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Message: [QUOTE="Waltdods, post: 1093029, member: 2932"] Definitely agree there's nothing wrong with Waiters wanting to go to Philly. It's his life and the way he balances competing considerations is totally up to him, including some of the soft factors you put in here (hometown, locker room). I still think Cleveland is the better spot from a long-term value-maximizing position, although this is somewhat dependent on whether Wiggins sticks around - as you point out the CLE spot looks less appealing if Wiggins is still there. (Though it is hard for me to envision Cleveland keeping both of them anyway - even if they don't get Love they're likely to go shopping and Wiggins and Waiters would seem to be the most likely chips.) Thinking about (1) where can he win and (2) where does he maximize his money (I think this is basically what your points 2 and 3 are getting at). The chances of winning are clearly higher at Cleveland over any credible timeline. Philly has a lot going for it and could turn into a championship contender, but there are a lot of twists and turns before then, and Cleveland already is a champion contender. Bird in hand, etc. I guess the bigger debate comes at where he maximizes his money. I think the key here is to look at the timing. Waiters has two more years under club options, which presumably will be picked up. So it's really 2 or 3 years out that matters. Philly is not going to be a championship contender by then, or anything better than a borderline playoff team in the terrible East. So in the version of the world where Waiters goes to Philly, he enters his free agency years as a volume scorer who has played solely for terrible teams and who left his first team on bad terms (as you point out re locker room issues). Does that Waiters really command more money than a guy who's averaged 15 points (or whatever) for a title contender in fewer minutes? [/QUOTE]

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