Maybe this has been covered, but the search feature isn;t working. Anyone know how many players each teams has to expose to the draft? I guess Cato and Taylor are the obvious choices to be exposed due to their contracts, but who else do you all think left out to dry?
So you'd protect Yao, Francis, Cato, JJ, Boki (if he plays ok this year), Piatkowski, Mobley, and best of the rest.
I think keeping Franchise, Yao, and Cat are no brainers. Cato seems to be in Van Gundy's limle light a lot, so I see him staying. Polish Rifle and JJ are new additions that want to be here. They are safe too. So on and so on. The guys I see that will be unproteced are Moochie and Mo Taylor. Maybe we pick up Eddie's option only in hopes that he gets taken next year.....whddya think?
Why would you protect Cato? I think he's turning his career around, but that doesn't make his contract any less ridiculous.
When is Cat's contract up? There's no way you expose him since there are very few, if any, players in the league who give you more bang for the buck.
Obviously outside of Yao and Francis, everyone else is replaceable so they can take what they want. Although preferably, I'd have them take Moochie and/or Mo Taylor's contracts. Cato's overpaid, but for right now he's worth keeping.
Protected 1 Yao Ming 2 Steve Francis 3 Cuttino Mobley 4 Kelvin Cato 5 Eric Piatkowski 6 Jim Jackson 7 Adrian Griffin 8 Eddie Griffin Unprotected 9 Mo Taylor 10 Moochie Norris 11 John Amaechi 12 Bostjan Nachbar 13 Mike Wilks 14 Scott Padgett 15 Torraye Braggs Assuming that EG gets his act together, he should be protected. If EG still got problems or is a FA, MoTay bumps him out of the top 8. The bet is that no team would want to take on MoTay's or Moochie's contract.
If for no other reason than 7 footers that can rebound and play defense have value. If Cato plays as well this year as he did last year then there is no way you expose him to the expansion draft and risk losing him for nothing. If Cato coninues to start at the Power Forward and plays as well in the regular season as he has in the pre season then he is well worth the money we are paying him. Having someone like Cato that actually has a big enough body to play against Shaq and Duncan can be vary valuable to the Rockets and Yao Ming. Yao Ming - Steve Francis - Cuttino Mobley - Kelvin Cato are with out a doubt your top four players to protect.
I agree except for number 7 and 8. I believe Taylor and Nachbar should the ones protected instead of the Griffins. AG is expendable if Nachbar turns out to be pretty good, plus we have JJ to play there if need be and he has good D too. Who would want EG unless he gets his act together? We can leave him unprotected if he's still a Rocket and I'm pretty sure the bobcats wouldn't pick him up.
I think this could be a good reason to extend Eddie's contract. If he gets his act together then we have made a good investment by extending his contract. If he does not then we could expose him to the expansion draft and there is probably a very good chance that the expansion team would give him a two year look since there is no denying Eddie has some good talent.
It will be intersting to see who gets more minutes, Bostjan Nachbar or Adrian Griffin. JVG may prefer Griffin's defence. We will see.
* The Rockets (or any team) can protect 8. * The protected player must have a 2004-05 contract (no extension for Griffin, no protection). * The Bobcats are only allowed a cap of $30m. * Not protecting a Cato or a Taylor doesn't mean that Charlotte won't take them. If the Bobcats decide they can move a high $ contract player like Cato or Taylor, then they may be tempted to draft them and trade for two or three lesser contracts to fill out their roster.
I think Boki will be given every opertunity to be in Van Gundy's normall rotation. Unless Boki just flat out fails then I would think AG will have basically the same role here as he did in Dallas. Spot duty.
Why do you protect Cato? Because I gauruntee he'd be taken. His contract really isn't ridiculous if you look around the league at what 7 footers make. He'd be playing in the eastern conference where he could possibly even be an All-Star center. I seriously think he's better than Brad Miller who made the All-Star team last year in the East. Now he's in the West. That leaves Ben Wallace, Alonzo Mourning and Zydrunas Ilgauskas as the only respectable centers in the east. Alonzo and Zydrunas aren't dependable due to their health. So we lose Cato for absolutely nothing. Cato is worth too much at this point to lose for nothing. Especially considering the lack of quality centers in the league. And a question about Adrian Griffin. Didn't he get signed to a one year deal? Is it necessary to protect free agents?
jnwilliamson - Agree that if Cato has another good season, you have to protect him. (I've changed my mind on this since the summer...Ewing has done some amazing things). With only a $30m cap, Charlotte probably can't afford to keep him but his value in two (or three) other players could be too much for them to pass up. BTW...AGriffin's deal was for two years. He's "protectable". The only players the Rockets can not protect are Padgett and Wilks (1 yr deals) and EG if he is not extended.
