Thanks for being the first person to shed some light on the Erden injury. Do you have any links? If Erden's injury is similar to Perkins' from a few years back, then he may be playing on borrowed time; I recall hearing back then that a dislocation of such a structurally weak shoulder could end a player's season, if not career.
I don't have a quote or a link, but the explanation came from Doc, who said that like Perk Semih has a loose labrum and that it causes his shoulder to easily come out of socket.
But be rest assured that it's not a situation that poses any long term injury risk. Like I said before, it's a pain tolerance issue--having the shoulder come out of socket causes extreme pain, that's all. Once he has surgery and goes through rehab, he'll be good as new. He's been playing with this injury for 2 years now and if not for the WC's last summer he would have had it taken care of before the season started.
I seem to recall Brandon Wallace was waived just months after signing a two-year contract, although I can't recall how much of it was guaranteed. P.J. Brown was signed about two months afterwards, although there's not necessarily any cause and effect there.
Brandon's contract, like Lester Hudson last season and Von Wafer this year, was partially guaranteed.
But Wyc has also often added cash to minor deals (e.g. Cassell to the Kings, buying Bill Walker's rights from the Wizards), and the amount involved with Erden's contract for this year and next aren't greater than cash amounts that have been utilized in the past to finalize deals.
Wafer and West's deals are now fully guaranteed, I think. Waiving them provides no relief to the club.
Exactly. If Sheed-to-the-Cs was in play, they would have released Wafer before the Jan. 6th deadline so as to open up a roster spot and save the luxury tax hit. Given that Wafer's (and West's) contract is now guaranteed, they're on the hook for his salary for the remainder of the year, plus the luxury tax hit.
The significance of Erden's 2-year guaranteed contract is that if he was released the Cs would be on the hook for both this year's and next season's salary, an amount that is doubled when you consider the luxury tax implications. So, if a need does arise and they have to cut somebody to open up a roster spot, waiving Wafer would be the cheapest option. Erden's 2nd guaranteed year makes cutting him more expensive (and therefore less likely).
I do agree that Erden, having shown some promise during the first 20 games of the season, could probably net some kind of a return in a trade. So a release would probably be a last resort, and one probably not taken.
Again, if it's about clearing a roster spot, there are a lot of ways of doing that without losing Erden. The first and easiest is waiving Wafer, who will be an afterthought in the rotation once Delonte returns.
Also remember that even though Sheed is a center, it's not necessarily the case that the Cs would simply exchange one center for another. Erden's value is not only that he can fill the middle adequately in a pinch and is a perfect 5th/6th big, it's also that he can also do it in 2011 too, a time when JO, Shaq, and Sheed may all be retired for good and a time when Perk and Baby may or may not still be with the team (as they're both free agents this summer). Erden's a young cheap center--and he has value now and in the future, all things which point towards him staying with the team for at least the rest of this current season.
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