FanHouse WalterHerrmann

Before any of this Billups-for-Iverson craziness hit the fan, the biggest story out of Detroit in the first two games was the play of Walter Herrmann off the bench. Already a crowd favorite because of his blond ponytail and freakishly huge hands that allow him to start a finger roll from the three-point line, Herrmann is finally getting a chance to play beyond garbage time.

For hard-core NBA fans, Herrmann shouldn't be a complete unknown: he put himself on the map over the last month of his rookie season two years ago when he averaged better than 18 points and 5.5 boards on 57% shooting over the final 18 games with the Bobcats. For reasons unknown, Herrmann was all but forgotten about the following season under Sam Vincent. He played just as sparingly for the Pistons following a mid-season trade to Detroit, but Joe Dumars saw enough to re-sign him to a one-year deal as a restricted free agent this year.

How well has he played in the first two games? In 39 minutes, he scored 26 points while shooting 66% (71.4% from three-point land) with nine boards and four assists, good enough to lead the entire league with a 35.37 PER. Obviously, getting too excited this early in the season is downright silly, and considering Herrmann has performed at a high level in the past only to be ignored later, he more so than anyone knows not to get too excited about just a couple of games.

That fair-faced German-Argentinian striker, Walter Herrmann, apparently will snub the Old World and return to the NBA -- the Pistons, more specifically -- based on a report on an Argentine news site translated by Detroit Bad Boys, and since confirmed by the Detroit Free Press.

Herrmann had an unimpactful 2007-08, getting buried by Sam Vincent in Charlotte before getting buried by good players in Detroit. So why would the guy return to the Pistons, with guys like Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton and even Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo competing for minutes in the swing positions? Well, that shake-up Joe Dumars promised is still queued up, and Prince remains at the head of the exit list as one of the more desirable players for outsiders.

Herrmann will likely not start at any point in his NBA career. That's a bit too bad -- he could be a 20-point scorer on the right team (like a pre-Caron Butler Washington, or as the small forward in Sacramento). Herrmann has an absolutely outrageous jumpshot, he's smart with the ball, and (at the two) he's a good rebounder. As Watson notes at DBB, he also has enormous hands, which helps all of the above.

If nothing else, like Kwame Brown, he provides either capable minutes as a back-up, or an extra trade chip to make salaries work. He'd be more secure in Russia or Greece, but it's hard to fault a guy who is most certainly an NBA-caliber player for staying in the league.

For some time, the Bobcats were the envy of GM's everywhere. Not because of their roster, although that's not so shabby -- it was their cap space. Charlotte's finest were once hording payroll in the negative, presumably to make some big move that would catapult them to legitimacy.

The Bobcats have made some moves. But with the acquisition of Jason Richardson, Nazr Mohammed, and Walter Herrmann, have they squandered their most valuable asset? From the Charlotte Observer:

Since the end of last season, the Bobcats have traded for two projected starters, Jason Richardson and Nazr Mohammed. Those deals mean the Bobcats inherit nearly $60 million in payroll responsibility for Richardson and Mohammed over the three seasons after this one.

Well, when you put it like that, the 'Cats blew it. Mohammed has never delivered consistently. And to paraphrase the article, Richardson makes Joe Johnson money without approaching that level.

Oh, and if you want the ultra-gloomy read on it:

Should the Bobcats be wary of clearing up other teams' cap problems? Golden State and Detroit were both in jeopardy of paying luxury tax. They were willing to give up these guys, without getting that much in return, to unload payroll. The Bobcats discarded two players with expiring contracts (Brezec and Walter Herrmann). Did they sacrifice future cap flexibility to improve marginally now?

Ugh. Good thing they're in the East.

It's December 15, ladies and germs, and we have a trade. Charlotte swapped out underused but saucy Germanic Argentine Walter Herrmann and defensive workhorse Primoz Brezec for Detroit's one-year-old mistake in Nazr Mohammed. Charlotte gets the big man not named Primoz they need; Detroit loses a contract they've wanted to lose since they drew it up while adding a potent bench threat. Win, win, win...

... except it seems Charlotte could've used Herrmann, too, but didn't. He was brilliant last season as injuries ravaged the Cats. And guess what? Injuries have ravaged Charlotte this year, too. But Jason Richardson's addition at the two has pushed Gerald Wallace into more frontcourt minutes, and Sam Vincent clearly prefers Matt Carroll to Herrmann as the substitute sniper. You'd think with Adam Morrison and Sean May on ice through April we'd have seen more Walter. No, he hasn't been shooting as well as he did last season. But you have to remember he really came on when he was getting big minutes last spring, not in miniature stints... bursts of playing time few players can excel in.

Mohammed's contract is the only major piece of currency in this deal -- both Brezec and Herrmann are unrestricted free agents this July. The move costs Charlotte about an extra $1 million this year -- much less than they would've spent on any replacement big out there anyways. But the real fiscal movement comes over the next three years, as Nazr is allotted another $18 million. No sweat for sane Charlotte; huge news for Detroit. Mohammed's contract has been an albatross for almost a full year. Slipping out of that noose gives Joe Dumars plenty of flexibility heading into the final year of Rasheed Wallace's contract. Joe Dumars with flexibility? Frightening.

FanHouse walks through the Valley of the Most Likely; we shall fear no topic.

The raging Bobcats of Charlotte were an unsung band of heroes from late 2006-07. While other bottom-feeders sat their stars (cleanly or no), the Cats rode Gerald Wallace's cape to the most fiery spell of the franchise's youth. In fact, the Charlotte franchise as a whole embodies the basketball spirit defined by Crash Wallace: Completely under the radar despite all the ingredients of nuclear excitement. Wallace is an insane dunker, a quick-handed pickpocket, as irrepressible a slasher as Norman Bates. Likewise, Charlotte's cupboard is filled with the sort of sundries which add up to a fun time.

Take Emeka Okafor. I could tell you he averaged 14/11/2.6 last year, but justice is deeper. You might remember his 20/9/10 game against the Knicks. (Eddy Curry does.) Or how about this four-game stretch in February: 15/21/6 against the Bulls, 16/15/5 against New Orleans, 12 and 19 across from Kevin Garnett and 16/16 versus the Sixers. That's 15 points and 18 rebounds a game for four games. If any player in the league is going to drop an epic 20/20/10 game on us this decade, it would be Emeka.

The intrigue doesn't end there. Walter Herrmann's sharp .564 effective field goal percentage on jumpers is only more awesome by the observation 93% of his jumpers were assisted. (And never mind he shot .677 with less than three seconds left on the shot clock.) Raymond Felton's top comparable at his age is Kenny Anderson! Sam Vincent's the only NBA head coach with a bronze medal from Nigeria! Silky Jason Richardson's in town! This team could either be the most slept on 40-win team ever, or the most exciting 30-win team ever. Well worth the price of League Pass. At the very least, it's a team whose box score must be checked every morning, just to find out what kind of craziness occurred.

Other Entities Likely to Entertain: The Jazz.

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How many players could tear their ACL, forcing them to miss the season, and end up with a fair cross-section of the basketball world (not excluding their own fan base) thinking said player's team is better off?

I think Adam Morrison tops that list. He suffered a concerning injury Saturday; initial reports didn't scream bloody murder, but some at the game (against the Lakers) said it would end up more damaging than it looked. Those folks were right: Ammo tore his ACL and will likely miss the entire season, according to the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell. Of course, Ammo was the very possibly the worst player receiving major minutes in the entire league last year...

... and add in Charlotte re-signed two studs who ended up behind Morrison in the rotation somehow. Walter Herrmann figured to get a minutes boost by way of Sean May's microfracture surgery anyway; now he'll fit in behind Gerald Wallace at small forward as well. And Matt Carroll (who could very well be a rich man's Jason Kapono) has enough size to slide up a weight class, too. Both Herrmann and Carroll can be considered vast improvements over Morrison (making this injury a net plus for Charlotte); they are older and more finished products, but based on last season it's tough to imagine Ammo ever becoming superior to both.

Obviously, no one wishes ill on Morrison; he's a human like all of us.
But in all seriousness, his team just got better. That's not a joke. The pressure to play the high draft pick is off Sam Vincent.

Season-ending surgery for Sean May has, obviously, widespread ramifications. ESPN's John Hollinger docked Charlotte six wins because of the loss, and the news threatens to completely confuse Bobcats coach Sam Vincent (as well as anyone trying to follow his talking points). So confusing is the power forward situation that Ryan Hollins is being discussed as a starting center, which would shift Emeka Okafor to power forward, according to the Charlotte Observer's Rick Bonnell.

Shoals took up the cause of cult favorite Walter Herrmann while putting Vincent's promise to run in proper perspective over at Free Darko. Hollins, if you'll remember from UCLA's 2006 title attempt, is a Dalembertesque rebounder and shotblocker with little strength and less touch. Okafor, while short, is immeasurably tough under the rim while holding enough athleticism to finish sixth in block rate among centers last season. In fact, he's the perfect running center -- he can defend, he can run, he can score. Hollins can give you 1.5 of those qualities.

With Jason Richardson's new firepower in the starting lineup, perhaps it makes sense to keep versatile Herrmann strapped to the bench as the third frontcourt player. But Herrmann is a player well worth 30+ minutes a night, and he plays well alongside Gerald Wallace. (The two blossomed together the second half of last season.) I suppose any solution which keeps Primoz Brezec and Othella Harrington out of the equation and Marc Jackson off the roster is a net positive for casual Cats fans. But Vincent needs to be very careful he doesn't overrate the offensive abilities of Raymond Felton and Okafor -- Herrmann, as a scorer, wouldn't be redundant in an up-tempo offense with Wallace and Richardson. They need another potent shooter, an extra go-to scorer considered Okafor's work-in-progress post game and Felton's failing jumpers. Charlotte's running game may be destined to fail anyways, but withholding Herrmann may cause early termination.

At the very beginning of the season, I trashed Adam Morrison, pointed out that Gerald Wallace was a non-expendable stud, and promptly felt the wrath of some pissy Morrison supporters. Strangely, the outcry wasn't nearly as loud when I made light of his problems with hecklers.

Maybe this will do it: Gerald Wallace has won Player of the Week twice this season and if he stays in Charlotte, is a no-brainer starter. So maybe he's not a pure scorer, or anything like a threat from outside.

Enter Walter Herrmann, the Argentinian who has basically taken over Morrison's role on the Cats. Over the last month, the rookie has averaged nearly 18 and 6, and last night, scored 30 against the Bucks--including 6 three-pointers. He's long, fearless, creative, and can keep up with the NBA game. All in all, he's pretty much what the Bobcats thought they'd get with Morrison. In fact, he's even taken Mr. Mustache's last gasp of starting line-up karma.

So maybe 2006 was an extraordinarily weak draft class. Still, the Bobcats selected Morrison third overall. You're telling me that, at the time, they couldn't have just as legtimately picked Tyrus Thomas, Brandon Roy, Randy Foye or Rudy Gay? All of these prospects were just as well-liked as Morrison, and all of them were arguably safer bets for NBA success. Charlotte had no idea at the time what they'd be getting with Herrmann, but his emergence only underscores what a waste that pick was.