Apparently the Knicks think so. For a guy that has never won anything? Ridiculous!!! July 6, 2001 Knicks Meet With Houston About Rich Deal By MIKE WISE with LIZ ROBBINS Allan Houston, an All-Star shooting guard who led the Knicks in scoring last season, is believed to be on the verge of agreeing to a long-term contract that will make him the richest player in franchise history. Houston and his representative, the agent Bill Strickland, met with James L. Dolan, the president of Cablevision, and Scott Layden, the team's president and general manager, at an undisclosed location in Manhattan last night, a person with knowledge of the meeting said. Houston, Strickland and Knick officials could not be reached for comment. The person who knew of the meeting said the two sides were taking steps toward hammering out a deal that would pay Houston close to $100 million. Unless negotiations veered off completely, the Knicks could have reached an agreement in principle. Recommitting to Houston seems probable because the Knicks do not want his status to be uncertain with other potential free-agent signings on the horizon beginning July 18. It was unclear whether Coach Jeff Van Gundy attended the meeting. When reached at his office last night, Layden said he would have no comment until July 18, when teams can officially sign players and a new N.B.A. salary cap is in place. Depending on the new salary cap, to be set on July 17, Houston could receive from $99 million to $103 million over six years. Houston, 30, represented the Knicks on the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the second straight season, averaging 18.7 points last season while shooting 44.9 percent from the field. Because Houston will be 37 in April 2008, he will be restricted by a rule that makes it difficult for players to receive the maximum seven-year deal after their 36th birthday. The total package would dwarf the four- year, $68 million deal Patrick Ewing signed in 1997, then the most lucrative deal in Knick history. Larry Johnson had an $84 million contract when he was acquired from the Charlotte Hornets in 1996, but the Knicks were not responsible for the entire package. Strickland, in an interview on Tuesday, emphasized that any meeting would be in the preliminary stages, but added that his client wanted a deal "sooner rather than later." If the two sides informally agreed to a contract, it would not be a surprise. Houston had planned to officially opt out of the final two years of the seven-year, $56 million deal he signed with the club in 1996, a deal that would have paid him $10 million next season and $11 million in the 2002-3 season. At no time had the eight-year veteran indicated he was interested in testing the free-agent waters and signing with another team. Strickland emphasized that other teams had contacted Houston about signing with them, but neither the agent nor his client planned to make any visits or enter into any preliminary negotiations. All along, New York has been his first choice. Club officials expressed similar confidence in the past month that they would eventually reach a deal with their shooting guard. But because of a recent policy, Madison Square Garden's daily release of information to the news media has been highly restricted. If the Knicks do commit to Houston on July 18, using him in a deal to secure Chris Webber or any other highly coveted free agent in a sign-and-trade deal this summer would be highly unlikely, if not impossible. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/06/sports/06KNIC.html ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited July 06, 2001).]
Mobley Vs Houston is not accurate it is more like Mobley + 5 mill/yr + more years vs Houston I'd take Mobley everytime Mobley has better defense and his shot ain't that far behind Houston's Rocket River ------------------
Wow that is crazy! Houston is a nice player but not a $100 mil player. Also RR I disagree about your point about defense. Cat's rookie year (or partial rookie year) he was a decent defender because he concentrated on it. I have not been impressed with his D at all the last 2 years since he became a scoring threat. I know others will argue that not having a shot-blocker behind him at times (injured Dream, Pig, sleep-walking Cato) has hurt but his D is not even average as far as I am concerend.
This is crazy, not only is the guy NOT one of the Top 5 2-guards in the league, let alone top players, he isn't even the best guy ON THE TEAM! He is arguably the 3rd best, behind Sprewell and possibly Camby. This is stupid, but hey if the Knicks want to screw themselves over more power to them! ------------------ "Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat!" - Jesse Ventura
But houston is a defensive bear, right? I DON'T THINK SO Mobely ain't DOY but d*mn man . . .we talking about Allan houston who is a step above Walt williams. . . and a step below Cutinno Rocket River perspective my friend . . .you went a stretch just to diss cuttino ------------------
RR- I'm not saying Houston is a bear, but at this point he is as good (if not better) defensively as Cat. Also I am a big fan of Cat's but his D has not been good and I'm not afraid to admit that until he learns to play on both ends of the court that he will never be regarded as one of the best in the league.
If you're going to be over the cap anyway, and you have the money that NY has, why does it matter? Just like Dallas -- you overpay any and everyone because you can. Apparently the Knicks think so. For a guy that has never won anything? Ridiculous!!! How many $100M players are there out there? Garnett, soon-to-be-Webber, Oneal? Two of them haven't won anything and the third hadn't when he signed the contract. ------------------ http://www.swirve.com ... more fun than a barrel full of monkeys and midgets.
Also I am a big fan of Cat's but his D has not been good and I'm not afraid to admit that until he learns to play on both ends of the court that he will never be regarded as one of the best in the league. I have been very impressed with Cuttino's defense this year. I thought he showed a lot of improvement since last year, esp. in one on one situations. I still believe both Steve and Cuttino suffer from not having a shotblocker, but even without one, I don't see how you can see Cuttino as an average to below average defender. You might could say that about Steve, but definitely not Cuttino imho... ------------------ Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! The Mo Taylor Fan Site
Mobley is a good defender, but he is better suited for guarding PGs. He is too small to guard Kobe, Bonzi, and the other 2-guards who are 6'6'' or taller. Then again, if AI can survive at the 2, I guess anyone can. ------------------
The difference is, Garnett, Webber and O'Neal are players you can build a team around. Houston is not. ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
Cat- I guess judging a players defense is a subjective matter (unless someone has stats on how a guys opponent does vs them). I've read your posts about how Cat & Franchise do a good job considering the shot blockers (or lack thereof) playing behind them. However I consider Cat to be nowhere near the class of Shandon (defensively). Now Shandon is a real good defensive SG and an above average defender at SF although he is often undersized. I don't consider standing in front of someone good defense. A good defender makes their opponent take tough shots (can be by being a shot blocker and making them take an unusual shot, or by using position to make him take a shot he doesn't want to take) and creates turnovers (although I put much more value in how the opponent shoots rather tahn the number of steals). Cat doesn't get blown by as much as Stevie when the opponent obviously beats him, but I don't see Cat as changing too many shots, or even making his opponent take difficult shots. Also (maybe it's my perception) but Cat doesn't seem to extend too much energy defensively either. There are guys that you can see them working hard on D (Kobe for example when he really wants to play, like in the playoffs) and I see Cat as more of a guy who stays in front of his man. Also I give both him and Stevie credit that most youngsters take time before they understand team defense, they will understand this better with age, and once they can keep a core of players (Grigg, Mo-T) around them. For now they are stil learning the team portion of defense. The good news is for a team to play great team D you don't need 5 defensive stoppers. The perfect example is the sixers who until this year were not regarded as a good defensive team. THey had Theo who was regarded as a presence but AI was regarded as a below average defender. But again, sorry to ramble, but judging defense is very subjective. Alot of the guys get reputations as good defenders who continually make the all-defensive team each year, regardless of how they play. I just don't see Cat as even being average yet. He can change with his athleticism and effort, but I honestly think he was a much better defender as a rookie in the short season than the last 2 years.
A good defensive player, in my opinion, is one who makes the offensive player adjust. There are no offensive players who adjust to cut-tino's defense. He is young and hopefully will improve. I think the zone defense will help some of the teams defensive weaknesses. Especially with shot blockers like Griff and T-Mo ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
The Knicks would be complete morons if they were to do this deal. ------------------ All hail Fadeaway's Cyberfish -- your 2000-2001 BobFinn* Fantasy Basketball League Champions!
Francis and Mobley are the antithesis of each other. Francis tries to do too much, and be too much of a team defender, and consequently gets burned by the likes of Robert Pack. On the other hand, Cuttino tries to be too much of an on the ball defender, and therefore, he was a bad team defender this past season. Both of our guards play better defense than Houston. With the new rules being implemented, it makes what I'm about to say worthless, but if our team had learned to cheat ie: play a zone like Miami, New York, and Sacramento, we would have been a much better defensive team, but alas, our team is comprised of players who aren't that smart defensively at this point in their careers. Francis' lateral quickness and team defensive instincts matched with Mobley's wingspan should make a pretty good defensive backcourt next year IMO if Dream can stay healthy and Griffin and Morris can provide could help defense and weakside shotblocking. ------------------ I am Rainman [This message has been edited by tacoma park legend (edited July 06, 2001).]
None ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet
