Boston Celtics sign Von Wafer to 1-year deal
The Boston Celtics have signed Von Wafer to a one-year contract, according to sources close to the situation. The deal will be fully guaranteed and worth the veteran’s minimum.The Celtics had spent the past week looking for a guard to replace Tony Allen. Jarvis Hayes and Roger Mason were mentioned as options, but the team ultimately went with Wafer because of his ability to score off of the bench.
Welcome to Boston, Von Wafer
Von Wafer is a 6’5″ shooting guard who played his college basketball at Florida State. He has played four NBA seasons, his best coming in 2008 with the Houston Rockets. He averaged 9.7 ppg in 19 mpg, while shooting 39% from behind the arc. Last season, Wafer played with the Greek team Olympiacos, where he struggled to receive consistent playing time before being waived in December.
Wafer’s signing could be a sign that Rudy Fernandez trade talks have hit a rough patch, or come to a complete halt. While not as high profile a pick up as Fernandez would be, Wafer will fill a similar role off the bench– providing three-point shooting and a scoring punch. For the veteran’s minimum this is a no-risk, high-reward signing.
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Celtics Blog, Featured | Tommy King | July 29, 2010
NICE!!! This guy will be perfect! Speed, athleticism, scoring, and tenacity on Defense!
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Just be sure to bring a lot of this:
and this:
Von!
Welcome to the greatest basketball franchise ever!
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Love the videos Real Jeff. I’m very excited about the signing,too. Saw Wafer play the Celtics two years ago, and boy can the kid shoot. Sneakily athletic, too. Go C’s!
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I get worried whenever I hear “struggled to get consistent playing time” when you’re talking about an international team.
If he sucked there, why will he be better now?
I dunno, just being a pessimist I guess, but I wanted Rudy, so I’m not thrilled by this.
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This doesn’t necessarily mean that Rudy is out. This may be insurance for the event that POR plays hardball.
Barnes was clearly Danny’s number one choice for Pierce’s relief and Rudy is clearly number one at SG.
Danny has been waiting to see what happens with these guys to see who is plan B and C, and who they will get. They talked to Von a week ago and he was likely option B as was Quis who got signed immediately after Barnes was gone.
Danny is trying to get what’s best for the team. I think that POR is asking too high a price for Rudy and Danny has made an offer below it and is content to wait it out.
If they wanted Davis or Bradley, which I think is the case, and Danny wasn’t willing to part with either or maybe they want both, then Danny probably made a counter offer that was below it and thus the POR big wigs want to “meet” about it.
Danny is smart and will do what’s best in the long run. He knows what a players value is and won’t go higher than what is justified. I’m guessing POR wants too much right now, which was expected.
Let’s wait and see what comes next.
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I don’t necesarrily see this as the end of the chances to snag Rudy, but as you said, it definitely shows that Danny and Cho aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye right now. Hopefully, we can still get Rudy and Wafer will just be a really nice insurance policy.
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I’d be surprised if the C’s go after Rudy now. Wafer will play almost the exact same role.
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Don’t forget, Brandon Jennings struggled to get consistent playing time in Italy two years ago and last season helped lead the Bucks to the playoffs. Sometimes styles just don’t mesh and coaches don’t give players chances. This guy was a killer off the bench two years ago for the Rockets.
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Touche, that’s a good point on Jennings. And you’re right, the language, the coaching styles, the speed of the game is all different over there. It can be one hell of an adjustment.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but he certainly wasn’t my #1 guy. Actually, he was probably #4 for me. I’d of taken West over him definitely.
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Also I will mention for the cost, he’s probably a pretty damn good option.
He obviously didn’t adapt well to the international game, but he was very good for the Rockets just two years ago.
The shot lacks consistency, but he has one at least, the threat of the 3-pt shot can be enough to get some spacing, for more than we had with TA anyway.
I begrudgingly will admit it was probably a good move by Danny, smart move. Low risk, pretty high reward, and if he wasn’t confident in the Rudy deal getting done, it makes a lot of sense.
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It’s funny. If the Celtics had picked up Wafer last season and dumped Tony Allen, everyone would have been out of their minds with joy. Instead, not so much.
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New mantra Von & Shaq = Banner 18! So long Rudy. This guy can really light it up and this is better than getting House or West. Hopefully Bradley will still get/earn some minutes. Get Shaq, keep Sheed and we’re looking ready to roll. Go Cs…
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I still need your outlook on life for at least one day. Wafer is taking us to the promised land!
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imagine the rudy trade went through and doc made rudy play at the sf position.. no matter what people say to make themselves feel better about the marquise signing, he played horrible last season and no guarantee that hes going to play better next season.. so kryptonate, wafer, fernandez, baby, JO DAMN ! btw what are we going to do with sheed’s contract now?
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Rudy wasn’t on fire last season either. There’s a reason he’s crying about playing time. I think Daniels will come through. I don’t know why, but I’ve got faith.
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Rudy’s small for the SF position, he’ll get posted up all day. He’s a stick compared to most SFs in the league.
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Definitely. Forgot to mention that. He’d get abused.
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Ironically though, if they did get Rudy, Wafer could potentially play minutes at SF. He’s got solid size at 6’5, 210, with enough strength to manage it.
Not ideal obviously, he’s still a bit small, but he puts up almost 30 pounds over Rudy, so it would be hypothetically possible.
Still, I think this signing pretty much kills the Rudy deal. Unless Portland gets desperate and comes out and basically offers him up for scrap, which aint happening.
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Yeah, I think Rudy might be done. But who knows?
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Piggy-backing what Rondeezy said, Any idea on what we will do with Rasheed’s contract? Is there anyone else out there we are looking for? Any word if Rasheed is coming back?
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No word on if he’s coming back. The last I heard, Danny Ainge was saying Sheed definitely isn’t coming back but Paul Pierce said the door hadn’t quite closed on Sheed returning. I will have a post about what the Celtics should do with Sheed in a few days. At this point, it might be best to keep him. The C’s most pressing need is a backup big man.
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I’ve been back and forth on the Sheed thing. I think at this point, I’m basically indifferent to it. If he comes back, eh, ok, I guess I can DVR and fast forward through the parts of games in the regular season he plays. And he was much better in the playoffs, so maybe he’d be useful again.
Honestly though, I’d rather see Shaq next year than Sheed, and that’s saying something.
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Be like Adam Sandler from Click. I don’t know who I’d rather have. Sheed would help more in the playoffs, methinks, so I’d prob want him.
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What Happens if Sheed retires? Do the celtics have the mid level to sign anyone they want for this year?
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If Sheed retires, his contract comes off the books, but the Celtics would still be over the luxury tax, so they’d still only be able to sign players for the minimum. The Celtics used the full Mid level this year to sign Jermaine ONeal, so they no longer have that to sign players.
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