I read a lot of trade scenarios involving Cat and ending in moving James Posey to the 2. Well in my opinion I think if you get rid of Cat you better have a legitimate scoring threat ready to take his place and Posey damn sure is not that man. We have 5 very real scoring threats on the team right now. Francis, Cat, Rice, Taylor and Yao Ming. That’s it. I think one of the reasons our offense starts so slow sometimes is because Posey and Griffin can not make offenses pay for leaving them to double up on Steve, Cat or Yao Ming. It seems like our offense clicks so much better in the 4th quarter than in the 1st and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Rice and MoT are often mixed with the rest of the starters during those stretches. We’ve seen it before. The year we won 45 games we got hot because we had 4 very real scoring options (Steve, Cat, MoT and Dream) all on the floor at the same time and a 5th player (Matt Bullard) that was at least hitting enough open 3s to make the defenses pay for doubling off of them. Our offense was at its worst when Walt and Shandon were in the starting lineup at the same time and not contributing to our point output. We don’t have a Shaq or a Kobe on our team so we can not afford to have two holes in our offense at the same time for an entire game. That just makes it to easy for teams to double up on our scorers. Rice is not getting any younger and could be traded next year to someone for cap room. So now if we trade Cat we are down to Steve, MoT and Yao Ming. MoT comes off of the bench so we are going to start games with only Steve and Yao Ming as scores? Even if Boki wakes up and turns into a player next year we would still be short of scorers. I think we better hope Boki wakes up and turns into a player next year even if we don’t trade Cat in the off season. I don’t expect Rice to ever be any better than what we see now or if he is will even be with the team at all next year. The Boki we thought the team drafted will be needed. My suggestion is that everyone forgets about trading Cat unless it is for someone that brings offense to the table. Instead look at what might be available in free agency. With all of the owners afraid of going over the cap it might be possible to get some real value this year with the mid-level exception. Perhaps someone like Jim Jackson, Jon Barry, Steve Kerr or Eric Piatkowski? Maybe we could pick up a Charles Oakley or Kevin Willis in free agency and trade Cato for an Andre Miller or Vladimir Radmanovic or Brent Barry. I just don’t see our team with a good enough supply of scorers to be able to trade one of them off with out getting our scoring back from somewhere else. With the likely loss of Rice next season to a trade or to his health loosing Cat would put our offense in double jeopardy if we don’t have a scorer capable of making defenses pay for doubling off of him.
This year, I'm all for keeping the current starting lineup. Having three scorers on the starting team, and then 2 scorers off the bench (Rice/Taylor) Yao should be a better player next year, and if Griffin doesn't bulk up and get some low post moves and quit those awful 3s, then Taylor should get the starting job. Francis and Mobley would stay at the same spot. Posey/Nachbar/Rice would battle for the starting SF spot. I'd prefer Posey off the bench next year though, to back up Mobley.
Well...if Cat + brings you another threat, you do it. The guys worth trading for (Brand, SAR, Odom, etc) are able to create opportunities and score. So its 1 for another, not more of less. Personally, I think we have enough in the backcourt with steve, and would rather have a wingman or a pf (our two weak links). I think 2s are easier to replace, and Steve could use a primarily defensive partner to help our perimeter D. So I don't trade Cat for squat, but he's definately in the mix for quality. I can't see how you would have a problem with a replacement scorer at 3 or 4, esp if you can get a shooting 2 with the MCE.
aren't these contradictory? if we get a defensive guy, we're gonna suck on offense, and if we get a shooter (or at least any of the shooters potentially available with the MCE/MLE) they aren't gonna play enough D. cat plays perfectly fine D for my purposes. he rarely gets abused and is usually our most consistent defender (ie posey at his peak on D is better but i rarely see that peak), plus he can hit an open shot. someone really really capable on D or really really good at hitting open shots better come along before i get rid of cat. i don't wanna strengthen pf/sf just to weaken sg unless we're talking brand caliber stuff here and that's gonna take some serious + in the cat+ equation.
The reasons I am for trading Cuttino is he doesn't fit our new style of play plus Steve is more of a shooting guard playing point guard. Ideally Boki would be the sg who could complement Steve, but he is not ready yet. A guy like Brent Barry would really help this team, as would Eddie Jones, Doug Christie, Parker, Mike Finley. Anyone who can pass and play a team concept, with average defense. This is not a knock on Cuttino, he is a fine player. But we need a different type of player at sg to complement Steve, as we have moved away from one on one play. Unless he really likes standing around shooting 3's or simply cutting to the bucket, with few isolations for him. Steve and Yao are the cornerstones of the future, Cuttino is expendable if we get that certain kind of player that could make us much better and we couldn't get him through free agency. Eventually, Cat will/should be the 6th man vinnie johnson type contributor for the rockets. Or playing good ball elsewhere, sadly.
Eventually for us to become an elite team (i.e. 50+ wins) and a title challenger, Yao needs to become at least a 20/10 player but in doing so he needs a lot of touches and at least 20 shots a game. But I don't think it could be done with 2 guards in the backcourt who want and need to dominate the ball and shoot 20 a game. And Francis is simply too good to be traded away or benched so that leaves Mobley to be the odd man out eventually. Sorry.
The main problem with a Mobley/Steve backcourt is that they are redundant; that is, Cat is like Francis Light. We need someone: 1) Taller, to handle the ENLARGED west gaurds better on D (Kobe, Finley, JRich, BWells) 2) More complementary to Steve > distributor, spot up shooter, better off the ball than on 3) I like : MMilller, JBender, BBarry, MoPete, Wesley Person. Someone in the Peja mold would be ideal; if Boki is worth 15th pick, this could be a reality (both Hedo and Peja were mid-1st rounders, like Boki)
Yao will get 20 shots a game as he becomes more aggressive in the post ..and all the touches he wants, when he learns how to aggressivley free himself from his defender....downgrading the guard position wont help Yao Ming. As far as the rebounds go...Yao's barely outrebounding Steve..Would you like to bring in some guards who cant get a rebound too?,,,to help pad Yao's stats? Cat is one of the top guards in the league and is an integral part of the Rox team..and it would be insane to trade him. This group has only begun to develop as a team and there is no reason to bail out on the current Hoston Rocket TEAM.
There's only so much a Francis/Cat backcourt can achieve, and I think we should get a head-start on re-tooling the backcourt to accomodate Steve and Ming into dominant scorers. Everything we do must revolve around Steve and Yao. Mobley's presence doesn't make Steve or Ming any more dominant than they are. But, FOR EXAMPLE, even an ageing John Stockton would magnify Francis and Ming's skills right now. What Francis and Ming ned is another PG in the backcourt with Steve. Payton Snow McInnis Andre Miller In that order, we need to go after those PG's.
Do you really think that Cat by himself would bring Brand, Reef or Odom? I don't. I have no problem getting a replacement scorer at the 3 or 4 but who do you have in mind? Would I trade Cat for Brand or Odom? Sure, but who else would we have to give up to make a deal like that happen? All I am saying is that with Rice probably gone next year we are down to four scorers that comand the respect of defenses or can make them pay for doubling off of them. If we trade Cat we had better make sure we get someone else that can keep defenses honest or next year could be a long year offensively.
On a side note, where is the "The Cat"? He hasn't been on the board in months. Maybe he's tired of reading Cat in every trade scenario on the board.
Well, you'd likey have to add Griffin, Cato or Rice, of course, depending on what the other team wants for a legitimate threat at 3 or 4. We don't have the rights to Posey to trade him. Moving Cat plus one of the above nets us an upgrade at the wing or the power slot. Picking up a shooter at 2 AND getting more defense at the 2 is not contradictory with two players splitting the minutes. (Right now Cat has all the minutes all the time). The defense comes from a Hawk or resigned Posey or such player (Christie) - the shooter is a specialist who plays to break zones. There are some guys out there this summer who can be had. 2 is the easiest position to fill in the league, the most common position coming out of drafts. It makes sense long term to move a two for a more valuable position.
The only thing I want to really upgrade on this team via trade or free agency (realistically, no crazy Brand stuff) is the small forward postion. I think that the 5, 2, and 1 slots are all set. Our power forward rotation is starting to really become strong again, as MoT is playing very great ball. Hopefully Eddie will develop and actually warrant that starting spot. And since I still have hope for him yet, I don't think another PF is the answer. Not unless we could dump MoT's salary. But the three, I think it's our least reliable postion. Rice has been hitting his shots lately, and Posey had one good game, but I don't think it's enough. I think we need a really good spot up shooter to fill that role. Although I like having Rice around, his contract will be very good next year as trade bait.
It looks like the team has started to move towards the Big Mans game, for which the Rockets are known. Mobley has been a very good role player while with the Rockets. With a little more care in decision making he could be a great role player. The problem with Mobley is that even prior to the last draft he has been vocal against Yao Ming and has continued to show resistance to the Rox moving away from the Guard leadership. So he has placed himself in the position that many fans are saying he isnt going to fit in, as the future Yao Ming moves into the role of leadership. His resistance may lead him to becoming vunerable to a trade, but only if its for quality, rather than quantity.
Sane you hit the nail on the head. Mobley only makes himself better! We need team players, like you suggested! But we must havea Point Guard that plays better defence than our present Point Guard!
Yetti, I somehow agree. You see, I love Mobley as a player. He improves each and every single season, and constantly works hard. He does make our team better, as in, if he's injured we're worse off. BUT, the point I'm making is that we are moving in a different direction, and that is towards making Steve and Yao the dominant scorers. There should be a semi-star, and 2 role players to go along with them. That's the formula we're looknig for. Basically, Cat doesn't fit into any of the STARTING roles, so his best bet for us, would be to backup the 2. But he thinks, and he's right, he's better tha that, therefore, it's in everyone's interest to trade him. Also, I think that Steve is doing a fabulous job of involving the team, especially Yao, but I'd rather free him of those responsibilities. Steve doesn't need another scorer in the backcourt, meaning, bringing another PG and losing Cat's scoring is not such a big deal, and the new PG could handle the intangibles, like being a floor general, efficiently getting the ball to the post, and setting his teammates up . Seriously, I'd give ANYTHING outside of Yao and Steve for Brand. Anything. Just tell the Clippers to write it down on a piece of paper, and without showing us, fax it to the league to make the trade. Brand is the PERFECT 3rd star for this team. As a 3rd star, he brings what Steve and Yao don't. He's the bizarro-Yao, as Seinfeld would put it. Slightly undersized, HUGE wingspan, BRUTE POWER game, and able to succeed with or without the ball. We MUST somehow convince the Clippers that he will, under NO circumstances, re-sign with them, and we MUST convince his agent, the Devil, to bring him here also. All we'd lack then is 2 small additions: trade for a PG (after a Brand trade, McInnis would be most realistic) and sign a 3-pt shooter. Piatowski, Person, Walt maybe. More than likely, they'll be on the bench, so any will do.
I'd love to get Brand too, but I'm not sure if his offensive game supplements Yao. Remember Barkley and Hakeem fighting for low-post touches? I'd rather have a tall shooter at the 3 to shoot wide-open jumpers when either: a) Steve penetrates, draws the D, and kicks out or b) Yao gets doubled, uses excellent vision to hit the open man With those two, we already have a post scorer and a slasher; all we need is an excellent shooter, not another low post player (Brand) or slasher/creator (Mobley). Any thoughts on when/if Reggie leaves Indiana. His clutch shooting would be perfect, and at this stage, he would be cheap and not whine about touches/his role in the offense.
