If we could get Deke for Pike/Filler, then we should do it. Clark might be a little better, but he's coming off a big injury and has had off-court problems as well.
I definitely agree he's worth the 1.6 mil exception, only there is NOTHING topflight about Keon Clark.
Did DD scoop Scoop Berman? Trade for Mt Mutombo and sign Clark. Trade for Floor Burn Najera. Upgrade cheaply, get sharp pieces.
Everyone keeps saying Mutombo is cheap, but he makes almost 5M, while we don't even have 5M to offer Clark. I don't think we can even offer him 5M over TWO years, so there's no way Clark is more expensive than Mutombo.
Actually, his energy, athleticism and shotblocking are all topflight. 2.4 blocks in 22 minutes for Toronto in 1999-2000? For his career he has 1.6 blocks in 22 minutes. However, for some reason, his two years in Denver are WAY under par in terms of shotblocking, probably because he mostly played PF... If you take those two years out, his shotblocking improves even further. It comes out to basically a block every 10 minutes. Mutombo-like numbers, although they're only on a per minute basis. Last year, Cato gave us 1.4 blocks in 25 minutes. No doubt, Cato is a betetr shotblocker than that, but he dedicated a lot of time to sticking with his man and playing tough man-to-man defense. He didn't go for any unreasonable blocks, etc, etc... I think Clark can provide slightly betetr shotblocking... Obviously, he won't be strong enough to be as good, defensively, as Cato... But offensively he's much better.. Athletically, he's better.. and he can actually finish a fastbreak with his agility/quickness... I like it. If his starting salary is around 2M, I don't care about the years or anything. I'm much rather have Pike and Clark for a combined 4.5M than just Mutombo at 4.5M.
But Mutombo's deal is only one year. You're talking about giving several million dollars to Clark over at least 2 years. That is more far more of a gamble then getting Mutombo. And you can bet that Clark is still going to want good money (at least 3 million dollars).
Keon Clark isn't going to be able to play center for an extended period of time in the West (he is only 220 pounds). And while he puts up good shot-blocking numbers he doesn't effect an opposition's offense like Mutombo still can. Marcus Camby blocks shots similar to Clark but doesn't effect a game defensively. I don't buy into Clark being a "high energy" player. He is such an enigma, he doesn't seem to work all that hard and he is inconsistent. People talk about Mutombo not being able to play a lot of games, Clark only played in TWO games last year. Yeah he played in 80 games 2 years ago, but so did Mutombo. Mutombo is a legit center, Clark is a PF. We have enough PFs.
Getting Mutombo would be relatively cheap for us, because we would be giving away salaries in a trade. With Clark, we would be adding salaries.
I disagree. There's no way you can refute the FACT that Clark is a high-energy player. I'm pretty sure he can play BACKUP C in the West. He's only going to play against backup C's anyway. Not in crunch time, so it doesn't matter. He's quite talented, and the fact that he can play PF is a plus. We need some shotblocking/athleticism sometimes, and MoT/Howard can't give us that. He's a good fit, and right now, is it's a choice between Pike AND Clark versus JUST Mutombo Then I would like to have the first.
I also would like to add Clark to this team rather than Mutumbo, but just looking at this offseason's moves, I'd be more inclined to think that JVG would lean towards Mutumbo. Guys who have a bad reputation for not working hard enough and general indifference probably aren't too high on JVG's wish list. Do I think he could mold Clark? Absolutely. I just don't think he wants to when he can have a guy like Mutumbo that he won't have to work with in that fashion.
We can't offer him more than 2 years and we can't offer him 3 mill/yr. What's the problem? Even if you trade Pike for Mutumbo, you're adding more payroll than if you can sign Clark to the LLE.
Well, it's at least nice to hear that the Rockets have two options. As such, they can play one off on the other, and hopefully get the best deal. When you only have one option, the price goes up.
Um I think the whole point with Clark wanting too much money is that he wants more than the Rox can pay him, so he will probably sign somewhere else. It has nothing to do with overpaying him or who's the better value between 'Tumbo and Clark.
Mutombo or Clark for the LLE both sound good to me. Hope we make something happen. If question marks about his work ethic and condition can be worked out, I think Clark would be a great replacement for Cato at backup 4/5. If he took the LLE for one year and played well, I would definitely consider offering him a larger contract.
We need a defensive/rebounding guy who can backup both the C and PF spots. Interior defense is very important for JVG's system. Neither Howard nor Taylor is much of a defensive presence. Mutombo is a defensive presence. But he can't play PF. I think Clark fits much better for our need. btw, people keep saying JVG "whipped" Cato into shape. The fact was that Cato started to play hard 2 years ago when Yao came on board. It had nothing to do with JVG.
