Is Kelvin Cato overpaid? I noticed in another thread that the only fair way to judge that is to compoare him to his peers - well I'd like to devote this thread to doing just that! Facts about Cato He makes 5.3 million this season (approx) 24.3mpg 8.7ppg 6.0rpg 1.9bpg 53.7%fg I believe those are the most important statistics to use when comparing Cato - obviously stats don't tell the whole story, but they can be used to support arguments (slightly) My first candidate for comparison is Eric Dampier Dampier actually makes a bit more than Cato - 5.61million for this season (approx) in 23.6mpg he gets 8.0ppg 6.4rpg 0.7bpg 40.5fg% - interestingly enough his fg% has been similar throughout his career Find some others to compare him to - prove he is over (or under) paid!! ------------------
Well, I "think" I "might" be able to find a cheaper player in the NBA with better stats, but why waste my time? Comparing one overpaid underachieving player to another doesn't accomplish much ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
I have bad news and good news for you, Dr. N. The bad news is, you don't want to compare Cato to Dampier, because Dampier's better. Despite his admittedly horrific FG%, Dampier is a very good defensive center. This doesn't show up in individual stats (one can block shots, for example, and still play poor defense on the vast majority of shots that you don't block -- just ask Adonal Foyle), but it does show up in team stats, such as the FG% of opposing teams: Warriors' defensive FG% with Dampier ------------------------------------ '97-98 (with Damp starting all 82 games) -- .444, 12th in NBA '98-99 (with Damp starting all 50 games) -- .420, 7th in NBA 2nd 1/2 of Feb. '00 (Damp avg. 32 min.) -- .435, would be 8th in NBA Warriors' defensive FG% without Dampier --------------------------------------- '95-96 -- .475, 21st in NBA '96-97 -- .475, 28th in NBA '99-'00 (with Damp missing 60+ games) -- .467, 25th in NBA Does Cato make that kind of difference for the Rockets' defense? I think not. The good news, though, is that both Cato and Dampier are cheap for NBA centers (assuming, of course, that Cato does develop into a starting center). I think about 18-20 centers rank ahead of them in salary for this coming year, including the likes of Jim McIlvaine, Bryant Reeves, Shawn Bradley, Jermaine O'Neal, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Centers are rare enough in the NBA that $5M/year and up is the price you pay simply for potential. Actual talent is $10M/year and up. And that's just the way it is. ------------------
