Wafer joins Olympiakos; Taylor among candidates to replace role

As OAL pointed out last night, Von Wafer will be joining Greek club Olympiakos, reportedly for $5 million over 2 years.

From Eurobasket:

Von Wafer (196-G-85, college: Florida St.) is about to join the Greek powerhouse Olympiakos. The 24-year-old guard spent the last season in the NBA playing for the Houston Rockets. He averaged 9.5 points, 1.7 boards and 1.1 assists per game.

The Rockets weren't about to pay Wafer that kind of money and instead opted to sign a comparable talent in Jermaine Taylor to a cheaper deal.  Chase Budinger and James White will also be in contention for Wafer's vacated role off the bench, assuming the latter two make the team.

Wafer's departure comes without shock or surprise, and though he performed well when called upon last season, replacing his one-dimensional game should be relatively easy.  Taylor and Budinger have both shown that they can shoot the ball well from outside, and it's safe to assume that each can outperform Wafer's paltry rebound and assist numbers.

However, all quibs concerning Wafer's on-court shortcomings aside, the Von Hawk will be missed.  He was a shock of lightening off the bench and was the only healthy throw-down dunk artist that the Rockets employed, as Ron Artest rarily lept more than a few inches off the ground. 

He had his moments, but hopefully with his new club, as Kelly Dwyer points out in his latest BDL piece, Wafer will relax his game and lose the perfectionist attitude that wound up getting him de-benched against the Lakers.

Best of luck to him eventually finding a permanent home.  And who knows - maybe he could return in a few years?