We may have missed out on Mash but the Sixers aren't

Ap articles come out all the time that are not always correct. I saw this earlier and took notice but I would be willing to guess it does not go down. Hughes played long enough to get 18 points. Generally when you are getting traded the next day you don't play long enough to log 18 points. Instead you generally play very little if nothing.

 

Except,Riley has been looking like a "school girl with a crush" at several players lately,including Michael Dickerson, Hughes and McGrady.

Although,I agree the AP prints all the gossip whether it is news or not, this trade talk is not as lame as you are making it out to be.

 

It seems Riles is looking at young, athletic swing guards who can take it hard to the rack. Damn, wish we could sneak into the mix with a 3-way. I would love to have MD back...would make the perfect shooting compliment for Francis' penetration.

 

I really doubt the Rockets have any interest in Dickerson. When you have Anderson who can play the 2 or the 3, and Mobley who can play the 1 or the 2, why would you want Dickerson, who can only play the 2?

 

TheFreak:

I don't want to get into the whole Dickerson vs. Mobley argument in detail again, but yes, I would swap the hybrid Mobley for the one-position playing Dickerson. Let's not forget that Michael is an excellent 3-point shooter, and that would only take even more pressure off of Steve Francis. Our transition game would be light years ahead of what it is now...hell, MD is faster than Steve Francis. Dickerson has added many wrinkles into his game this season, as you see him running off screens and slashing to the hoop. He is up to 16.2 ppg, and he is also a much more disciplined player than Mobley. I can't see Vancouver trading Dickerson [at the risk of angering Bibby], but if the offer came, would any of you trade Walt[4.5]+Mobley[4K] for Dickerson[2]+cap filler?

The more I think about it, the less I see Mobley with the Rockets next season. We have only so much money to tie up on our young nucleus, and we need to decide if we want to give Cat the type of money he will be asking for. I'm very interested to see just what that sum is. Obviously, the Rockets and Cat are talking these things over behing closed doors, so we don't really know. Personally, the most I would be willing to give Mobley is $5 mill a year. That is just how much I feel he is worth. Don't get me wrong...I think he is a fine player, it's just that once you get into the $6+mill range, you're talking star players. Will Cuttino make the sacrifice to stay with the Rockets and his buddy Steve Francis? I just can't see him taking so little, when teams are going to be throwing all sorts of dough at him.

Do the Rockets want to tie up more money on a good young player?

Cato: $6mill
Francis: $9mill [definitely]
Anderson: probb around $7mill
Thomas: probb around $4mill if he continues development
Drew: $3mill
Mobley: $7mill

Of those players, which deal sounds the most outrageous? Cato and Anderson's deals are out of the picture, seeing there is nothing we can do about them at this point. Francis at the maximum is worth the money. Thomas will probably be worth about $4-$5mill if he continues his growth. I could see Drew's market value rising [simply because there are few good young pg's] to about $3 a year. Mobley is the only guy who doesn't seem to fit in. He is not worth what teams will throw at him. I don't want to get into another bad contract situation, just matching other team's stupid offers. Mobley just isn't worth that much money. That's why I feel he will either be part of a sign and trade deal this summer or dealt before the deadline.

 

This has been rumored for a few weeks now. There were several times when it looked liked something could have happened, but one side always folds. According to excellent sources in Miami, Mash isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

------------------
Jen
Next round of Nelson vs. Malone: February 24 @ Reunion Arena

 

So Cabbage, I take it you think Dickerson is worth 7 mil a year? If you think he's better than Cuttino, and you think Cuttino is going to ask for that much, you must be willing to give that much to Dickerson if you're talking about swapping the two. If that's the case, you're either going to have Anderson starting at the SF for a number of years with MD at the 2, or either Anderson or Dickerson sitting on the bench making 7 mil a year.

 

I think your estimates are a little high. I see it more like:

Cato: 6
Francis: 9
Anderson: 5
Thomas: 4
Drew: 2
Mobley: 4-5

On your other point, yes I'd trade Mobley for Dickerson.

 

TheFreak:

I have no problem with paying Michael Dickerson $7million a year, though I doubt he will ask for that much. Mobley thinks very highly of himself, with proof being his comments about the Rookie All-Star game. But if Michael asked for $7million a year, I would give it to him. He is already at over 16ppg, while shooting at a clip well above 40%. I had predicted [before the Francis trade] that he would average 15 a game this season, and then 18 next year. And yes, I have no problem playing Shandon at the small forward for the next 10 years. This gives us a solid, explosive running unit. We can always go big off the bench with a big backup small forward in Carlos Rogers.

Whether it be Dickerson or not, I just feel if we are going to commit so much money to a player (above $4mill), we can certainly do better than Mobley.

 

Francis will be in the range of 10- 13 million.

 

Mobley is not a sign-n-trade candidate.

1st) we can't sign him to anything until July 1.

2nd) unless we find some cap room, we can't offer more than the Middle Class Exception, Anderson's pay scale.

If there is a team out there ready to offer him $4m, there is not much we can do about it.

 

7 mil a year for an undersized 2-guard who can't create his own shot and isn't a defensive stopper......glad you're not writing the checks. And you think Pippen makes too much?

 

Thank you TheFreak, you summed up all my thoughts in a nice short, sweet, post. I have been wanting to say something to that extent about these Mobley bashers for a long time, just didn't have the words to put it.

I dont' get it? Mobley does really well for himself. I compare him to Allen Iverson without the spotlight certainly not Micheal Dickerson! MD was one of my favorite players when he was here but he was so frusterating to watch... All he did was shoot jumpers off of hakeem double teams, that doesn't happen anymore here folks, and The Rockets are doing much better with the run and gun offense. Plus I think its a good argument to list Mobley as one of the best ISO players in the NBA. He is a good height for his position and can CREATE HIS OWN SHOT! MD can't do that, in hindsight I'm glad the Rockets cept Mobley and not Dickerson..... If Mobley was playing in Vancouver in place of Dickerson he would undoubtedly be averaging more than Reef'.

--Rocketman

In Mobley we trust

 

Cuttino can create his own shot but he can't make them most of the time. Dickerson is more of a team player and his speed is almost equivalent to Francis. I think MD's defense is better than Cat's too.

 

In all reality the rockets are going to have an arsenal led by the back court for the future. If rudy wanted to keep Dickerson, he would have done so. Mobley would be scoring 18 to 20 points in Vancouver. But, Dickerson would be extremely valuable if Hakeem were 10 years younger. Mobley fits more what the Rockets want to do. And that is to run run run run and score off the dribble led by the guards.

Dickerson can't score off his dribble, and is more suited for the play of the championship years, stay outside and shoot three pointers. But, this I base on what I saw last year. I have noticed that although Dickerson scores 16.2pts. per game he shoots maybe 3 three pointers per game. How do his points come from.

Dickerson has evolved! Mobley is evolving as well. Last year he averaged 9+ pts. per game, now he averages nearly 15 points pers game as a backup who only plays between 25 and 30 minutes.

Mobley has more potential, but there is a reason that the Rockets drafted Dickerson before Mobley. Dickerson is so cool when he plays. Potential means very little. We all have it at things we do, but we hardly achieve it without the correct frame of mind.

 

Dickerson isn't suited for the running offense? He's the fastest runner in the NBA!

 

Actually MD and CM #'s are very close. ESPN now has a nifty way to compare players adjusting for 48 minutes (the Steals # is just total though). Here are the #'s:

name FG FT 3P% Reb Ass PPGm St/To/minutes
-MD- .43 .83 .39 4.0 2.9 20.9 49/60/1412
-CM- .40 .83 .31 4.5 4.2 21.6 55/91/1235

MD is shooting better because of his higher 3 point clip right now, and has fewer TO's. Mobley is a ahead in steals and assists. Elsewhere they are pretty even.

I could give a nod to MD as a better individual player, but if I do it isn't by very much. In my opinion other intangibles are in Mobley's favor for the Rockets plans, in that they have the PG and SG of the future, so that Mobley's versatility is very nice. Add the fact MD is much less aggressive on both sides of the ball, especially when the stakes get high (I would rather have a guy learn to temper his aggressiveness through experience than try to instill aggressiveness in someone who doesn't show it), I think we did the right thing keeping Mobley and Vancouver did the right thing an asking for MD to compliment their guys. Couple more things: if I recall last year Rudy said Mobley would win all the practice shooting contests, so I think his % will go up. Also I would rather have quickness and instincts (Mobley) over flat out speed (e.g., MD). I think they former are more important in being a good defensive player.


[This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited January 21, 2000).]