Seems like a downgrade since Waiters will reduce Caruso minutes ( don't fool yourself about reducing Rondo minutes , we all know it's not happening). At least ( I think/hope) Waiters will quickly be glued to the bench if he can't contribute against good teams in the upcoming 6-7 games stretch
I think this is going to work out. I was optimistic about Dwight finally seeing the light and choosing to look at this the same way. If he takes Caruso’s minutes though, all bets are off.
Regardless of how well it goes with Waiters, I doubt he gets much run in the next 4-5 games. If he's getting a lot of run, over the next few games, it means there's a blowout one way or the other.
He could get some of Caruso’s minutes if the latter is still rehabbing his hamstring. That will be helpful.
This is a nightmare scenario for the playoffs. Waiters is an irrational confidence guy who may win you a game when he's hot but otherwise you have to watch him minutes carefully. He at least in his time in Cleveland doesn't do the things on defense that Caruso and Bradley give you and he will take dumb shots. His only value relative to the guards we have is shot creation off the dribble which is what we're trying to get from Rondo. If we just end up playing Rondo and him together it's a total net negative. KCP in terms of defense, shooting, and chemistry does everything better than either Waiters and Rondo. He or Caruso are the guys you want to slot in next to a playmaker type
I’m not seeing the signing of Waiters, and Morris, for that matter, as moves to get us over the hump. They make us better more than worse, but I don’t think we are hoping for windfall performances from either. The value of Waiters, and Morris, is that they add to the toughness quotient, or the crazy quotient, both have value and are needed in this team. When I compare us to the Bucks and clips, I always feel like their teams have more dog in them than our players. At a minimum we have to wait for LeBron in order to play aggressively, and it shouldn’t be that way. So, I am always an advocate for having those kind of guys on the team, if for no other reason than to match up with the oppositions crazy/tough guy(s). We have enough talent to compete, and frankly LeBron’s playoff experience is our advantage. But, will the players shrink when the playoffs get tough, or when the players get tough? I’m not so sure with Kuz, Caruso, Cook, Bradley and McGee. I feel better with Morris and Waiters, just in case. And Playoff Rondo I have more trust in for those situations. If they represent nothing more than they will run that fade on you, sometimes that’s enough of a contribution. You can defeat talent if they are scared. There have been a lot of talented players in the league that went b**** when the playoffs get tough. We can’t have that. Welcome Waiters and Morris. Wish we could have added Lance for good measure.
I disagree with Morris: he clearly is a guy when Kuzma is off the Lakers will use with AD at the 5. Yes, he totally smashes the "soft" label as well which is a positive but no team with Lebron James in the playoffs ever comes out looking soft. Morris is going to be key in matchups against the Clippers and Houston as he filled a need of a stretch 4 Waiters can also fill a need as Rondo was not good at creating off the dribble. This will totally be on coaching staff and of course wherever Dion's dumb head is at whether they can make it work but him and Rondo together would be awful lineup decisions.
Morris replaces Cousins who hasn’t and won’t play a single minute of NBA basketball this season. Waiters replaces Daniels who essentially became our human victory cigar to throw in at the end and hit some threes in garbage time. Both of these moves are zero-risk, potentially decent reward. I can’t complain. There was nobody better on the free agent market. I don’t think we have to worry about Waiters ruining things with stupid shots in the playoffs. If he shows any such behavior in the remainder of the regular season, he simply doesn’t enter the rotation. As it is, we already don’t have room for him in the rotation. He could very well just be here for emergency depth. Although personally I think we should throw him into the fire and give him an opportunity to become a fixture in the rotation. See how he does for a week or two. Maybe he does become our poor man’s version of Lou Will as someone else brought up earlier. If he doesn’t show he has what it takes to contribute, let’s find that out early so we can move on.
Apologies, I replied to this in the locked thread, I should at least allow a chance at a reply Man you love your hyperbole. Waiters is not a game changer, it’s a fine signing, could be useless, could be decent, nothing more. As for IT, you proposed a trade as far I remember, not a signing that costs us no players of any use, not the same thing, just like signing Morris didn’t cost us Green and Kuz like trading for the other Morris would have. IT is also badly damaged goods, and at his height with his speed gone is greatly diminished and even more of a negative factor on the defensive end. Talk about holding on to being “laughed at” though, as if it’s that serious, that was like 3 months ago or more when you proposed trading for IT.
Come on there is a lot to work with here: just look at the advanced stats Who wouldn't want a below average offensive player who is a turnstile on defense? I mean I'm surprised Ballmer didn't get him already
You can blame sirron. Meat seized upon this. "We’ll see how this all works out. From a pure risk reward scenario, the potential return on this could be off the charts. If it doesn’t work, it cost very little."
# 4 picks have talent even if they aren’t great players. To get a guy bought out for 17 mil or whatever it was for table scraps is low risk high reward. that doesn’t mean I have any expectations. If the 15th guy makes actual contributions in an area of need on our roster, then it’s a win. I know basically zero about his game, so I’m not propping him up as some kind of savior. I just see very little downside. No risk at all, because if he’s a disruption, we’ll simply cut him. how that got twisted into high praise is beyond me udleyshrug:
Our team is built for the playoffs and just happens to be doing great in the regular season also. I believe we are the best team, adding Waiters and Morris just widens the gap a bit more. Lebron, AD, Howard and Rondo, ( yes Rondo)..lol all will hit another gear. Lebron is not going to let us lose.
