I think we've found a team that could really use you. They're desperate for front court help, but they don't have much money to sign a FA & aren't impressed with the available FA's this year. I'm thinking that a Cato/Moochie/T-Mo to Orlando for Miller/DeClercq (team option next year)/Buechler (expiring contract) could get it done. Or, just Cato/future #1 pick for Miller/Buechler would be more likely, because Orlando wants to have enough cap space to pursue Duncan next year. With Cato on board, Duncan would be reassured that he wouldn't have to play center. Just think about it Cato. The East is a weak conference, as far as C/PF's go. You could dominate those puny little SF's & guards over there. So, what do you say, should we pull the trigger on the deal? After all, I don't want or need you. That's why the Rockets drafted Ming. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...rl-sptmagic14071402jul14.story?coll=orl-magic Big problems By Jerry Brewer | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted July 14, 2002 On to Plan B. Or is it back to Plan A? Whatever the case, it appears the Orlando Magic are headed for another season of frontcourt disarray. An important evaluation period for big men Steven Hunter, Rashard Griffith and Mario Kasun has turned into a big mess. Free-agent signings can begin in three days, and the Magic don't have enough money to find an impact post player. The Magic are no closer to filling their big hole in the middle. It appears that the best the Magic can do to improve their frontcourt is sign one or two tough guys at bargain prices and become more forceful in demanding that their current post players give better contributions. "A major something is not going to happen," Magic General Manager John Gabriel said. "We're going to have some change, and, the players we have, we're just going to have to be better." The Magic were hoping this past week's summer pro league at the RDV Sportsplex would showcase Hunter and Griffith and foreshadow a more athletic, more physical team next season. But Hunter was slowed by injuries. And Griffith, the 27-year-old who had spent the past seven years overseas, was out of shape and a non-factor against a bunch of young NBA players and unsigned free agents. At his age, Griffith is pretty much a finished product. The Magic are not likely to buy what he is selling. The Magic seemed to be on to something last month. On draft night, they traded their No. 18 pick, Curtis Borchardt, to Utah for No. 19 pick Ryan Humphrey and what turned out to be Griffith. Then, they worked a deal to get Kasun. The thought was that they would get an aggressive but undersized power forward in Humphrey, a 270-pound center who could play right away in Griffith, and an intriguing prospect for the future in Kasun, a 7-footer from Croatia. Griffith's bad performance has vexed those plans. "I'm not concerned about it now, but if it was Oct. 1 and the start of training camp, I would be," Magic Coach Doc Rivers said of the Magic's frontcourt situation. "But a lot can happen between now and training camp. Concerned? No. But, yes, we want to improve at that position." The good news is that Humphrey appears capable of contributing as a rookie. His athleticism and tenacity will help the Magic, who sometimes played with low energy last season, especially on the perimeter. "I'm the type of person that, if I'm going to talk about it, I'm going to do it," said Humphrey, who has promised to be a productive pro. "If I don't back it up, my credibility is gone." In five games, Humphrey averaged more than 12 points and five rebounds. His energy and intensity on the court is apparent. In a three-minute span against the Miami Heat on Friday, Humphrey tried to dunk over defenders three times. He drew fouls twice and had one attempt blocked. "I don't take blocks too kindly," Humphrey said. "I'm trying to dunk it. I didn't dunk on nobody, but they realize that when I got it, I was going to try. My reputation precedes me. Hey, I don't want to disappoint." In addition to Hunter and Griffith, the Magic have four more players under contract who play either power forward or center. They are: Patrick Ewing, Horace Grant, Don Reid and Andrew DeClercq. Restricted free agent Pat Garrity, the Magic's No. 1 free-agent priority, started 43 games at power forward, but the Magic would like to bring him off the bench and have him play either forward spot next season. Ewing, who turns 40 next month, is expected to retire. He is exploring the idea of becoming an assistant coach next season. There is also the possibility that he could negotiate a buyout with the Magic and play for another team next season. Grant, 37, began saying he would retire in December and has not publicly backed off those statements since. But the Magic say they expect Grant to play next season. It is believed that, though he wants to retire, Grant will return because of the loyalty he has to the Magic organization, especially owner Rich DeVos. Grant has made more than $50 million in his two stints with the Magic. If he comes back, Grant is certain to ask that he not play the bulk of his minutes at center, as he had to do last season. For this to happen, the Magic are going to have to consider starting DeClercq, Reid or Hunter. Their performances were so spotty last season that Grant, a career power forward, had to switch positions. The Magic have made calls to almost every available free-agent big man, but the only players in their price range ($1 million to $2 million) who could provide help are Scott Williams, Gary Trent and Charles Oakley. Of that group, Williams is the only player who could play heavy minutes at center. Rivers is expected to head any efforts to acquire Oakley, a former Rivers' teammate with the New York Knicks. Oakley's business manager, Billy Diamond, has said the rugged forward would sign for $1 million, which has several teams interested, including Philadelphia, Indiana and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Magic would love to add Oakley as an enforcer, but they are leery of adding a 38-year-old, aging talent. That plan didn't exactly work last summer when they signed Grant and Ewing. While the public feels the Magic cannot go on being a finesse, perimeter-oriented team, the Magic say this: look at the Eastern Conference. Yes, they say, they have to get tougher and rebound better. But the Magic are realistic. They know that, with the luxury tax looming, their hands are tied. Their biggest hope is that Grant Hill's ankle holds up, and they can follow the Boston Celtics' path. The Celtics did nothing at all last off-season, made a midseason trade for Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. "If we can acquire any guy that's better than what we have, we've improved," Rivers said. "I don't know if you're going to find a star. We will probably have to take a gamble."
Damn, from the thread title I thought you had read somewhere that there was a rumor Cato was going to get traded, not that there might be a team interested in him.
We don't need Miller. We have Boki. Without Cato we'd have to play Collier significant minutes and that is not a good thing.
What are we supposed to do with the players we get back? If you move Cato, find another big man who can bang with a shorter, cheaper contract. The rest of the court is stacked and packed. If you're getting Miller to replace Rice, I think you're making a problem for Boki. Probably best to leave all alone to see how our cast shakes out for this year.
The fact that other teams can't find big men better than Cato isn't an argument for us getting rid of him. It's an argument for us keeping him.
Sorry about that Raven Lunatic. I didn't realize the title could be deceptive until I had already submitted it. My thinking, however wrong it may be, is that Miller would be able to fill the backup role at SG. He could play both the SF/SG positions & would get starter minutes off the bench, just like Moochie does. As for a replacement center, Doleac would be an adequate backup to Ming & could be the starter until Ming is ready to take over. Another option, would be to pursue a S&T with Toronto for Keon Clark. Other available FA's would be Jabari Smith (RFA), Jelani McCoy, Kevin Willis, & Scott Williams. One last option would be to pursue a trade with Minnesota for Marc Jackson, after the one year moratorium expires in October.
True, Will. But as Rocket fans we've all spent so much time trying to work out ways to move Cato that some people won't even be happy if he gives us 15 and 10 every night. We finally go into a season wanting and needing what Cato can give us and people are still obsessed with moving him. It's like the stories of those people who still don't know the Vietnam war is over.
Hottoddie, Right now Cato gives us more (or as much) as any of the backups you mentioned. And Miller to play backup 3? We've got three guys under contract who play virtually nothing but three. Better move one of them if you're going to make room for Miller. Or better yet, don't. The only big question with this roster is who's going to backup Cuttino (after Steve's done backing him up). And that's not even a big question.
We could trade Cato and then trade Miller for draft pics or something like that and sign Ike Nwanko off the summer league team.
Excellent point. Collier is a big stiff who is worthless if his shot is not falling. If Collier plays significant minutes for the Rockets next year, we are in big trouble. I don't see Ming outplaying Cato next year anyway, and we need two decent big men anyway to compete in the West. There aren't many teams out there with two quality centers to battle Shaq.
Can't argue with that kind of impeccable logic. Here are some other ones you might want to try: You're a dum-dum! You smell like poo! You got anything on WHY it's idiotic, ROCKET RY?
I don't think Miller is a fit here now. He's an excellent offensive player, but in terms of backups I'd rather have defenders, which is a weakness of Miller. At this point, this team probably expects Nachbar to do the same things Miller can do, and Nachbar is 2 years further away from free agency than Miller. I don't like the way your trade shapes the roster-I consider Morris a good player to have on this team-sadly, he's probably our best perimeter defender under contract. In your trade, we end up with 4 SFs who are mainly "shooters"-Rice, Nachbar, Miller, Buechler, forced to rely on Tierre as primary backup, not 3rd string, and downgrade backup center. The Magic have a 2.4 mill exception. If we just wanted to clear Cato's contract, Declerq and either Jeryl Sasser or Don Reid plus the exception would work. I'd love to mix in a Moochie/Armstrong swap, but I don't see the Magic moving him-he's a veteran, and his expiring contract opens a perfect slot to bring in either Jason Kidd, or one of the "big 3" RFA next year (Francis, Baron, Dre Miller...depending who signs an extension) I agree with Batman. We pretty much need a 3rd string PG (either Tito, or right now it looks like Tierre) and an extra SG/SF (possibly OT) to round out the roster, preferably with defense. It wouldn't be hard to pick up your Quincy Lewis, Tyrone Nesby type off the free agent scrap heap. If you want to get extravagant, take a look at Bryon Russell.
I'll concede that point to you. But, with the shortage of quality centers available today, wouldn't it make sense to trade Cato while he's at his highest trade value & at the same time, while there is a shortage of centers? If Ming, is everything the coaches believe him to be, then this could be our greatest opportunity to trade Cato & get some value in return. Putting Ming into the starting lineup right away, wouldn't be as big a risk as it would be, if he was coming straight out of college. After all, Ming has been playing pro ball for a while now. Albeit, at a lesser level of competition. I was thinking backup 2/3. That would allow Fancis/Mobley to play less minutes, thus reducing fatigue & injury potential later in the season. By the way, your previous post about Cato putting up 15/10 numbers doesn't help the argument for keeping Cato, since he hasn't come close to putting up those kind of numbers. His 2 best years were 8.7/6 & last year's 6.6/7 in 25.6 mpg. Willis put up 6.1/5.8 in 16.6 mpg. If Cato were to add a consistent mid range jumper & a hook shot to his offensive repertoire, which currently only consists of dunk shots, he would be more of a force on the offensive end of the game. The other change in him that I'd like to see, is an attitude of coming to play every time he steps on the court. I'd even settle for that attitude 80% of the time he steps on the court. If he would do that, then I would promise to never start another thread about trading him. Let me ask you & everyone else a question. If Cato had/was playing even close to the level that he played in that one preseason game prior to the Rocket's contract offer, does anyone think that the Rockets would've still drafted Ming, or would they have traded the pick for the best possible package of players & future draft picks?
Major catch-22. If Cato played close to what he did in the preseason, we're a much better team, and wouldn't have been in position to be #1 overall. There's a possibility that we would have won enough games to slip into the playoffs 2 years ago (when we won 45), and therefore possibly wouldn't have been in position to nab EG, either. So maybe we should all say thank you to Cato, for sucking so that we can get Ming and Griffin.
