For sooo long we have pined for that third scorer...well, Wafer quite possibly is that guy. Thing is - we have such a well balanced offensive attack now that we dont necessarily NEED what he brings to the table. That being said, if he commits as much to his D as he does scoring the ball then he could easily be a player worthy of MLE (if not a little more).
JR is better than Von ! It's not fair for JR to say that because he's playing 33%more minutes than Wafer you have to up Von wafer stats by 33%. He's earned the right to stay 33% longer on the court than Von, and don't tell me he's Karl's favorite I'm sure is we had JR and told him, like we do with wafer : "when we put you on the court we want you to make something happen on the offensive end, whenever you get the ball attack the rim, shoot it !" I'm sure JR would florish in that system too, and better than Von. The only problem i have with JR is sometimes he doesn't have the motivation, and it's a big concern for his career. Seriously the guy is talented like hell, not as fast than Wafer but evertything else he does better. Watching JR when he drives>pulls up>360>shoots it of the glass is something !! ps : I really appreciate you DD, really i always look forward to read your posts or watch your Rockets talk (btw the one with the wine was crazy i had to show it to my girl !!) ! I don't want to appear cocky but i just can't let Von have that much credit lol
If the Rockets pay him full MLE, how much will they need to pay Scola when his contract comes up? Wafer is a good SG, but SG happens to be a position with a lot of quality players. Also his game has a lot of flaws -- poor to very poor defense, very streaky shooting to name a few.
I'm not terribly worried about losing Wafer, especially if it's going to be expensive to keep him. James White may turn out to be better.
Scola's contract expires in 10 which will be one later that Ron's, so there won't be any collision between re-signing them.
Von will pull a landry this summer and most likely we will sign him for whatever the market price demands. don't forget we still need him as tmac won't be back until next Feb time. No team is going to offer Von long term big contract with the pool of FA coming up in 2010. Von isn't going anywhere, fellow.
Wow. JR Smith is a legit 6'5" as well. JR Smith is also a better athlete, scorer, ball-handler, shooter and defender then Von. His ceiling is also much higher. Smith's problems are attitude and work ethic. I like Von a lot as a scorer off the bench. He's a good spark plug. You are seriously overrating him though
JR a defender...come on...he has the same issues on defense Von has... Maybe it is because I don't like JR's game so much, he just chucks and chucks and chucks, rarely driving at all. And his attitude sucks.......Von seems more coachable and you can actually see improvement in his game from passing to defense...to driving through traffic to the hole. JR has more cred in that he has played longer in the league, but the fact that he did not get a big contract last offseason should tell you what other teams think of his game....he is not all that... It will be interesting to see how many teams chase Von, a potential starting PG with major athleticism and only 23.....I could see someone overpaying him......I just hope he comes back....to me he is seriously improving and has a higher ceiling than JR because he works so hard...and is coachable. I believe that Von....is going to be better than a lot of people here seem to think. Thank you very much nicolas, you are too kind. DD
Some people may only appreciate Von if we lose him and he continues to blow up with another team, and we have a lessor player to replace him next year. Let's hope that doesn't happen and we are able to work out the finances to keep him. But we do have to consider what it will take for our other players as well. We can't just break the bank for Von by his signing causing us to pay too much for our other players.
Just sign him to fair market value...whatever someone else is offering, match it.....unless it is crazy... DD
Dada, Wafer is good. No debate there. Most folks seem to think JR is better than Wafer. Debatable. I think JR is more established and more talented. As for fit on this team, that's largely irrelevant b/c we're talking about value on the open market, not a choice that the Rockets make between the two of them. (That said --- can you imagine his unlimited range from distance on this team? Holy crap. Talk about creating space.) So we're talking about value on open market. Its a big stretch to suggest that Von can get more than JR's 3 year, 15MM contract. Particularly in this economy. Even at $5MM/year, that's lower than MLE. I think the reality is that JR would be valued higher and Von could get $2MM to $4MM per year, depending on whether a GM projected him high or not. I think the likely value is $2.5MM to $3MM. You project him high - that would merit a $4MM/yr contract if you think he's starter material. Someone noted Matt Barnes contract. He signed a 1 year deal with Phoeenix for league minimum. He puts up 10/5.5/2.8. He's not as good as von, and is a noted douchebag. But he is a journeyman, athletic, and is a rotation player on a decent team. Compared to Barnes, Von getting 2-3MM is pretty fair. Especially if it's a multiyear deal.
We don't have the right to match, it's up to Von whether he lets us match. A guy in his position though has to do 2 things (1) cash grab, best contract possible; and (2) get playing time to develop his game and put up numbers for his next contract. I think he can get that here, but big question in his mind is Tmac. Will the rockets trade him before next season. Tmac is gonig to try to come back and will eat up major minutes. Von's not going to want that. If you ask me, that's the biggest problem to resigning him. If both Tmac and Artest are back, I think it's likely he goes elsewhere unless we pay a premium.
I agree with DD and your response to him. Von wants playing time. But our benefit may be that if Tmac is still with us, he probably won't be back until the second half of the season next year, giving Von an opportunity to shine more. But I think they will have to pay him and move Shane to the bench so that Von can start in order to keep him. If another team offers the same or more money plus a starting role, I think Von will take it....unless we go very deep in the playoffs this year and he wants to stay here to try to win a championship because the other team that is offering is not a contender.
I don't think that is a fair comparison, Barnes performance before was largely attributed to playing at Golden State in a run and gun type of deal, and the jury is still out on him playing on a system based team now that he has been on run and gun Phoenix. Von Wafer is putting up very good numbers on a team that has an established system, and heirarchy...... Playing with Yao is not the easiest thing for a lot of players, I think this translates well when GM's think about a player's potential or future. I do agree, that Tmac is the issue......if he is back, I doubt Von signs here, and you can't blame him....he has arrived, or is just starting too, and probably wants to prove himself as a starter. When he started 11 games and averaged about 17ppg, to me, that sealed the deal, he can play, all it takes now is experience. Personally, I hope we trade Tmac.....and Von signs here....... I think he should already be splitting time with Batteir and Artest....Von creates so much havoc for the opponent especially when they are fronting Yao, and whether we like to admit it or not....we NEED someone that can take advantage of that....and he is by far and away the best player on the team for doing that. DD
I agree with your assessment of Von. I have two questions for you. Who would you like to see us trade Tmac for? And would you like to see von start next year...and if so, who would you have come off the bench...Battier or Artest?
A lot depends on the playoffs.......but to me, if he continues to grow, I would like to see him start, we need his athleticism in the first group. And, I think it all depends on whether we keep Artest.....I know he has been tough, but his speed has seriously declined, and I don't think he is going to be getting better, so I am on the fence about re-signing him..... Von at SG and Battier at SF is pretty good, or Von at SG and Artest at SF is good too..... I would trade Tmac, and then try to engineer something that upgrades our team like a S&T of Artest for Bibby, or a Battier for Outlaw type of deal. Von will get better, Battier and Artest will get worse, they are on the opposite ends of the bell curve. That being said.....it will be fun to see what happens, and I tend to put a bit more value on younger players that have proven they can play over declining veterans......but that may be too much risk for Morey and Les. DD
