I wouldn't want this guy. His occasional 20-12 nights are awesome, but he's unreliable and a piss-poor professional. Maybe Popovich Boot Camp will save him, but I know Adelman wouldn't.
Trust me, Gooden is not worth it. Though he might seem like he's pretty good, he's one of those empty stat players. He lets everyone else run roughshod so that any of his contributions get cancelled out.
I would love it if the Rockets signed him or Joe Smith for the final roster spot or waive Dorsey since he doesn't seem in the plans and he's not even better than Chuck Hayes.
we have no chance at either of these players (gooden / smith). both of them will look to sign with championship contenders. gooden will also be looking for a starting spot, so that eliminates the lakers, celtics, and magic. spurs and cavs are the most obvious choice for him. lets hope he goes to the cavs. smith is ok coming off the bench, that makes every contender but the celtics a player for him.
Damn. I didn't think Drew Gooden had regressed THAT much and I was right. Dude's still averaging almost a double-double. WTF? Sign em morey!
Give me Mikki any day over Drew "don't call me Dwight" Gooden. Give me a limited role player over a talented player who plays losing basketball. Gooden is essentially Kandi on offense: he has a nice hook shot, but his inability to pass or make plays makes him a black hole. His rebounding is nice but he tends to lose focus during long stretches where he forgets to box out. Joe Smith I'd take--but it's obvious he wants to play major, major minutes, something the C's big-man rotation (KG when he gets back, Big Baby, Powe, Perkins) won't allow him. The Cavs are pretty depleted up front so they're going to rely on him heavily. But keep in mind that a team relying on Joe for thirty minutes/night will not win a championship--they need Wallace back badly.
I actually think he could hurt a team he signs with. He makes dumb fouls and turnovers. I hope the Spurs sign him.
You underestimate the power of a veteran championship team. For criticism (unwarranted) KG gets on this website, he is always focused and it RUBS OFF ON TEAMMATES!
I agree that selfish players, when surrounded by KG and a solid Celtics organization, have a way of buying into the team concept. The problem with Gooden isn't that he's selfish or untalented. The problem is that he is not an intelligent player, and has serious attention-span issues that have prevented him from becoming a quality NBA player. You can see this as far back as 2002 if you want, when Holy Cross inexplicably shut him down in the NCAA tournament. This can't be fixed.
