I was listening to a call-in sports talk show today and there was a discussion about the Rockets center position (what a shock!) and a debate over whether the Rockets should attempt to go out and pick up a big man either through a trade or free agency or if they should stand pat. On one side, there was the argument that they really aren't a contending team, so why should they sink 4 or 5 years worth of money into a stop-gap measure like Marc Jackson or Jelani McCoy. On the other was the argument that Cato is a bust and they need a legit center. They went back and forth saying, "Well, if you want to see if Cato can or can't play, shouldn't you play him? I mean, if you bring in another center to eat up his minutes, how are we supposed to find out if he CAN play?" So, it got me to thinking that, IMO, this is mostly about depth. It is readily apparent that the Rocks intend on using some smaller line-ups at times with Taylor, Griffin and Morris on the front line with Mobley and Francis in the backcourt or the REAL small line-up with Taylor, Griffin and Mobley up front and Francis and Norris in the back. Considering this, it would seem that the center position is one that, for at least stretches of games, will be covered by a power forward. That would seem to eliviate any depth problems. Further, I considered that Collier is injured and may not be ready for the start of the season. Cato has had some injury problems as well. That makes the depth less than steady. Running the smaller line-ups out there for stretches is one thing but that is NOT the ideal. I figure the best solution is to bring in a center. Well, duh. The problem is, who? For the moment, let's assume a trade for LaFrentz or Shaq is a long shot. We can further assume with some degree of certainty that Cato is, for the moment, basically untradeable. From there, we are left with Jelani McCoy, Jahidi White (he's on the block), Marc Jackson and maybe someone like Eric Dampier as options for signing or a trade involving a player or the exception and a pick. Jackson is obviously the cream of this less-than-stellar crop, but is he really a good solution? Jackson is probably going to want 4 or 5 years at $5 million per. He loves the idea of playing in Houston but he is an unproven 2nd round (?) pick who is undersized at the center position. Even if we brought him in, it would mean putting a $7 million center on the bench simply because Jackson would demand more minutes despite not having a huge game. That leaves me with really only 3 options... 1. Sign Jackson anyway. Offer him 2 years at $5 million per and see if he bites. At the end of the 2 years, we'll own his early Bird rights and can give him a better long-term deal. Call it an incentive to play hard. If he won't go for the 2 years, offer a third or 5 years for less money - say $3 million per season. Even if we got a big man that started, Jackson could back up at two positions and $3 million per is not a ton to pay a serviceable back up big man. 2. Sign McCoy or make an exception move to pick up someone like White. Neither is ideal, but it would put Cato front and center to start and give him a decent rebounding defender OR a spot up shooter (Collier) to back him up. The key here is depth. It gives the Rockets that while still giving them a chance to evaluate Cato. 3. Do nada. This is the scariest proposition not because I'm worried about Cato. I think Cato could probably be ok as a big man on this team in the short term. My problem is depth. I don't want Taylor as our best available option when/if Cato and/or Collier is injured. That happened last year when Collier, Cato and Hakeem all went down and it was ugly. No matter how good Griffin is, we don't want to be stuck there. My personal inclination is to attempt to sign Jackson for 2 years or a smaller (dollar-wise) multi-year deal. Let Cato battle it out with him in practice and see who wins. It will give Collier time to recover and take the pressure off of Cato to be the man on the floor. If Jackson won't take a small deal, bring in McCoy or make a small deal for White or some other serviceable center. That at least shores up depth at that position. Ultimately, none of these is, IMO, a long-term solution in the middle. But, they all fill the hole for now. If we can make a deal with the exception (if it is even available) or in a sign and trade with Anderson for a decent player like LaFrentz, by all means. If not, we need some depth and we'll just have to make due hoping that Cato overcomes his lack-of-heart disease.
Before the trading deadline, send a first and second round pick plus Kelvin Cato and Shandon Anderson to the Raptors for Hakeem Olajuwon.
It's not like this team is going to the finals next year. This is the same team that at times last year started <font size=6><blink>Mo Taylor</blink></font> at center. Get a corpse to back up Cato in case Collier can't play, and see if Cato will ever amount to anything.
The last thing to do is panic and overpay Jackson. The minimum any team can give him is 3 years (due to offer sheet rules for restricted free agents) and we'd have to start at over 4.5- basically, it comes out to 16-17 mill assuming he'd take 3 years. With Nazr and TMac North signing for 5 and 6 year deals, that's a very unlikely proposition. If McCoy is willing to take a small 1-2 year deal, he wouldn't be a bad last resort option. As for Jahidi White, it depends what the Wizards want- if all they want is Walt Williams (which is quite possible, as they seem to be acquiring cap space for next year, and Walt's contract expires), and we haven't found anyone better, he'd be an interesting gamble-undersized, but tough, blocks and rebounds. I think he's friends with Francis as well. Again not a first option type of guy. If nothing is available for the right price, I'd actually look into picking up Olden "You have the right to remain silent" Polynice or Michael Smith on one year deals, or inquire about Walt for Ike Austin, who has one year left. None are exactly what you want at your 5, but could possibly eat some minutes for a year, and let you try again next year.
WHOA NIKE!!!!!! We can get Jahidi and dump Walt all in one fell swoop??????? This should be a no-brainer for CD. Jahidi-hidi-ho would be an excellent compliment to Cato's skills for our depth chart. I'm not big on the "animal" Michael Smith - dude can't hit a free-throw to save his life...anyways didn't we already get him once in the Francis trade and then unload him?? Officer Olden.........surely you jest??
Getting Jackson for a short term deal is probably the best option.Cato is not only a huge underachiever with relatively few offensive skills but is also injury prone.Collier is a PF who at best is a reserve center but is injured.Not having another center is going to hurt the Rockets a lot.If Taylor is resigned then he and K.Thomas will be forced to played out of position and will be at risk of getting injured against opposing centers.McCoy can be a decent defender with some size but can't score and is inconsistant.If we could get Sabonis I would be quite happy,but he will probably resign with the Blazers for a year or retire.Polynice could have been a short term answer if he wasn't a trouble maker,because he plays hard. I think White probably might be our only option if Jackson asks for a lot of money,even though he is undersized at 6"9'.because he is big, crashes the boards and works hard.He could play along with Kelvin Cato,i.e. if Cato ever bothers to play.
I would do that deal in a second,ZRB!!! Actually I think the deal ZRB is what we have been trying to do all along,now this way Dream will think we do need him! I for one think we should sign Marc or Jelani to a short term deal,you dont want it to come back and bite you on the ass like the Cato deal! If not then just pick up someone that can give us minutes along with Cato and Collier and play KT and MO most the real minutes.
...center spot on current roster: Cato 6'11" @ 250 or so, Collier 6'11" @ 255 or so ... Cato is a head case, does not work hard in most fans opinion ... i think he is just not very athletic as far as skill and cordination. Collier another WHT center, purdue, wenington, eaton but much smaller, so on so on ... he has no balls. Why is it so hard to find a center who wants to mix it up inside, take a few charges, give some hard fouls, offensive rebound and put the ball through the rim. Collier might be able to score on the left low post and has decent touch from about 15' ... he might be servicable if he stays on the court. I don't know if Cato's injuries are real or the kind just used to keep his sorry butt off the court. It's ridiculous how after a few preseason games you see something "special", then you make a 180 on your decision. The guy has the paycheck, now let him earn it on the court, after he fouls out he can releave the poweraid boys, or help the kid mop up the court. As for depth, lets play small and give Dan 6'10" @ 225 some center minutes, more athletic and can shoot ok. Feed that kid what ever two sandwiches used to eat, or Barkleys summer menu and he will gain 35#s by all star break.
I agree with this post virtually down the line. The analogy to a romantic breakup remains apt. We're "on the rebound." The worst danger right now is that, having ended a relationship that needed to end, we'll now be seized with regret and panic and jump at the chance to get a substitute center who isn't nearly as good as we've convinced ourselves he is. A lot of the talk around here about Marc Jackson is projection on our part. We'd like him to be a $5M talent. He isn't. The basic premise here is right: Face up to the fact that the good long-term prospects at center are gone, and look for somebody who fits our cap space and is good enough for the short term. If you think about it, that's what the Rockets wanted Hakeem Olajuwon to be: a guy who could play some minutes, get us some boards, shoot some jumpers, and block some shots for the next year or two at a reasonable cost. A short-term solution. If somebody would please introduce Kelvin Cato to Allah or Jesus or some religion that would get his head together, adjust his attitude, and turn his life around, that would save us all a lot of trouble. P.S. That is the best signature I've seen on the board in a long time. I'm going to smile every time I see it.
Lets see... Jackson is not as athletic as Cato and is not a good shot blocker but he rebounds well and has a nice offensive game around the basket plus he works his ass off in games and in practice. He sounds just like the exact oppisite of Cato. I'm sold. Lets go for Jackson.
Yes, I'm sure Hakeem will enjoy looking like a complete idiot. HAKEEM : "I wanted change. Change is good. I want to be an international citizen. I want to explore." GRUNWALD : "We're sending you back" HAKEEM : "DOH!"
For me, it comes down to two options: Marc Jackson or Jahidi White. Marc Jackson plays hard and actually rebounds. He won't score 16 ppg on this team, but that's OK; Steve and Cat will be the primary scorers; Marc and Mo (and maybe EG) will be backing them up in that department. Marc Jackson would like to play here. That's apparent. Cons? Durability, untested, no shot-blocking, needs to work on his D. Basically, still a rook. I'm glad this thread was brought up because I mentioned Jahidi White as an option---twice , I might add---and got no reply at all . I have to daub a tear now. (sniff) Anyway, Jahidi White seems like a decent option to me because, even if he's "only" 6'9" and a little foul-prone, he's a big mo-fo (290 lbs) who blocks about 2 shots and grabs about 7 or 8 boards in 24 mpg. No one can stop Shaq, but White'll do in a pinch. Jahidi White/Kelvin Cato platooning the center position. Seems reasonable to me. Now who would Jordan take in return? He wants to dump White's salary of 4.4 million. So Walt at 5 million would work. If Jordan insists on more, I suppose the Rox could throw in the Toronto draft pick; not that the pick wouldn't come in handy, but we already would have more players than we know what to do with.
Unfortunately I became curious about the rest of the signatures in the thread and stumbled across crash's. If we're choosing short men for Center, why not call up Anthony Mason? His game is bigger than Jackson or White's and I'd bet his salary will be smaller.
i would have to agree with a short term Jackson deal so we don't get burned again (CATO!) or McCoy. If we were to have cap room next year, will we? how much? is there any body worth holding out for since we realistically won't be winning it all for another 3 yrs at the earliest?
The bell used to toll here for Pig Miller. Why not again? He hustled and rebounded. Comes cheap. I like the sound of Marc Jackson-- for the right deal. Over a reasonable time frame (half a season) he played better than Cato ever has. Jahidi White would be okay too, but I have to ask why Jordan wants to be rid of him while folks here want him. I just can't see going into the season with Cato and Collier because both of them are coming off injury-ravaged seasons. We DEFINITELY need another body.
You've left out Brad Miller. He'd be a servicable center. He makes $4.4 mill & his contract expires in two years. Someone mentioned in a previous thread, that he still has a team option at the end of next year, but I don't know for sure about that. We could probably get him for Walt or Shandon in a sign & trade, although I'd rather hang on to Walt because of his expiring contract. OP mentioned in another thread, that Chicago might still be interested in Cato. I believe that Evan Eschmeyer is still out there, but he'd probably want a longer term deal. He's also a restricted FA & NJ has his Early Bird rights. Dale Davis of Portland could probably be had for the right package. His contract expires in 2 years also. Scott Pollard would be another option to pursue, but it might cost us too much to get him, if he's even available. He's signed for 5 more years & next years salary is just over $4.4 mill.
Here's a 3 way trade idea to kick around. I don't know if it would work or if it is just plain stupid, but here goes. Houston sends KT/Cato/Shandon(S&T)/Drew obligation to Chicago & a future #1 pick to Denver. Chicago sends Miller/Mercer to Denver. Denver sends LaFrentz/Abdul-Wahad/Willis to Houston. We could send Walt instead of Shandon. The trade still works, but I would think that Chicago would rather have Shandon.
