Thinking Small: Our Thoughts On Von Wafer

   There are some head-spinning possibilities out there. Lamar Odom, we’ve covered in depth. The availability of excess bodies in Washington, Atlanta, the Clippers and elsewhere, we’ve touched on. Carlos Boozer? Other teams are talking offers, and the Mavs would really be offering The Bank of Cuban.

   All big ideas. All head-spinners. All worthy. And there are more where those came from.

   But DallasBasketball.com is a “newspaper’’ with unlimited pages. So there’s room to “think small,’’ too.

   Small. Like a way to get a steal of a swingman, like, say,Vakeaton Quamar Wafer.

   That’s Von Wafer, to you and me.

   It’s fun to think big. Possible to do big things, too, given the available assets.

   Marvin Williams? Michael Redd? Rip Hamilton? Rudy Fernandez? Leandro Barbosa? There’s a lot to like there – and the Mavs do like them, on different levels and for different reasons.

    Jason Richardson? Corey Maggette? There is less to like … and the Mavs feel that way.

    But for the purpose of this exercise, let’s stay away from the “name’’ guys. Let’s think smaller:

    Marquis Daniels? Certainly he’s on the Mavs’ radar. He’s going somewhere on the cheap. Do you use the BAE here or save it for next season? In this Summer of Nuclear Winter, is he suddenly a vets-minimum guy? ‘Quis off the bench, befriending Josh, getting something with a good team in Dallas rather than the $7 mil he’ll no longer get from a bad team in Indy? With some two-way skills? It’s a fit in many ways.

     Matt Barnes? Some Mavs staffers are not especially fans of his game. Move him way down on your list. But gosh. … he’s long, he’s athletic (don’t think so? Go dig up his accomplishments as a football wide receiver!), he’s a worker, he’s a pest. …

    Rashad McCants? Obviously on Dallas’ exploratory list. There has been serious contact. He’s gotten buried, but he's still young, he's scored 15 ppg in a season, he's got that UNC pedigree. ... He can be had for nothing.

   Those three guys are “smaller’’ moves … but all three of them have some name value.

     Vakeaton Quamar Wafer?

    Not that much “name value’’ yet … not even with that name.

    Some points that have Von Wafer on our “thinking-little’’ list:

     *He is legit SG size. He’s 6-5, well over 200 pounds.

     *He's a JET-like player in some ways, lots of good shooting skills with just so-so defense. But at the same time …

     *His athleticism and potential for “insta-offense’’ is a little more along the lines of a JR Smith. And it’s so untapped.

     *He was a vital scorer for Houston late in the season and in the playoffs, getting about 20 minutes per for a team that made that surprisingly impressive run …

    *But then it seems he got cross-wise with coach Rick Adelman. Our impression from afar – wishful thinking? – is that they don't want to mess with him anymore.

     *Assuming he made a personality-related mistake with Adelman … he’s about to turn 24. He is, at the very least, another of those Lightning-In-A-Bottle Boys (LIBB) that we talk about … Green and Shawne and Singleton … except that unlike some of them, he’s actually accomplished things on a grand NBA stage.

    *He’s been a minimum-salary player so far in the NBA, landing with Houston only after being unsigned by the Knicks off their summer-league squad. He just finished year four. … is it time for him to come into his own?

    *Last year he was almost a 45-percent shooter overall, and he was 39-percent on 3’s.

    *A lot of this comes down to what you want to spend. We suspect that Wafer is without an offer now, and as an unrestricted guy would be ready to bite at an offer above the minimum. Of course, Dallas wants to hold onto its MLE money for bigger fish. … and might want to hold onto the BAE until next year.

    *A Sign-and-Trade? We’ve floated the idea of Kris Humphries for Wafer (following up on Stein’s suggestion that Dallas is shopping Humphries). That’s an easy do for the two clubs.

    *There is the issue of roster space: Does Dallas value a Wafer more than some of the other kids dangling down there on the south end of the bench?

    *But the biggest issue: Do the Mavs even want him? We think he’s an easy and a good get.

    Most of all, he’s a small get.

    They can’t all be whoppers, you know!