Hmmm. Alonzo Mourning just signed for how much again? Salaries are going down. How much do you think Vlade Divac will get next year? $8 million plus? I highly doubt this. As far as the "Every team needs a decent center to compete". Please. Kelvin Cato was a bum when he started yet teams are just dying to trade for an $8 million player who has never averaged double digits and has absolutely 0 offensive skills.
RIET: Do you acknowledge that Cato was a good player for us last year? Do you think Cato(02-03 version) was a good, quality center? Just spit it out, that's where we are in a disagreement.
also, people who say that we can trade cato once yao becomes dominant are missing a key point: before yao becomes dominant, he will at first become consistent. that consistency will undoubtedly entail 38-40 minutes per night, which limits cato's minutes even more. i'll spell it out for you: cato's minutes will never be higher than they were last year (barring the "i" word)! therefore, his value will only sink from this point forward. what team, say 2 years from now, will want an $8,000,000 player with no offense that only plays 8 minutes per game? trade him. now. not as a salary dump, but in return for a decent player. but make sure that he is off this team by the end of next season....
Cato is a stud...how about we drive a nail into his forehead and hang a picture from it. So, he puts forth an effort for 15 minutes per game...yawn...He's out of shape, puts in almost no offseason training from what I've heard, and would get abused on a nightly basis if he played starter's minutes, and everybody here knows that. He has exactly zero offensive moves. How many people cringe in fear whenever he shoots anything outside of seven feet? The only reason he gave a shot glass full of effort last year was because he knew Yao was going to take his job, so he acted liked he cared so people wouldn't perceive him as a completely worthless slug. His only redeeming quality is that he knows how offensively inept he is and doesn't try to do anything on the offensive end. If not for Steve tossing him alley oops, he would have probably averaged negative points last year... It's nice to know that cabbage boy has such low standards for our players...
And the point that some teams are trying to win championships. You don't just sit by and watch each year go by without doing or trying anything when you have a small window of opportunity to win a championship. Especially when you know your team won't compete. I'm sure there are teams come trade deadline that would gamble on Cato.
Scarface, see what happens when you stick you face in a mountain of cocaine...you start making statements that me noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sense at all. Vince Carter is a potential all-star any time he is healthy. He damn near carried a team to the NBA Finals. Cato is a good BACKUP center. He did not do a damn thing as a starter fo 2-3 year. I would take Scott Pollard, Keon Clark, or or even Bo Outlaw over Cato any day of the week
This is true. If we keep him, he needs to get more PT. If JVG and his coaching staff motivate anyone, let it be our big men. Apparently Mo looked slimmed down when he played a recent nothing game? That would be good. And if he shows that he's willing to knock around inside the paint. Same with Cato. $8 million per year for an 18 mpg center is, er, gross.
If we trade Cato, who backs up Yao? I perish the thought of MoT & EG under the basket mid way thru the 1st quarter when Yaopicks up a quick 2nd foul. Also, if it weren't for Yao; Cato would be our starting center hands down. I also think he will flurish under JVG & PU(oops! I mean PE! )!
yep. how about for a 14 mpg center? or a 10 mpg center? because as yao develops, cato's minutes will continually decrease...along with his trade value. as for cato playing power forward...until cato can handle the high post (which is...um...not likely), you won't see major minutes for cato.
I agree, Cato is very important for to this team. I wouldnt mind seeing Yao and Cato in the game together more often rather than watching EG shoot up bricks. It wouldnt surprise me if Cato is traded right before the deadline teams probaly want to see if last season was a fluke or not. If he keeps it up he can probaly bring in a starting SF or PF. If not than he would be the best player off the rockets bench.
Until recently, I would have been more than happy to trade Cato in a package for players that fill a need for us (SF- PF)... thinking that we could get some journeyman for the vet minimum to backup Yao at the C spot. From what I've been reading the last couple of days, however, I think we should hang on to him. Yao is having some health problems, apparently, in China while playing for the National Team. It's been reported that he's having high blood pressure and some kind of problem with his left leg... that that's why Falsone is there. (why it would take a problem for a staff member of the Rocks to be keeping an eye on Yao and his training and conditioning is beyond me) I hope all of this is BS, but in the meantime, Cato just went up in value to US.
Cato is was not an absolute stud, even in Cato terms. imo, if JVG has no plans using some as a PF, then I agree that his value to us won't match our need to upgrade other parts of the team. I'd say that Cato right now as purely a backup center is playing well, but just to the point of being a luxury. It is nice to have him on the team to bang with Yao in practice. But a 6yr $42m 15-18mpg backup and practice dummy is steep. RIET, I don't know what you are trying to say, but there is a premium on big man salaries. Nestorovich actually proves it. He signed a 6 yr $42m, just like Cato did. So, go ahead, and make some argument that the difference in inflation makes it better, when we all know that you would be one really pissed off Spurs fans for signing Nesterovich to a Cato contract. Also, PJ Brown signed for 4 yrs at $34m. Kenny Thomas signed 7yr at >$40m. Brad Miller signed for 7yr $68m...
The difference is not inflation but player caliber. When we signed Kelvin Cato, he had proven absolutely nothing. He had never played more than 12 minutes/game. Nesterovic has a lot of upside potential and is a solid 30 minute/game player. Both SA and Minnesota wanted him. Cato is a poor man's Michael Olowokandi. Enigmatic with a reputation for laziness. He signed for about $5.4 million per year which is the most anybody would be willing to pay for a backup center at this time.
Is cato worth the money? probably. Is he worth that much to Rox? No. Our situation is like following: we have a BMW sitting in our garage which rarely see road because we drive a Porche most of the time. On the other hand, our kithen need a remod badly. Is BMW worth 40K? Yes. Should we keep it? No! We should sell it and redo the kitchen. In short, a player is worth how much the team can use him. In our case, it is stupid to pay 8 mil a year for a back up center. Many other teams would love to pay him that much but that doesn't say we should pay him that much.
Seriously. If teams were really desperate for a backup center, they would just sign Vladmir Stepania who is less athletic but has similar skills as Cato. He's still available and nobody's beating down his door. We can't trade Cato and nobody wants him.
RIET, So, I'll put you down as someone who believes Nesterovich is a perfectly fine use of the Spur's capspace at $7m/yr for 6yrs....and not a sign that the NBA has a serious lack of centers, so centers command more money than any other position.
Nesterovich's numbers or potential don't justify his contract any more than Cato's. I will say that its funny that Olowokandi seems to be a player that NBA owners all of sudden decided to take a stand on as far as salary, but Nesterovich is not a good example of why Cato has a bad contract. As a matter of fact, he's an example of why Cato has his contract, teams will pay almost anything if a big man shows potential.
I only have one concern. Last year before the season, I told you guys I saw Cato working out repeatedly. Many of you guys laughed when I mentioned that I believed he would do well. However, JVG is a different type of coach. Unlike Rudy, he won't wait for Cato. I'm affraid that Cato will be in JVG's doghouse well before Cato gets a chance to shine or at least get better (getting a chance to work with the new staff). I think Cato's value is as high as it is going to get. It is time to sell. Besides, I haven't seen him at the gym this year, but I did see him at Treasures a couple of times.
