General Manager Carroll Dawson speaks about the Motombo Deal.

You might as well post the whole thing.


General Manager Carroll Dawson’s opening statement on the Dikembe Mutombo … “It took a while, but I think it’s worthwhile. It balances us out. He gives us something a little bit special. I like the fact that Yao’s maturity is going along pretty good, and there are not many guys Mutombo’s size – he’s about as close to 7-2 as you can get. Yao can go against him every day in practice and I think that will help. Every day is a learning process for about the next five years for Yao Ming, and I think this will speed it along. Now we’ve got Patrick (Ewing) along with the other coaches and Dikembe to help with that, so I like that aspect of it a whole lot. Plus, at his age, I think for 13 to 18 minutes a night he can be a factor out there still. He’s still a good shot blocker and he allows your perimeter defense get out and get into the lanes a few times – to take a few more chances if you want to. You’ve got somebody backing you up back there. I hope it’s like last year where there are more jump shots taken against us than lay-ups.”



On how important it was for the organization to get a backup center with experience who has had great numbers in the past … “You want to get a good fit, but you want to get somebody who brings something special, as well. We were lucky enough to do that. I know it was about a month ago when we signed (Bobby) Sura and Charlie (Ward), that’s what I was working on at that time. It took a while, but I think it was really worth the time. He just has a presence out there still, plus he’s one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to be around. He does a wonderful job in the locker room and on the court. I talked to New York before I ever started this process, and they said that in community service he just goes everywhere because he loves people. He’s done a great job – right now he’s building a hospital in South Africa and helping getting that done. He’s just a good humanitarian. It’s just a big plus for us. It’s great that he wanted to come here, too. That’s encouraging. We won’t have him here for about a week because he has a lot of work to do over there, but he’ll be in here about a week from now.”



On if there is anything left for him to do going into the season now (any more moves to make) … “Well, you’re always trying to get better. There is nothing I’m working on now. The summer is gone. I don’t know what happened, but I looked up and we’re four weeks away from starting (training camp). I’m starting to like this team better on paper because this balances us out. It gets us down to 13 (players), which is good, but there are always some things that we’re trying to do. Whether we can do them or not, we’ll have to wait and see. You never sit back and say, ‘This is it. I’m happy.’ You’re never that way.”



On how important it was for him to say that he wanted to come here to Houston … “It was very important. There were a lot of places he said he didn’t want to go. It’s hard to win with unhappy people. You want people that are on board with what you’re trying to do – on board with the franchise, the city and the fans. You want them to really feel welcome and out there trying their best. That’s very important. I think we’re fortunate here because this city seems to attract a lot of players. Even the ones that aren’t playing like to live here. We’re very fortunate to have the owner we’ve got, the building we’ve got and the fans we’ve got. It’s a magnet for NBA players, it seems like.”



On if he has talked to Yao to tell him about the trade … “Yes. Well, he calls me and checks up on how the Mutombo thing was coming along. He’s been very excited about this all along. When I talked to Dikembe yesterday, he was very complimentary to not only our franchise, but also to Yao Ming and our players. Right now it just looks like a good fit.”

 

Who is the franchise?

 

He just means the Rockets organization.

 

did he by chance mention the deal includes a pre-arranged deal with these guys for Mutumbo

 

LOL that was funny but also little mean

About CD's comment:

 

bummer ...

 

The summer's gone and that's a bad thing? That means the season's almost here!!

Besides, what more can be done? A couple scrub signings here and there aren't going to make any difference.

 

signing an extra center can make a big difference if yao or deke have to miss a game.

 

Was not Summer officially gone on Labour Day? So CD's work has no stopadge. Talking and dealling are still going ...

 

September the 21st is the 1st day of Fall.