Someone already already mentioned this a while ago, I think it was Drexlerfan or PSJ, but we should put Mo, Deke, Dream, and Yao in a room together, and make them have a discussion. A debate, even. The comedic value would be priceless.
I agree. He's a short-term solution. He'll give JVG flexible minutes for Yao's playing time. Plus, he's a defensive body that we will need while Yao is on the bench.
Sorry, daoshi. It's not that simple. Deke is but one factor in our "scoring average." You just don't take a player from *another* team, add his career averages up to a total w/our other players and then say, "Hey, look, we will score less than before." First of all, you've never (or nobody for that matter) seen THIS team play ONE game! Scoring is dependent on... 1) PG ability; passing and court vision; ability to run team 2) Turnovers total our PG and team; and less TO due to a traded Francis (our team will have 150 less TO per year just based on that fact alone!) 3) Addition of scoring ability of our *best* players; TMAC! 4) Yao's scoring improvement over the last year; and training camp 5) Type of offense run 6) Competence of our player to run that offense 7) Chemistry 8) And general ability to play *AS A TEAM* 9) etc, etc.... Since Deke will probably only get 20(or less) minutes per game. He's not there for scoring. He's our backup center. But, you also have to factor in the other items above before you say that we will be a "worse scoring team." I'm thinking that our team will produces around 92-94ppg. That's a decent jump from last year; considering that it will still be a JVG system. I'll be happy with 5ppg/5rpg with 20mpg. Add his NY 1.8bpg stats (better than Cato's career 1.3bpg). Nice deal. Cato in 2004 (HOU): 6.1ppg/6.8rpg/1.38bpg with 25mpg Deke in 2004 (NY): 5.6ppg/6.7rpg/1.8bpg with 23mpg
Pretty cool article from msnbcsports.com: Mutombo says he has agreed to trade to Rockets Bulls will get Piatkowski, Griffin, Wilks in dealThe Associated Press Updated: 11:01 p.m. ET Sept. 6, 2004HOUSTON - Veteran center Dikembe Mutombo said he has agreed to a trade that will send him from the Chicago Bulls to the Houston Rockets for three players. “It is where I have wanted to be all along,” Mutombo told the Houston Chronicle on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is participating in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders-Africa outreach program. “I told them a long time ago that it was my wish, and I’m so happy that it was granted.” Mutombo thinks playing for Houston will be a “perfect fit,” playing alongside starting center Yao Ming, the Chronicle reported in its online edition Monday night. Mutombo told the newspaper he agreed to the deal involving Eric Piatkowski, Adrian Griffin and Mike Wilks on Friday. He said he had already talked to Rockets assistant coach Patrick Ewing and others. Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson told the Chronicle the deal hasn’t been finalized. But Dawson said Mutombo would be a good mentor for Yao. “One of the things that you want to do when you add a backup center is add somebody with a real special talent who doesn’t do what everybody else does,” Dawson said. “This is one of the all-time shot blockers in the league. He’s been a real professional in the locker room and on the court. I think he’d be a great mentor type for Yao Ming. I think he will be great for him to go against in practice every day.” Rockets spokesman Nelson Luis told The Associated Press on Monday night the team had no comment on the report. Mutombo, a 7-foot-2 center, has averaged 11.7 points and 11.7 rebounds in his 13 seasons in the NBA. He was traded to the Bulls in August as part of a deal that sent Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams to the New York Knicks. “I’ve never had a problem, never had a question that I wanted to play in Houston this season,” Mutombo said. “It was first on my list. Any why not? “Look at the potential with Yao Ming and (Tracy) McGrady and Jim Jackson. That is a very impressive start, and I think it is a team that is ready to take off.” © 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5907539/
Another cool article: Bulls on the verge of trading Mutombo to Rockets By Mike McGraw Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted Sunday, September 05, 2004 About three weeks ago, the Houston Rockets thought they had a deal to acquire veteran center Dikembe Mutombo from the Bulls for shooting guard Eric Piatkowski, point guard Mike Wilks and swingman Adrian Griffin. Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf reportedly turned down the deal, however, concerned that it would add about $2.8 million to the payroll over the next two seasons. Now the same trade is on the verge of becoming official because the Rockets have agreed to include cash to cover Griffin's $870,000 salary this season, according to sources close to the deal. The Bulls would most likely release the 30-year-old Griffin, who played in just 19 games last year because of injuries. This trade would accomplish two of the Bulls' remaining off-season goals - finding a new home for Mutombo, who wasn't excited about playing for the Bulls, and adding a tall shooting guard with experience. Mutombo came to the Bulls from New York along with Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski on Aug. 5 in a money-saving deal that sent Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams to the Knicks. Mutombo's agent, David Falk, has pressured Bulls general manager John Paxson to trade the 38-year-old Mutombo to a contender. The 6-foot-6 Piatkowski has spent 10 years in the NBA, most with the Los Angeles Clippers. He wasn't a hit in Houston last season, averaging just 14 minutes and 4.1 points per game. For his career, Piatkowski has averaged 8.2 points and shot 43.6 percent from the field. He turns 34 later this month and has two years and $5.75 million left on his contract. The 5-11 Wilks, a 25-year-old Milwaukee native, has appeared in 72 games for Atlanta, Minnesota and Houston over the last two seasons. Once this trade is complete, the Bulls will have 17 players under contract - two more than they're allowed - plus unsigned second-round draft pick Chris Duhon. The Bulls like Duhon, but they've talked about trying to find him a place to play overseas this season. If Scottie Pippen hangs up his sneakers because of a sore left knee, the Bulls likely will release the aging star to open a roster spot while paying his $5.5-million salary. Jannero Pargo's job is tenuous, because he has the only non-guaranteed contract on the roster, and the Bulls will gain an extra backup point guard in Wilks. Bulls notes • Bulls on the verge of trading Mutombo to Rockets (9/5) • Austin headed to Europe again; Mutombo trade talk still alive (8/10) • Bulls will try to find new home for Mutombo (8/7) • Finally (8/6) • Crawford deal close, but not official yet (8/5) • Crawford-to-Knicks deal getting close to reality (8/4) • Bulls face difficult start to the 2004-05 season (8/3) • Paxson: Crawford a Bull ... for now (8/2) • Paxson meets with Thomas on Crawford deal (7/28) • Paxson: No face-to-face talks with Thomas likely (7/27) • Bulls end summer league 6-1 (7/26) © 2004 Daily Herald, Paddock Publications, Inc. http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/bulls.asp?intID=38235103
Yes! When he wasn't HURT, he looked old and slow. If he had ANYTHING left, the Bulls wouldn't be dumping him off on the Rockets. Don't misunderstand me: I think he is a terrific human being but his days of being an effective basketball player are long gone.
First of all, the reason Chicago is dumping him off, as you say, is because Mutombo didn't want to play there and hinted at retiring instead of suiting up for a team going nowhere. Secondly, Mutombo has ALWAYS looked old and slow on the court. ALWAYS. But, you stick him around the paint and he is a difference maker. Just look at his stats last season, compare them to what the more agile and faster Cato did (both of which have been posted numerous times in this thread), and then tell me if he is still ineffective as a player.
if you look a lil closely... scottie pippen somewhat resembles satan ok sorry bad joke.. just still holding the grudge on the guy
Took a little time off from the BBS because I was absolutely outraged by this deal. I guess I really should have been happy that CD didn't go out and get Evan Erschmeyer instead. While I admire him personally because of his humanitarian efforts, I expect Mutumbo to be a nonfactor this season at least until he gets hurt. I stand by my criticisms of Griffin, Piatkowski and Wilks: these signings are indicative of the crappy talent aquisitions that have been going on now for over 10 years. Piatkowski spent 9 years in a losing organization doing nothing to distinguish himself at all save for his so-called outside shooting ability. If he had been ANY good at all, he would have shown it in that period of time. As it stands, he got his nice contract and then proceeded to do nothing. I just don't know what he was supposed to do here beside keep Boki company on the bench. A. Griffin was an absolutely HORRIBLE signing. Exhibit A on the total ineptness of the Rockets organization. Did no one in Houston take the time to even CALL the Mavericks about this guy? The Maverick kicked him to the curb because he was ALWAYS (I mean A L W A Y S) hurt. And if that's not enough, he has a bad back that limits the amount of time he can play. Josh Howard replaced him in Dallas not because Howard was that much better but because Howard at least was available to play. Wilks is an undersized marginal PG who gave them some spotty minutes last season - nothing that made a difference. They already have the undersized PG spot filled by Lue and the marginal PG spot has been taken over by Gaines so I guess that left Wilks as the odd man out. The lesson here (one that the current Rockets regime doesn't seem capable of learning) is that you ultimately get what you pay for. Cheap players carry cheap price tags for a reason and it's not because they are good or great players. Picking up guys from the end of other teams benches, especially LOSING teams, is NOT the way to build a championship contender. Actually COUNTING on them to deliver anything but mediocrity is to set oneself up for a huge disappointment.
Stats are not the be all and end all as folks here make them out to be. How many of the current Rocket players have good stats but are marginal players? Piatkowski's stats say that he's a 40% 3 point shooter something which I didn't see when he was on the court. I prefer to believe what my eyes tell me and they see a player who's old and slow and ill suited for the type of play that he'll see in the Western Conference. I see a player who is injury prone and who should have retired. You can stick him in the paint - you can PLANT him in the paint and play 100% zone, he will still have to move side to side and (somehow) get up and down the court which is something he can no longer do. He was picked up for the sole reason that his price was CHEAP not because he can actually make any difference on the court.
Hillboy, You basically just said that you were "outraged" by a deal that got rid of 3 players that you went on to imply were trash? "Unimpressed" I could have understood. "Outraged", however ... I have no words
So if these three players were as horrible as you say, then why do you object to us trading them? At the very least, we are erasing our mistake as Mutombo has only 1 year left on his deal.
Point of clarification: My "outrage" stems not from the fact that they have culled the herd at the end of the bench (which needed to be done in the worst way) but from the aquisition of Mutumbo. I don't think he has anything left in the tank and I just don't see him making a significant contribution before he gets hurt.
