Kelvin Cato was also a league leader in FG% his last two seasons here. Maybe Cato is the answer to all our prayers. Drew Gooden is an underacheiver ...as was Eddie Griffin ...as was Stromile Swift ...as was The Boston Snackbar ...as was Kelvin Cato ...as was Damn Langhi ...and Rudy Gay also looks to be an underacheiver, btw. Should I go on? I think this team has a top notch record of NEVER motivating underacheivers. Drew Gooden ...pass.
And to use a more accurate measure, he had a Roland Rating of -0.4. Essentially he's a break-even player. I don't harbor a very high opinion of him, but he's substantially less ballast than Howard. Howard had a +/- of -9.0, and a Roland rating of -5.4 So, tell me - how does this show that Howard is better, or even in Gooden's neighborhood? Unless you invent a time machine between now and your next post, I don't see how the stats can be cited to make this point.
If we can get Gooden for the TE then fine. But just be prepared that he is an underacheiver and probably won't knock off Howard as a starter since JVG isn't a big fan of underacheivers. Don't kill the messenger.
If the Rockets can trade Howard for Gooden straight up for the same salary, then this comparison is relevant. Juwan is a horrible fit for this team and should be traded and I'll even throw in an asset like Head and a draft pick to make it happen. BUT NOT FOR ****ING DREW GOODEN. The "Roland rating" is basically a combination of +/- and PER differenctial (which is really not a very relevant stat imho) and even it does not show Gooden in a favorable light. His "Roland rating" is basically 0, not making you better or worse on the court by much if it is to be trusted. And he wants how much money to play? No thanks. Let some other sucker team pay his ass.
I was aware that Gooden's current +/- wasn't good. It's still better than Juwan's. Looking at Gooden's stats over the years at 82games.com, he doesn't seem to be a consistently bad player. Some years his PER differential and/or +/- was negative, some years they were positive. He's still young, so it's not like he can't improve. On the other hand, Juwan is old and is only going to go downhill from here. So yes, I would take him over Juwan right now. Houston's already over the cap, so isn't it a moot question whether the team can just sign Gooden as a FA?
Maybe I missed it but surely someone called you on this crawfish statement. Did you read the title of your own thread? "Just give Juwan away, forget a trade"
What is Cato's situation? Most people on here probably think he's not worth a second thought, but I thought he fit well with Yao in their last year together and would be a good solution to everyones worries about a backup F/C. He's a good rebounder and an excellent shot blocker. Van Gundy seemed to like him also. I think he'd be a good fit. Thoughts on Cato?
So you beleive Howard isn't even in the same neighborhood as Gooden yet you wouldn't pick up Gooden for the TE? Interesting. It sounds like you are saying Gooden is an improvment over Howard. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed ...this year? All I hear from you are mountains of negativity.
IIRC, Cato was released from Detroit. So if we can pick him up for the league min then go for it. But at this point he is 2-3 years older and he hasn't had much significant court time since he left here. I wouldn't expect much if we did sign him. He'd just be a cheap veteran backup and thats all.
He is an improvement, and I would bring him over, he's just not the second coming either and brings his own set of issues and I realize that. Jeez loueez, maybe I should have killed the messenger after all.
Agreed ...except killing the messenger part. You did say after all that "you wouldn't kill a fly for him" so I took that as meaning you'd rather have Howard.
Gooden is an improvement over Howard. His contract, though, will not be an improvement over 3 years 21 mil that Howard has left. He wants Nene money and probably won't settle for much less. More important, is he a fit on court? He can rebound and has a decent offensive skills, but isn't much of a defender, has brain freezes on rotation, blocks shots only moderately well. Yeah, he's an improvement over Howard, but a wife-beater is an improvemetn over a serial killer, too. Besides, it's stupid to think CLE would want to take on Juwan's contract unless given some BIG incentives. They are better off just letting Gooden take the 1 year QO. The whole Juwan for Drew idea is pure idiotic fantasy. The only realistic scenario for getting rid of Howard is to trade him (with another asset or two-- Luther Head and future picks type things) for an existing contract that another team wants to get rid of, not a FA sign and trade. Teams would rather let their FA walk than take on Howard's deal. Hopefully, the player coming in will fit the Rockets team needs better than Howard.
Golden State Warriors Incoming Players Photo: Juwan Howard Juwan Howard Salary: $6,392,100 Years Remaining: 3 PTS: 11.8 REB: 6.7 AST: 1.4 PER: 12.52 Photo: Luther Head Luther Head Salary: $1,048,800 Years Remaining: 1 PTS: 8.8 REB: 3.3 AST: 2.7 PER: 11.24 Outgoing Players: Troy Murphy Houston Rockets Incoming Players Photo: Troy Murphy Troy Murphy Salary: $8,285,714 Years Remaining: 5 PTS: 14.0 REB: 10.0 AST: 1.4 PER: 15.93 Outgoing Players: Juwan Howard, Luther Head
