Well we all knew it would happen, we're without a backup SF

[Army_of_One_Nation]

Can DeShawn Sims play the 3?

[mgent]

After 24 hours, I'm warming to the idea of Von Wafer backing up Pierce?  Is he undersized?  Yes.  However, his offensive game is emerging and he's playing hard on the defensive end.  While I'm sure Danny could get some 6-8 swingman if he really wanted to, I'm not sure that swingman is going to be a net gain over Wafer. 

I mean is (fill in the blank) 6-8 bench player that's easily available really going to do any better than Wafer on LeBron?  And Wafer certainly will make LeBron work harder on the defensive end than he would guarding some 6-8 player who presents little offensive threat.  And let's face it, it's really only LeBron that we're worried about. 

Now if we could get a legit SF, I'm all for it.  But I don't think Danny should just bring any 6-7+ body he can find. 

There are a ton of large SFs in the league and a lot of them play for our rivals.

Deng
G Wallace
M Williams
Melo
Prince
Wright
Granger
Gomes
Gay
Maggette
Beasley
Durant
Turkoglu
Kirilenko
Lewis

Over half the league starts guys who would kill Wafer if he had to play them for even a minute.  Marquis can't even handle most of these guys.

[Jon]

After 24 hours, I'm warming to the idea of Von Wafer backing up Pierce?  Is he undersized?  Yes.  However, his offensive game is emerging and he's playing hard on the defensive end.  While I'm sure Danny could get some 6-8 swingman if he really wanted to, I'm not sure that swingman is going to be a net gain over Wafer.  

I mean is (fill in the blank) 6-8 bench player that's easily available really going to do any better than Wafer on LeBron?  And Wafer certainly will make LeBron work harder on the defensive end than he would guarding some 6-8 player who presents little offensive threat.  And let's face it, it's really only LeBron that we're worried about.  

Now if we could get a legit SF, I'm all for it.  But I don't think Danny should just bring any 6-7+ body he can find.  

There are a ton of large SFs in the league and a lot of them play for our rivals.

Deng
G Wallace
M Williams
Melo
Prince
Wright
Granger
Gomes
Gay
Maggette
Beasley
Durant
Turkoglu
Kirilenko
Lewis

Over half the league starts guys who would kill Wafer if he had to play them for even a minute.  Marquis can't even handle most of these guys.

I'm talking about the playoffs.  So you can really eliminate every West team except the Lakers, Spurs, and MAYBE Dallas.  

In the East, you can eliminate every team except for Chicago, Miami, and Orlando, and we will only have to play two of them.  

Every other East team we're going to easily crush even if they have a 7-6 SF.  

So, going back to our actual rivals.  Wafer can hang with Richard Jefferson and DeShawn Stevenson.  The only concern is with LA.  However, I'd encourage the Lakers to run plays for Artest if they perceive that to be a mismatch and whenever Odom plays the 3, KG or Baby can just guard him (that's what happens when he plays the 4 anyway).  

Going to the East, it's the same deal with the Magic as it is with LA.  When Hedo is at the 3 and PP isn't in the game, there's really no reason not to go big and put Baby or KG on Hedo.  That's what happens when he plays the 4.  

And outside of the Heat, that leaves us with Chicago.  I'll admit Deng is a concern at 6-9.  

I'm not saying I love the idea of Wafer backing up the 3.  But I'm also not in love with the idea of bringing in a Brandon Wallace type simply because he has length.  I'd rather see Wafer get posted up a couple times and hit some threes than some long scrub just get blown by and then give nothing on the offensive end.  

However, of course if the Rockets want to give us Shane Battier, I'm not saying no.  Unfortunately, though, I'm not seeing a lot of great ways to upgrade the position. 

Hopefully someone good gets bought out.  But again, even if that's the case, playing 10-15 mpg behind Paul Pierce isn't appealing to everyone. 

[Army_of_One_Nation]

I wonder where DeVean George and Jarvis Hayes are? They can play the 3, can't they?

[Bahku]

I didn't know it would happen, though injuries are always a factor, and you deal with them as they come. The way things were last year, we pretty much had to stack this team with "Bigs", and in doing so, another position had to take up the slack.

As long as we're healthy come playoff time, we'll be O.K., and this is no reason to have a meltdown. I'm sure Danny has options to beef us up for the post-season, (as he usually does), and I trust him to make the right moves, and not respond in panic.