Sporting News on a Rocket trade that needs to happen>

I like that deal, we lose Cato;s contract, and bring in Miller who is as good as Lewis. Plus we would have alot of money to resign our players when Andrew DeClerq contract is over, and I think Rice is over at the same time. IF Declerq plays well, and that is a be if, he could easaly be our back up center for Yao Ming in the future. ANd Miller could be a great pick up for us, him and Cuttino would be a our #1 and #2 scoring threats. Francis could become more of a true PG, with all the weapons and our team.

C-Ming, Delerq
PF-Tayler, Griffin
SF-Miller, Nachbar, Rice
SG-Mobley, NAchbar
PG-Francis, Moochie, MAddax

Pretty good team that should make the play offs, and realy take off the next year.

 

Are you kidding? WE need Cato! I think you people skip the actual players ability and go straight to their contract. Cato is a quality role player which every team needs (not Cato, role players). Yes he has a big contract and is clogging room for signing other players but that is not his fault, this does not mean other teams don't have a use for him just because someone put a huge contract infront of him and gave him a pen. And besides Ming we have no other players with any sort of skills to fill up on the 5 spot. I think you need to cut out with the sarcasim about Cato and Francis cause it really sh*ts alot of people on this board. Before talking about people and saying they suck, look in the mirror first.....

 

Why do this trade? Marty Burns said Boki is basically Mike Miller with an accent, so why trade solid big men for something that you probably already have?

 

folks, lets put this into perspective:

first lets talk about boki. lets say he does turn out to be like Hedo. Well, Hedo still comes off the bench for the Kings, and this is what, like his 4th year in the league? people, u can never have too many good players in your team. To compete with teams like the Kings, Lakers, Mavericks etc, u need to have a good starting lineup and a good bench. Even if Boki does turn out to be a good player, there is no shame in coming off the bench for a good team.

About Cato. lets say he has gone to the big mans camp. lets say he has been working out. lets say he is committed. so what? he is just not that good. yeah, u can consider him decent, but thats because the NBA has no centers. And even if he does have an ok season, who would u rather have start in 2003? Ming or Cato. And dont forget, many people predict Ming will start by midseason. So u guys are saying that u wanna pay Cato 7 million a year for the next 3 years for coming off the bench? when we could have a young, sweet shooting SF who won ROY a couple years ago?

The trouble would be parting with KT. But thats what makes this a fair trade people. I mean no one in their right mind would take Cato for Miller. But at least we would get DeClerk. He is not that good, but he is better than Collier. And he could easily play 15 minutes a game. Then the center position could be distributed like this: Ming, 25 min. DeClerk, 15 min. Griffin, 8 min. And the PF position: Taylor, 30 min. Griffin, 18 mins. Of course, these mins would differ on different nights according to how Ming and Taylor are playing.

So with a lineup of Steve, Cat, Miller, Mo, Ming and a bench of Eddie, Boki, Rice, Mooch, and Declerk, we have a better chance of competing with the better teams in the West. You gotta remember, we were one of the worst teams in scoring a year ago folks, and Miller and a healthy Mo would help that considerably.

My basic point is, u get a starting SF who is more than decent for a back up center, and a back up PF. But i dont mind if people here are against trading KT. But i just cant understand why people are saying they wouldnt trade Cato!!

 

Ming has not played one game in the NBA. Although Cato is not very good, he is better than most centers and has playerd several games in the NBA. He is used to being physical. He also gets about 7 ppg on pretty much no offense. If he could learn a postup move, or improve his outside shooting,(not 3pt,outside.) he would possibly get in the lower teens. (10-15ppg.) We also need him in case Ming suffers fould trouble. I don't feel safe with Declerq getting big minutes. He may be good, but that's a big if.(actually may.) Cato also could help against Shaq. That is why I think I want him.
As for Miller, someone mentioned he would want a lot of money next year. This is possible since he was ROY. I think he could be OK, but like Shard, I don't want to pay him 10million more than what he's worth.

This is all my opinion, btw.

 

I think in terms of pure talent, this would be a big win for the Rockets. Whether it'd be a good short term fit, however, is another matter entirely.

Given that Mr. Miller will be a free agent next year and would be due for a big payday, I guess you could consider it a short term rental/insurance deal in case you are concerned about whether any of your SF's work out. At the very least you could Sign and trade Miller to some over the cap team for some stuff. In this worst case scenario, at least you'd be out of Cato's contract. DeClerq would seem to be a bit more compatable with an offense designed for Ming, and he's a classic hard worker, even if he has 1/2 of the natural talent of Cato. Also, there's something to be said for making it clear that the starting job belongs to Ming.

I can only see the Magic be willing to even consider this type of deal if they are planning to let Miller go for nothing this offseason and think that Hill is 100%. In one sense, I think Cato would be a nice fit for Orlando in that he has just enough athleticism to fit with what they seem to want in Orlando, while still having enough bulk to be passable as a true center (unlike Clark). If they felt they needed some bulk down low, but didn't want to pick up someone who couldn't keep up with their team speed, Cato might seem intresting. His lack of range on offense wouldn't be quite as much of a problem on a team that didn't emphasise the half court game like the Rockets.

Clearly, it'd be a "short term gain" deal for the Magic, and more of a "long term gain" deal for the Rockets.

Anyway, while I think this would be a great deal for the Rockets, I don't imagine that the Magic have taken to making trades under the influence of halucinogens, so I can't see this trade happening.

 

Oh hell yes! I would do that trade in a heart beat!

Good bye Cato. We ship KT off to a team that could use him and a place where he would start in a conference where he would shine.

In return we get Mike Miller who can play the 3 or slide over and play the 2. He has a great shot and is young.

We can resign TRex to back up Ming and also use Eddie to slide over to the 5 at times as well.

Francis / Mooche
Cat / Miller
Miller / Nachbar / TMo
Eddie / MoT
Ming / Willis / Eddie

That team has a bunch of players that can fill it up from outside. Plus Francis, Cat, Boki and Moochie who can all take it to the basket. And now we have Ming and a more mature Griffin with an experienced Willis maning the low post. If Boki is good enough you could even start him and have Mike Miller backing up the three and the two spot as a super sub and would have him averaging a ton of minutes.

 

......wont happen

 

Neither has Boki. And remember, if Mo has a decent season, Eddie will have to find minutes in other positions, and i dont mind him playing center 15-20 mins a game. if Ming gets in foul trouble then Eddie, Declerk or maybe even Mo can play center for a few minutes each. It might be a mismatch but we would have enough talent elsewhere in the lineup to still compete. But I think Ming will turn out to be good, so trading Cato and his salary while getting a starting SF would be a good idea.

 

Bah. Who cares if we lack a "true center" with experience. They matter, oh, 4 games per year. And we're probably not going to win those games anyway, next year. And if we do, it won't be because Kelvin ****ing Cato is somehow solving the Shaq factor.

Mo T is a more effective center than Cato. Griffin will be a more effective center than Cato. Hell, I bet Mobley would be a more effective center than Cato.

Better to play without a center than with a totally ****ty one.

 

I hate to say it, but some of you guys really lack perspective about Cato. Yes, he makes a lot of money, yes, he is frustrating because with his talent, he could be soo much more, yes it is annoying that he doesn't seem to try very hard.

But he is still a good center in this league with some upside. He is in the top half of centers in the league. If you don't believe me, name more than ten starting centers better than Cato.

Antonio Davis
Mt Mutumbo
Shaq
David Robinson
Vlade Divac
Mourning
Raef LaFrenz
Jermaine Oneal
Michael Olawokandi
Ben Wallace

That's all I can come up with. Anybody else to add?

So as a center who is better than half the league, that seems like a good starting point. Esp when you add Ming to the mix.

 

right on BRF

The other anti-Cato argument is his paycheck

Average up the salarys of the above centers and see if Cato is still overpaid.

Like it or not folks we need Cato.

Lets try to move some salarys that are expendable like

Rice
Moochie
MoT

Trading Cato for some other slacker that sucks in the East and a decent player (Miller) that plays a postition we are already overloaded at is stupid.

Lets put some effort into finding a good backup 2/3 that plays tough defense, and leave Cato alone.

 

Thats not the point of the trade arguement. Maybe Cato can be considered decent in todays NBA where there are no centers. The point is we have a center that we drafted #1 and who many believe might even start by midseason. So why pay a backup center, even if he is decent, $7 mil, when you can get a young up and coming ROY SF, who is considered decent in a SF pool that is much more talented than the center pool. Thats why it wouldnt hurt the Rockets as much by trading Cato as it would help by getting Mike Miller.

 

Better than cato also? try:

Jamaal Magloire
Theo Ratleff
Brad Miller
Marc Jackson (the rockets thought so!)
Kurt Thomas (starts at C, though really a PF)
Todd MaCullogh
Jahidi White
Keon Clark


That pushes him back down to the bottom third. Try to name the starting C's that Cato is better than? Maybe Ostersuck, Whoever Memphis starts, Whoever Orlando starts, Jerome James, Whoever Boston starts.

 

1. If the Rockets go to an offense that runs through the center and relies on the center to pass a lot then how much does Cato fit into that? Not much.

2. We are not overloaded at the 3. Mike Miller would be a very good addition to this team as a starting small forward or as a sub for the 2 and 3 spots. Miller is a proven NBA shooter that has some athletic ability. As much as we may like Boki, he has yet to play a single NBA minute. Rice is useless as an old injury prone player. TMo has yet to show that he can handle NBA minutes. Miller is a rookie of the year that would provide insurance if Boki does not turn into what we want. If Boki does develop the way we think he will then so much the better since Miller can get a bunch of minutes backing up Cat.

3. Eddie Griffin can back up Ming at the 5 along with a veteran bruiser like Kevin Willis. I like those two backing up Ming better than Cato.

4. Trading KT solves our problem of being over stocked at the 4 spot. If we start Eddie at the 4 and use him to back up Ming then Mo would still get 20 plus minutes at the 4.

Due to Cato's limited offensive skills, our offense would change dramatically if Cato comes off the bench to sub for Ming. Eddie has offensive skills that Cato just does not have. Bringing Collier or MoT off of the bench to sub for Yao even causes a less radical change to our offense than Cato would.

 

The only thing I really remember Mike Miller doing last year is scoring some points. I don't think he's all that versatile, and his defense is suspect.

 

Has Ratliff played more than 5 games combined in the last 2 seasons? Cato's better than most of the people listed here.

 

He only had a few last year, played over half the season before that. Regardless, I think most people would trade for Ratleff today for the Iron Horse Kelvin Cato and say the Rockets got the steal of the century. (not counting salary cap issues).

OK, maybe you would rather have him than Brad Miller , fine, add in Elden Campbell instead, but Cato is certainly no better than any of the guys I listed, and he is no doubt worse than some. Even if he is just outside the top 10, he is a lot closer in production to the bottom 10. The fact remains that he is a lower middle class center at best, a bottom feeder at worst.