'3"? Wafer is a legit 6'5".... His quickness and athletic ability make him unique, he might be the quickets SG in the league... DD
That's acting like he's Brian Cook. Wafer has been a rotation player the whole season. After McGrady went down the first time and Barry & Battier was out, can you imagine the guard play if Wafer didnt step up? Relying on Luther Head to do what Wafer's doing? But I wont overrate him either. And it'll definitely depend on how the summer plays out. I dont think he's full MLE. Maybe thats why David Falk said in the next bargaining agreement they'll talk about getting rid of the MLE. Cuz players like Wafer get overpaid from it
whoa i disagree, smith is legit 6'6'', much stronger than wafer, handles the ball better, and not nearly the defensive liability as wafer. personally, i think smith is more atheletic, maybe not as fast. smith also have a much better overall offensive game than wafer.
