I had written him off as a tall sharpshooter who didn’t make enough shots.

He stepped up his defense and rebounding tremendously, and while he wasn’t exactly a knock down guy from outside, he made some huge shots and won big games for us.

I’d have welcomed him back with open arms.

And on Waterman’s best day, he was never a projected NBA 1st rounder.

Pope and his system are gone. Both players would’ve been starting from scratch with KY et al. Waterman does have experience and has had to earn his stripes, but the talent differential and upsides aren’t all that close. Given the brand new staff, team, culture, etc., I’ll take the dude with the 1st round chops.