What are we talking about 12-15 minutes a game? Sure, sign him up, he can play for that amount of time. Backup centers do not decide how good your team is going to be. DD
We are not going to be able to find a better backup center than Mutombo at this time. A multi-year starter with blocking/scoring capabilities whose only downfall is his age. But he is only playing backup for us. And his cost to us is very palatable.
I was wondering that myself. I saw us with too many worthless players like Pike/AG/wilkes. And to trade 3-1 is what we need. But, if you are going to get Badiane in here, don't we still need another trade? Or am I missing something? That leaves us with: 1. TMac 2. Yao 3. JHow 4. JJ 5. MoT 6. Spoon 7. Deke 8. Sura 9. Ward 10. Lue 11. Gaines 12. Boki Currently we have 14 (with Wilkes and Gaines/AG out in the cold), so we have to do a 3 for 1.
I like the idea of Dikembe backing up Yao. He proved last year that he can still be a force in the middle for short stretches, which is all the time he would get. 12-15, maybe even 18 minutes here and there will do wonders when it comes to keeping Yao fresh come late March and April.
Mutombo averaged a good 23 minutes a game last year w/o much effort. I'm sure he's capable of doing it this year. Played 62 games with the Knicks at that average. More than sufficient.
As long as JVG lets Deke know that when he touches the ball he is only to be: 1. Dunking it, if he's close to the rim or 2. Passing to another player If he even raises his arm to shoot that hideous low % hook shot, he will be cut immediately.... And I mean with a blade.
I'd welcome Deke, but not at the expense of losing Pike especially after losing the outside shooting of Mobley at the 2. Losing Mobley and Pike at the backup 2 and replacing them with Sura is a downgrade in depth at that position IMO. I DON'T WANT PIKE TRADED PERIOD... ...and I think his shooting woes had more to do with his nagging ankle injury and his poor elevation off of the ankle than anything else. Pike is excellent as a backup and I'd throw in AG, Wilks and part of the TE as well as a future 2nd round pick for Mutombo.
I have a feeling Mutombo playing under JVG and Ewing might surprise some people. He might get a slight second wind. I think in limited minutes he could do wonders for this team as the backup C. He would be a defensive anchor for whenYao is out of the game. He could be solid for us. It it is minimal risk since his contract is up after this season.
You cannot use the trade exception with other players. The TE must be used alone to cover one or more player salaries completely.
TMAC & SURA>>>>CAT & PIKE and piatowkaski did very little for us last year it would be wise to trade him for our bigest need. and i would rather have sura then pike better defense and shoot a little and create for others.
In this case it does. The TE alone is enough to cover Mutombo's $4.5 million salary. The money he's getting from the NJ buyout isn't a factor. So...any trade involving player+TE for Mutombo will work: 1. TE for Mutombo 2. player for nothing, thereby sorta getting a "new" TE back. If you work out the math, it's the same as player+part of TE for Mutombo.
I didn't know that the TE covered Deke's salary completely. The only way we could get a new TE from the Bulls is if they are under the cap. Anyone know where they stand?
I don't think Chicago's under the cap. Regardless, we'll essentially be shipping off Pike for nothing. Some of our resident capologists talked about this extensively is the "Chicago-Houston rumor" thread.
Stroker, you bring up some good points. We could just offer the equivent in TE plus a 2nd rounder for Mutumbo. From Chicago's perspective, they were just going to have Mutumbo retire--so this way they get a 2nd about a 5 mil TE they can use or just save salary with. Of course we don't shed Pike's salary this way, and I don't know if we have the green light to add another 5 mil on top of the 5 mil handed out with the MLE. But this way (keeping Pike, adding Mutumbo) I think would be the best move in terms of personell. You are correct Sura is a poor 3 point shooter and no replacement, he is sub 30% the last 4 years in the league. However note Boki shot better than Pike (.365 to .352) from 3 land last year--though neither was great. If there is ANY progress in Boki this year might as well send along Pike to save the 3 or so mil (so we only take on an extra 2 mil to add Dike). JJ and Lue are proven excellent 3 ball shooters, Ward and Tmac are OK. If Boki moves from OK to good (from mid 30s to high 30s) there really is no need for Pike.
The way I understand it, a TE is generated when a team over the cap trades with a team below it. If the team who is over sends a player that makes more $ than the player they receive, the receiving team gets a TE for the amount of difference between the salary they gave up and the salary they took on. For example, when we traded Glen Rice to Utah, we got Amaechi, whose salary was around $2.1 million. Glen's salary was $9 million, so Utah also gave us a TE for $6.9 million to cover the difference in salary between Rice and Amaechi. This can only happen when a team over the cap trades with a team under the cap.
But I though the idea was that we send them the TE for Mutombo, for them to send the TE back for Pike? I'm probably wrong though.
yea . .. his tenure as the oldest living professional basketball player is over Mt Tumbo is like 78 yrs old Rocket River I hope Gullom has a big ole oil can for these TinMen
