Houston should trade Kelvin Cato for the Dream. that's right. Even Mo Taylor. Why? 1. Get rid of dead weight that if Carrol Dawson would have never signed, Rashard Lewis could be a Rocket right now. 2. Kelvin Cato is dead weight. An injured broken down Hakeem is worth ten times a Cato. 3. Let Hakeem return home, and retire here. 4. Salary Cap room. Finally CD could make a smart move. In two years, 6 million dollars will be off the books, sooner if Hakeem retires. 5. Toronto is desperate enough that they just might bite. 6. Olajuwon could teach Yao Ming a lot.
A couple of problems: 1. We still wouldn't have more room than the 4.5 exception even if Cato weren't on the roster. So no, the chances of us signing Lewis would not be a bit greater if we never signed Cato. 4. Who cares about salary cap room? We are over the cap regardless for the next seven to ten years, at least. Unless there is a chance for us to be under the cap by a substantial amount (and there's not unless you trade Francis and let Griffin and Ming walk), who really cares? 5. Toronto wouldn't pay Keon Clark 3 million per season this summer. Clark is light years ahead of Cato. If they wouldn't resign Clark, there's no chance of them taking Cato. Let the man retire. He needs to.
I know everybody loves to hate Cato, and it's an interesting idea (for nearly your first post here), but I can't get past one thing. Hakeem will probably play 0 minutes in the coming year, due to medical realities. We really need Cato, or someone else who can really give us minutes, because Yao will be getting his feet wet and he'll be in some foul trouble.
I love Hakeem, but he's about as likely to take time to teach Yao his dreamshake as Cato is to teach him how to catch a ball in the post. Cato sucks. We all know this. But Cato for Hakeem? As sad as it is to say this about the best Rocket ever, we'd be getting raped. For the Cato haters who still don't get it, we CAN trade Cato if we're willing to take some baggage in exchange. He would be an upgrade at starting center on at least five teams. But we would not take such incredible baggage as today's Olajuwon. Especially now that we know he needs back surgery. Unfortunate as it is, he is Toronto's Glen Rice, but worse. And he is, today, given his contract, even less valuable than such albatrosses as Shawn Kemp, Juwan Howard or even Patrick Ewing (at least his contract's up sooner). And on this thing of Olajuwon being a teacher or mentor to younger players: Haven't we done this conversation, like, twice a month since Hakeem went to Toronto? I swear to god we get this suggestion to bring him back as a mentor at least that often. And every time it's slapped down like it should be. How do we fix this sort of thing? I know that newbies show up every day with what they believe to be fresh ideas. Could we head that off at the pass with a FAQ or something? Could there be a top ten (or twenty) overdiscussed topics posted somewhere (maybe even with links to relevant threads)? Probably not. Okay. One poster at a time then: NewYorker, if you use the search function, you'll find that this has been debated ad nauseum. Most of us here love Hakeem and most of us are disappointed in the way he chose to leave. But almost all of us understand that he is not the least bit interested in mentoring Yao or Cato or anyone else and (sorry ZRB) that he'd be a more deadly cancer than Charles Oakley in the locker room. That answer your question?
What is this Cato sucks crap? He will make an excellent backup to Ming. He could also start for several teams.
With a name like NEWYORKERthat says enough for me! Such a stupid suggestion! Hakeem the Dream for K. Cato! The DEAD for the LIVING only from NEWYORK! If you had said bring the Dream in as a coach, then you would be thinking positivly about the Rockets.
I'm sorry, but I'd rather have Hakeem on my team even if he played two minutes before retiring then to have Kato for a full Season. Kato doesn't play hard and that's the biggest cancer. And the Rockects are locked into him for many more years. Let me ask you this...is Cato's game going to decline or improve from moving from a Starter to a Reserve? I doubt it. He is deadweight. Toronto probably wouldn't want him at his price anyway, no GM would take him (ok, maybe the Knicks would). In anycase, Hakeem should retire a Rocket, not a Raptor. Kato sucks. He's one of the worst centers in the league, and he is the worse center in the league dollar for point and rebound.
I can't see the future, but I've read that Cato prefers a reserve role more than a starter's role. I think his numbers may prove that, as well. But like I said, I can't see the future. I agree hes not great, but there are some centers, believe it or not, who are worse.
The Dream is dead. Lets get Ming's clearance and move on with the future of the Rockets, which looks bright and exciting!
No thnx, Dream is starting to have too many problems. Kinda like an old car that hasn't had the oil changed or had a tune-up in 20 yrs. Sad, but true!
Have you been drinking...I think a clutchcity.net field sobriety test is in order. This suggestion is the worst I have ever heard. I've heard some bonehead trade suggestions in my time...but this is BY FAR the worst. Hakeem is DONE. You don't trade a guy who can at least give you some minutes and 6 fouls for a guy who will spend the season in street clothes.
You guys are right. Hakeem would only make Yao realize how fair-weathered Houston Fans are. Yao would bolt as soon as his contract was up.
Just let the Raptors cut him and pay him then we sign him to a min contract and he stays as long as he likes then retires a Rock....
