Will the Rockets be able to keep Von?

I said "better defender." Sadly, it's true. Smith is not even an average defeder , but Von is just lost out there. He just doesn't grasp defensive adjustments, help side defense,ect.....

How much of JR have you honestly watched? I agree he is a chucker, but he gets to the basket well too.

I can't stand JR Smith. That being said, he has made signifigant progress this season. I won't ignore that just because I dislike the guy. In terms of being coachable, I think they are about the same. The difference though is JR's weakness's stem from his attitude and work ethic, while Von's stem from his low basketball IQ.

His contract was pretty good for a guy who has a massive history of trouble both on and off the court. We really disagree there.

I really like Wafer. I think he is a good spark plug off the bench. He definitely isn't going to be a starting SG (I imagine potential starting PG was a typo) for a championship team ever IMO. He's a really good bench guy though. In this economy, nobody is going to overpay for role players. They aren't going to overpay on potential either. The market is going to be tough out there. JR Smith is only 23 too BTW.

I want to keep Von, but not for more the 2-3 million a year. I honestly don't want to pay Artest more then 7 million (21 million total) for 3 years either. I don't think his market value will be more then 7 or 8 either though. What interesting is Mike Bibby acknowledged that he likely won't get the contract he was originally looking for. I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Rockets uniform for the right price.

 

His contract isn't guaranteed

 

Well said. I would love to see that Outlaw deal...I think it would be decent for Portland too.

 

His contract is not guaranteed. We had Mike Harris signed and where is he now??

 

We can agree to disagree on this. It seems our perspectives on most of these points contrast pretty dramatically.

All that being said, we do agree on two key issues. We both want to resign Wafer, and we would both like to have Bibby. Oh, I would sign and trade Ron for Outlaw in a second. Hell, I'd even help him move to Portland

 

And J.R Smith is playing with-in Denver's system so you can't be mad that he shoots all the time. We have a chucker in Ron Artest but I don't see you complaining that much when his shots are going in.

 

I like Von alot, he gives this team what we have lacked for some time and that is heart and energy. DD, I gotta disagree with the All Start thoughts though.

If the Rox give him the full MLE, which I think is a litte high based on one year of work. But, I may still do if pressed. I'd let Ron go. With Landry and Scola improving, Battier to play that tough D, and Von to score. I'd look at what else could be bought with the 5-8 mill Ron will want.

 

We won't need Von because next year Tmac will come back healthy and play like an all star. Von wouldn't get any PT if we decide to also sign Artest.

 

For the Full MLE, I rather take a chance on Trevor Ariza. His unrestricted as well.

 

DD, you are too smart to be making statements like, "Von Wafer needs to be offered the full MLE." You're better than that.

How many times has a player signed for the full MLE and the team that signed him NOT regretted making that deal? Maybe Turkoglu? Basically, that is a rare occurrence. The full MLE deal has become synonymous with "overpaid, bloated contract" in today's NBA landscape. Plus, I don't need to tell you about the state of the economy in 2009. There will undoubtedly be players far superior to Von Wafer who get stuck taking only a portion of the MLE.

As it stands, even if the Rockets re-sign Artest to a very reasonable contract, the team will go over the luxury tax threshold. Assuming that re-signing Artest is the team's #1 priority, then re-signing Wafer after that will basically cost the Rockets double his paycheck. Even a $3M per year salary for Von will cost Les more than $6M next season at a time when he's probably already lost a TON of money in his other business ventures and investments.

I'm like everyone else here in that I typically don't mind hypothetically spending Les's money for him on this BBS. However, I am also a realist. Morey is not going to be handed a blank check by Les. That is why I honestly believe that Wafer is a goner this summer unless he is willing to take less money to stay in Houston and a good basketball situation for him.

 

He breaks way too many plays. I can't recall seeing an NBA player who breaks as many plays per game as Artest. It's not that he's not a good player, it's that in his head he believes he's on the same level as Kobe, LBJ, Wade, ect.....

 

Relevant to this Wafer discussion is the broader topic of where the Rockets go in the future. A couple of things.

1. Objective 1 is to re-sign Yao.

2. I believe there's no way we trade Battier. I've seen the two interact in games, on the bench, in time outs. Yao respects the hell out of Battier. Both are intellectual types. Battier can do 2 things that Yao desperately needs - feed the post, hit the 3.

3. We need a starting PG. Brooks is not a starting PG. Lowry might be eventually, but isn't good enough to start for a contender.

- We need to deal Brooks for a starting PG, or better yet, Tmac. This is a topic in and of itself.

- Lowry might be, or we need a FA. Ideally, we can deal Brooks plus something for a starting PG. I like Lowry and Wafer as a combo off the bench. They seem to have a budding chemistry, but they're not good enough to be the starting back court for a championship team.

4. Artest needs to be brought back. Our advantage over all teams is quality wing defense. Artest and Battier are second to none in that regard.

If we can turn Tmac's salary slot into useful resources, we have a contender. Period.

 

I agree.

 

Realistically T-Mac has probably played his last game as a rocket and especially if this team advances past the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

I agree. He also completely abandoned his post game. I really don't want to resign him if there are options like Outlaw out there. Unfortunately, Outlaw's stock has really risen since he was on the block. We could have had him much cheaper.

 

I want to sign Artest first, then trade him and Brooks together for a very good SF or SG, this is a really possible deal for us. Many teams are high for Brooks, we need start Lowry.

 

Considering the market and economy, you think Von Wafer should receive a full MLE?