Look. I don't think that John "Don" Amaechi is the answer at backup center for the Rocks. But maybe the team believes that Cato is too expensive to be a backup and with a pretty good performance last year, maybe some team will take a flyer on Cato as their starter.
i hope we trade cato and get artest and change...that would be pimp. i have a feeling that mobley and cato are about to be traded to indy for probably al harrington and artest. i hope we keep mobley though. finally something exciting is happening in the offseason.
Man it would be a mistake to trade KAto for artest. He is a distraction and not worth the trouble. Kato was the best backup center in the league last year. Amaechi is not and can't replace Kato.
With Yao labouring the whole summer for the Chinese team, you better keep Cato to give Yao some rest early in the season. The best for Rox is to buy out Amaechi's contract or trade him for a draft pick from some Eastern team ...
I highly doubt Cato is going anywhere unless the rox get a deal that just blows their sox off. If they hadn't signed JJ, I woulda thought Cato was gone in a deal for a sf, but not so. JJ is our sf now. This is our team for the year, and I think it's pretty damn solid if Mooch can back up his talk.
who is this "Kato" you speak of? seriously, Amaechi may be able to back up Yao if: 1. Yao is ready to play more minutes this season than last. Seems likely to me. 2. He plays like the Amaechi that was in Orlando, rather than the Amaechi that was in Utah. I think his numbers that season were comparable to Cato's from last year. also, let's be real here: Cato is making too much money for a backup center. If he could actually handle playing some 4, he might be worth it. But he's too expensive as a backup. especially for a team with an average budget (and a big hole at the 4).
Cato can be a huge commodity in a trade with a team who needs a C. Im sure there are a couple teams that could use a C, but not his fat contract.
Strategy? Hmmm...get a back-up center.....6.5 mil exception..... hmmmm... Sounds to me like someone wants Cato.....
Says who? It's funny how you seem as if you have studied the backup centers around the league and have come to a conclusion that "K"ato is the best. I don't know how you are judging this but I would say "K"ato's exceptionally LARGE contract does not offset the fact that he was number 3 in rebounds per 48min. Many here overrate Cato. With Yao playing more minutes this year Cato's value will drop significantly.
Amaechi: Best Year - 1999 FG% - 43.7 Rebounds per 48 minutes - 7 Cato: Best Year - 2001 FG% - 58.3 Rebounds per 48 minutes - 13 Not even close. Ming will be tired and shouldn't play 40 minutes a game before playoffs. If we trade Cato we better get a better C than Amaechi as part of the deal.
I agree....Cato wasn't the best back up center last year, let's get that straight. He played well and that's all Rocket fans could ask for besides some of that money back. If we trade him, we'd better have a better back up plan than 6'9 Amaechi. Cato has Value on OUR team because Yao will get tired due to his offseason schedule. I personally do not want to trade my backup center.
That's how I see it. Kelvin has been at JVG's "volunteer" practices and I think he is really with the new program. IMO, the newly acquired Trade Exception would only serve to focus Cato even further. It would have to be a major blockbuster.
i guess i'm an idiot. i love cato. i don't know if he was the best back-up in the league- but if not him, then who? besides, he's the only physical low post player we have. he may be expensive, but he may also be worth it.
I agree that if we trade Cato we probably need to pick up a better back up Center. I'd be content with a guy like Tyrone hill for the veteran minimum backing him up. He's more of a power forward but I think he could get the job done. Lots of teams are forced to play power forwards as their starting centers so having a solid back up power forward as your back up center wouldn't be so bad. I wouldn't mind Artest but any previous interest I had in Artest went out the window when we got Jim Jackson. He isn't as good as Artest but he's much cheaper and even in his worst days he wasn't half the head case. I'd be more excited about getting somebody like Kenyon Martin.
Indy needs a center and a shooting guard. We need toughness, rebounding, defense, and a ball distributor to connect Francis and Ming. Ron Artest.
Agreed on the Artest part. I mean, I'm still interested, but with JJ on board the sf position really isn't in such dire shape anymore. This year, at least. Kmart though? Not with those max contract demands - unless they want to take back MoTay or possibly Griff and Mooch.
Yeah, all the Cato bashers, who was the best back up C in the league but for Cato? Keon Clark? He didn't do too much in Sacramento last year, even though hewas supposed to put them over the top. Kevin Willis? Sean Rooks? Come on, these guys are chumps. The fact is, Cato would probably start for half the teams in the league.
