Michael Bradley=Jason Collier I hope it's for Mo Pete, though I think people have overrated him like crazy, since his MSU days. KT is better than MP, but we need a backup 2 guard, more than a 3rd string PF.
Sending Cato/KT to Toronto for some package that includes MoPete might not be that far fetched. They are desperate for a big man. If the Rockets believe that Griffin is ready to play some serious minutes at the 5 as Ming's backup, then they might seriously consider sending Cato away. Here's the article: http://www.canoe.ca/Slam020925/col_ulmer-sun.html Losing Montross guts the Raptors at centre By MIKE ULMER -- Toronto Sun Waterloo will be the site of the first meeting of the 2002-2003 Raptors and my, oh my, what a fitting venue. With training camp to open in a week, how's this for a depth chart at centre. Hakeem Olajuwon. Unlikely to take another shot as a Raptor. Eric Montross. Can play a bit, but is now confirmed lost indefinitely because of a foot injury. Antonio Davis. Has proven he can play centre but doesn't want to. Michael Stewart. Wants to but can't play. Nate Huffman. Proven player ... in Israel. It is a measure of the Raptors' great vulnerability in the middle that news of Montross' injury will hit so hard. While he averaged only 2.4 points and 2.4 rebounds a game last season, Montross' playing time was sure to be increased with the absence of Olajuwon. Problem is, Montross hasn't been able to play in almost six months. "Eric's still troubled by the same problem," Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald said yesterday. "We've sent him to doctors all around the world it seems, but we're still trying to learn about the cause of the problem." The injury was first diagnosed as a sprain of the left foot. Montross last played April 10. He had hoped to play in the post-season. Doctors later decided he had fractured his foot and put him in a soft cast. There has been no surgery and none is planned. "It may be some arthritic changes or it may be a microfracture," Grunwald said. "He's walking around but as his activity level increases, problems arise." Montross, who turned 31 Monday, is seven feet tall and weighs 270 pounds. That's an awful lot of cargo to put on a bad foot. When asked about a projected return date for Montross, Grunwald offered, "it could be days, weeks or months." Doesn't that sound encouraging? All this comes down to one thing -- God did not want Olajuwon to leave Houston. There is no other explanation because the list of minor miracles since then has been nothing short of exceptional. Take the salary cap. Grunwald knew the salary cap like Olivier knew Shakespeare, and if there was one thing you could always depend on in NBA economics, it was that salaries would expand exponentially. Certainly, the Toronto GM was doing his part. But faster than you can say, "Hey, is it just me or does there seem to be a lot of locusts around here?" the scenario changed. The league's payroll tax kicked in at a much lower level than anticipated and with it came heavy financial penalties that made overspending ridiculously impractical. NBA free agency, in practical terms, ceased to exist. That forced the Raptors to give up on re-signing Keon Clark. And now Montross, third on last spring's depth chart, is gone as well. Olajuwon has been diagnosed with back and joint damage and, at 39 with two years and $12 million US left on his contract, now can be written off as a gamble gone spectacularly wrong. Never mind passing the physical, the Raptors aren't even sure they can get Olajuwon to an examination. If Olajuwon flunks his physical, the Raptors could apply for salary cap relief because of a career-ending injury. Olajuwon still gets his money but if the Raptors signed another player they would get no relief from the luxury tax. If the Raps were willing to incur the tax, they would have re-signed Clark. Olajuwon could retire, of course, and forgo the final two years of his contract. The chances of that happening would appear to be the same as Olajuwon winning the scoring title. No NBA player has retired and returned pledged money since back woes forced Larry Bird out of the game in 1992. And so the Raptors will pay the price for Grunwald's willingness to gamble on a player most thought was finished. Lay the blame at his feet, but remember, Olajuwon himself declared himself fit and ready to return to prominence. Instead, he arrived in Toronto in miserable shape and now he will collect $12 million by virtue of breaking down. That Grunwald bought damaged goods doesn't absolve the seller. Grunwald was right about one thing. He thought Olajuwon could be an impact player again. What he misjudged was who would incur the most damage.
Kenny is the only low post "banger " we have. He is only 6' 7", but plays like Barkley. I wish we could find a way to keep him. We need at least one physical player. We will get creamed with all this finesse.... If we did get Mo Peterson, I will be happy....
OMG, I leave for a day and miss one hell of a rumor!! I don't see why Toronto would be interested in trading Mo-P, but I would LOVE to nab him even though I like having KT on this team. Mo would be the perfect backup SG/SF. Please let this happen! On the Scoreless Williamson topic, HP has this one handled. The only thing Scoreless and KT have in common is their blackness. Williamson could be a good player if he had the hunger KT has, but it just isn't there night in, night out.
You know, we really need to decide: MoT or KT. Apparently it's MoT, so I think we should trade KT for Chris Jefferies. Jefferies can competently guard just about any 2 or 3 in the league (I think), something we could use. Toronto sure won't use him if they keep Carter, Peterson, and Murray, and they need another big man.
Gee, good to see there's no stereotyping here. The only basic simularity between the two is that they are white and they can shoot. Collier's game is more revolved around setting the picks at the top of the key, and taking the jump shot off of the pick and roll. Bradley has some nice low post moves, and has pretty good speed. He's also a decent ballhandler for a big man. They may look alike physically, but their games have notable differences.
That story does sound ominous for the Raps, but it poses the question of whether Cato's value goes up not only for a trade but for the Rox to keep him. Not that many decent big men in the league and worst case that ming goes down with an injury. After last year i am gun shy about not being deep enough, and it would be nice to go throught THIS year with at least enough players to make a solid run at the playoffs if the injury bug bites bad again. and we know it will bite, but just how bad ! Tell me Les isn't thinking the same thing with the new stadium right around the corner. We have a very deep team as it is, and if we can make it deep into the playoffs the players that didn't get as much PT as they wanted will forget about it momentarily and just want to be apart of the action. I still think we are a solid ten deep in players.
Incidentally, Jeffries is one of the few 1st round picks yet to be signed, meaning he can still be traded w/o having to wait till December-January...hmmmmm........
Trading Cato away IMO is a bad move I think Cato is a great backup player for the Rockets!!! and yall can hate but Cato is a good back-up and i wouldnt trade him.. KT is good enough for mo-pete that trade would be fair for me.
Exactly what I was thinking. I would be SO happy if this happened. Jefferies was a guy I would have been happy about drafting at 15 when I didn't know we would have our pick of Nachbar, Woods, and Rush. And the Raptors would certainly do it. I think we could get a 2nd round pick out of them as well. People seem to be saying that they want to keep KT for the depth. Think about it guys: even if we trade KT we still have four talented frontcourt players. If any one of those four players gets injured, we're still okay. Plenty of teams have a three man rotation up front. Four is more than enough.
In Sir jackie Chiles' first trade proposal, if we throw in a first rounder to Cleveland and the Clippers also send them Ely or Wilcox, then there's a deal. If we lose Cato, we should get a C that is good enough for us to stay in the playoffs assuming Ming is NOT there. Right now, without Ming, we ould make the playoffs with ato as our C. That's what we need.
I agree wit this even though i'm not a big Cato fan, however, he serves 2 protect Yao Ming in his early and most critical stage of his career! lets face Yao Ming is not going 2 play 35 plus mins per game....NOT yet, until he matures in the NBA level! I think Cato is good, solid center, if he puts forth effort !
Let me start off I am a big rokets fan form New England; this is my second post. I just wnat to know if people think Toronto would trade Mo Pete for Kenny Thomas straight up I wounldn't. I think this trade has to be for Michael Bradley he's an alright power forward/ center and is probably more willing to come off the bench.
Ok Ok I got it now: Rockets Trade: Kenny Thomas Moochie Norris Jason Collier(He's better than Montross) Rockets get: Mo Peterson The pick we owe to them.
