i love cato and his play last season but if we can get artest for him i wouldn't care if jason collier comes back behind yao.
My thoughts exactly. Its a fundamental rule in basketball that you always try not to trade big for little. People seem to forget the fact that we play in the "super sized" western conference and big men in the league are at a premium as is. I would definitely have to insist on one of their bigs in return. Besides, in the eastern conference I think Cato could be as good as Theo Ratliff was for Philly a few years back.
My God, have you guys even thought of the possibilities? With Yao and Griffin patrolling the paint as shotblockers, Artest taking the better of the 2 swingmen, and Mobley taking the other, this could be an incredibly good defensive team. Aside from that JVG is our coach, so I wouldn't be surprised to see us become the best or 2nd best defensive team in the league. Jeff Foster is no Kelvin Cato, but he plays very hard, has played starters minutes before, and is a very good rebounder. He's not a great defender, but he doesn't give up. However, I'd be more than comfortable with this line-up: Yao/Foster/MoT/EG MoT/EG/Munoeke? Artest/Griffin/Boki Mobley/Pike Francis/Moochie Ialso like the 3-way suggestion where we get Brent Barry. However, we'd have to unload one of our backcourt playersto make it happen. Barry, Moochie, Francis, and Mobley only play backcourt positions, while Pike and Griffin will probably get some time there as well. Maybe we can throw in Moochie and Seattle can throw in the lesser paid of their 2 C's?
Looks great to me. Yao will play only more on more minutes every season, so Cato will become more and more useless and we can't have him playing 5-10 minutes per game with his salary. And I bet a lot of ballclubs want him, including Indiana. Yao/Foster/MoT/EG MoT/EG/Munoeke? Artest/Griffin/Boki Mobley/Pike Francis/Moochie This is a line-up that can compete right away, and this is a better line-up than we already got IMO.
something tells me that JVG and CD want to go into the season this year with the roster pretty much as it stands now.. but I also think that the roster at the end of the season will not look a whole lot like it will at the beginning.. I like this trade idea a lot, lose Cato, which is a hefty loss, but pick up Artest, which is a bigger pickup than the loss of Cato.. question is, how late in the season could a deal like that get done? How long do Carlisle/Bird put up with Artest's act? and do CD and JVG wait too long to pull the trigger and lose out on Artest, maybe watching Seattle grab him, or something like that.. How long do you think JVG sits on our current roster? Let's assume the worst, and the season starts out, oh, 10 and 15, and way back in the race for one of the playoff spots - does JVG's history show how his rosters reflect his team's record? Now I honestly hope this group can both stay together and also win and win big. If that starts to happen, then personally I bet they don't mess with the roster. So it's almost like we have to hope the team gets off to a bad start if we want to see big time changes in the roster.. would it be worth it then? to me, depends on how early in the season they pull the trigger, in order to save the season and still make the playoffs.
Trade exception works one direction -- when the team can only take back 1/2 the BYC amount, the trade exception is valueless (if I understand all this correctly) as Indy does NOT want greater salary taken back. Therefore, a monster deal will have to be effected to deal Artest EXCEPT to Utah or Miami.
What does that say about Yao? Have some faith in Yao my man. To me, its more about the player <b>alongside</b> him thats more important than the player <b>behind</b> him. A bad, mean 4 is more important than a backup 5. Obviously Artest is not this, but neither is Cato. His loss can be filled. If Cato could play 4, maybe not....
Take This! Houston trades: SG Cuttino Mobley (17.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg in 41.7 minutes) C Kelvin Cato (4.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 17.1 minutes) PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 16.8 minutes) Houston receives: PG Jamaal Tinsley (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 7.5 apg in 30.6 minutes) C Scot Pollard (4.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.3 apg in 14.1 minutes) SF Ron Artest (15.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg in 33.6 minutes) PF Al Harrington (12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg in 30.1 minutes) Change in team outlook: +13.7 ppg, +7.7 rpg, and +6.6 apg. Indiana trades: PG Jamaal Tinsley (7.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 7.5 apg in 30.6 minutes) C Scot Pollard (4.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 0.3 apg in 14.1 minutes) SF Ron Artest (15.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.9 apg in 33.6 minutes) PF Al Harrington (12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 apg in 30.1 minutes) Indiana receives: SG Cuttino Mobley (17.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg in 73 games) C Kelvin Cato (4.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.3 apg in 73 games) PG Moochie Norris (4.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 82 games) Change in team outlook: -13.7 ppg, -7.7 rpg, and -6.6 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED Love It !
Keep smoking SJC, you're not all the way there yet All jokes aside, I know you're assuming Bird's gonna dismantle the team, but I doubt even then anybody will give up Jamison Brewer, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, Ron Artest AND Fred Jones for Kelvin Cato. Not for an overpaid center with only one good year under his belt. Even if you consider that Indy accpets, why would it be in Utah's interest to pick up Moochie's long and way overpriced contract when they're definitely going to try to shop the FA market next year? Not saying it's in our favor or I'll do it, but even if this trade is Artest and cap fillerfor Cato (assuming the salaries work out), I'd be willing to consider this trade.
Yao will miss some games this season with something (tweaked ankle broken finger... whatever) We will lose these games with Mo, Eddie, Jeff Foster playing center with or without Artest. We might win those games with Cato at center and Rice, A. Griffin, Nachbar at SF. In a perfect world or starting lineup with Artest is superior but the world ain't perfect and our team is better with Cato. If we are a going to run a center oriented offense then we need a good backup C. While I like what Artest brings I don't do this trade without getting a serviceable backup C.
He had problems but no where near the issues he's had recently and part of this has to do with Isaiah Thomas. Thomas wanted the Pacers to be like the "Bad Boy" Pistons of old and probably did little to discouraged Artest from his antics on the court. I think that both Artest and JVG will get along just fine. It seems as though many players that play under JVG acquire a respect for the him and seem to keep in line.
Get Artest. He is a difference maker. Ask GR to retire. He can go count his money at home. Then sign Vlad Step. All good. Yao/Vlad EG/Taylor Artest/AG/Boki Cat/Pike Francis/Moochie You can make other moves, too, but Artest has the intangible the team desperately needs. He's got two of them. Mess with the bull, you get the horns.
I got curious about this myself so I looked up Bender's site. The exception doesn't just work one way. The exception usually ends up being transferred to another team because of the difference in salaries, but Indy would just eat it in this case because of the byc. So if you play around with the salaries and the exception for a bit, it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a decent trade for Artest, even though he's byc.
Actually, I believe it just means Indy can trade Artest's value and get it back. That is, Cat for Artest would work straight up. Indy would not be taking back more salary than they give up; but w/o the exception, they simply wouldn't be able to make the deal at all, because a third team would have to be involved. I think Deveney is just speculating, but I would be dismayed if JVG didn't at least look into acquiring Artest. The guy is one of the best defenders in the league. Indy has been shopping Artest, as we have been shopping Cat (as last week's TSN reported in a "What will the Rox do for a starting 3" question-of-the-week). Cat, to me, would be more of a candidate for a trade. If we traded Cato, fine, as long as we had plans for a backup C (Vladimir Stepania?) I'd take Jeff Foster, sure, but I believe he is also BYC, which the 3+ mil trade exception might not cover, unless the trade were fairly large in scope.
I would love to make this trade. KC had a pretty decent year, but if we could get a stopper with a rep like Artest, I think that would be great. Getting rid of KC $7 mil per year would be too shabby either. As for backing up Yao, we need a person who can log a couple minutes, thats all. But I doubt that Larry Legend would pull the trigger on this one.
Can't include Scot Pollard, not yet (I don't think). As he was just traded, he can't be included in a multi-player deal for a few months. You can trade him if you don't include other players. (Could we do something clever: Cat for Pollard. Wait a few days. Cato + etc + etc for Artest and etc etc?)
Cato is an underrated center but this guy can do the job done. Artest, hmmm, this is basketball people, not boxing.
