According to ESPN radio, the Houston Rockets, in an attempt to give Yao some protection, were giving serious consideration to a trade with Sacramento after the seasons' end. It would involve a package of Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley for Chris Webber. The Rockets made it no secret that they were chasing after him a few seasons ago. Because of the situation at power forward, (Cato not being a nature PF, and Eddie Griffins' legal trouble), the Rockets could benefit from Webbers experience and toughness around the basket. He also has a above-average post-up game that would complement Yao and also relieve some of the double and triple teams that Yao is experiencing on a more regular basis. This trade could also benefit Webber who has been booed by his fans in Sacramento because of his below par performance coming off a serious injury. The trade is still too far off to start celebrating, but I think if we could get Webber and maybe a filler at the 2 guard it would be extremely worth it!!! Imagine: C Yao Ming PF Chris Webber SF Jim Jackson SG Steve Francis PG Filler/ Free agent/ Draft pick WOW!
I don't know why, but you have to do it. Ya just have to. I think Steve would stay at the 1, JJ would slide to 2 and we'd sign someone for the 3. Then you let the momentum of an excellent offseason attract little role players for depth. That's quite a win-now kinda team and with the recent "trouble" in Sac-town, I could actually see this happening. Could be horribly wrong though.
Webber's still not 100% and premature speculation says he's messing up the King's chemistry. It appears that they play better without him but most analysts agree that Webber is the key to that team winning a championship. If they suck in the playoffs, who knows, things could change. Divac is retiring soon. Cato would be good for that, backing up Miller. Mobley is a good player and I think playing in Sac would help him alot. Either that or he'd sabotage the team. One or the other.
what would the kings want with cato? he isnt their type of player. i could see them wanting mo instead. to make it work cap wise we would have to add pike. would anyone go for this trade?: cat, mo, pike for web, peeler we would have: yao-cato web-spoon ag-boki jj-peeler steve we would obviously have to use he TE on a 3 and a 1.
When healthy Webber is a super star player. I don't see why the Kings trade him for CM and KC. I think they can get a lot more than that. Raven
Im all for it. Then we can trade francis for allen, and sign brent narry as a free agent. C-Yao PF-Webber SG-JJ SG-Allen PG-Barry I know that there is about a 3% chance that this scenerio could ever happen; its just a pipe dream.
Man, I'd be in heaven if we did that trade. I LOVE Cat and Cato has been great for us this year, but oh man, C-WEBB! Our low post game with him and Yao, ohhhh myyyyy God! Forget all the haters who say The Franchise doesn't do as good as a PG should, we'd have C-Webb passing from the post who practically gets as many assists when healthy as Francis does. Oooohhhhh would that trade help us out.
if he wasn't 31 and injury prone i wouldn't mind having him. However that's not the case so i'll pass
True, very true, but as long as he's healthy for the playoffs, it wouldn't matter. He's so good, he'd help us out a ton.
I'm floating a trade on the Kings board of Webber for Cat, Cato, and JJ. We give up a lot, but get back a superstar. Kings only give up Webber if they believe it's a situation of addition by subtraction. The success of Miller this year, current problems with Webber getting readjusted and Kings fans being upset lend substance to this, but the odds are still against trading Webber for unequal value. I imagine the Kings will at least listen to offers for Webber this year. Don't forget he's a max player with four years left on his deal. Webber to the Kings may very well be the same as Francis to the Rockets - great talent, but very expensive, and currently not the best fit. Should the Kings trade Webber, it will be difficult for them to do so without taking back bad contracts. This is about as reasonable a deal as you can get. Rockets left with this lineup: Yao Webber/Taylor Griffin/Nachbar Piatkowski Steve/Jackson With the MLE and the trade exception, we should be able to pick up a decent backup center and swingman. However, we essentially mortgage the team's future for a core of Yao, Webber, and Steve.
Here is why Sacramento might do the trade: Chris Webber wants out and Cato and Mobley would bring value and fill in needs. I think Mobley is one of the best bargains in the NBA and would flourish in their cutting-to-the-basket system. Cato would complement Brad Miller, a more offensive oriented big man, nicely and only has a few years left from that big contract. It is is not a crazy deal from Sacramento's perspective. From Houston's POV- Webber is still pretty young and has superstar ability. Guys like that always have something to prove when they get traded (just as Webber did in Washington and Sacramento following earlier trades). It is worth the injury/chemistry gamble since the Yao pairing with Webber can potentially be *awesome* and you still Francis as an asset/trade bait. I would not give up Jackson, though. Our 3 and 2 positions would be way too weak to go to war with and Jackson shows up every night.
