I'd love to trade Cato. Who will take him? I think we're better off getting two contracts in return. Whoever we get back will have problems. At least that makes it easier to split up and exit those contracts. My favorite deal is Cato for Kurt Thomas and Ward. NY hasn't really burned up the phone lines for that, though. Not even a rumor. And that's my point. A lot of columnist have to write copy about their team's needs. There's quite a few teams that need a center. You'd think at least one of those would mention Cato. Nope. No one repping any other team ever mentions Cato as a trade target. His reputation proceeds him. The Rockets are going to have to hire a publicist to sell the Cato New Attitude turnaround story, nationally. We saw KC play aggressive last year, but I don't think anyone else believes he can keep it up, esp for starter's minutes. I really wish it was a religous conversion or a magic pill; and not that he seems much more fomfortable as a backup. Oh well. If he's going to be our attack dog, however, at least let him really whack somebody. That's his job. You never know; if he gets really good at that, maybe he earns a reputation as an enforcer. Maybe then someone will take him.
You know, we could just simply kill RIET's argument if the search function was working. Wasn't it reported by Clutch or Doc that Cat owas getting a lot of attention, and that his value got high enough to the point where we decided to keep him? Admins, could you find this post by any chance? RIET, I've actually done research on this. Kelvin Cato makes less money on average than a starting C in the NBA, I've crunched the numbers. He makes around 1.1M more on average than an NBA backup C. Sit here and tell me that isn't EXACTLY his value. Less than the average starter, but more than the average backup. You know for a fact that Guards get payed less than big men. You also know for a fact that Cuttino Mobley is one of THE BEST bang-for-buck players in the entire league. You know he's underpaid. Then you go and say this: Mobley 5.5M Cato 7.3M If Mobley should be payed 1 more million, and C's on average BY DEFAULT make more than a G, than doesn't that make it PERFECTLY senseable that Cato makes 7M? I'm not saying Cato is a super starter. I'm not saying he has a friendly contract. I'm saying that, in the East, he could play 30 minutes a game, and earn his contract. Don't tell me the Knicks wouldn't love to have him on their team, or the Bucks, or the Mavs even.
Don't you guys believe this will be a make or break season for Cato with JVG at the reins now? JVG won't stand for anyting less than disciplined play from Cato. No more of the pouting, lackluster play we had previous to last year. I think JVG and Ewing will be as good for Cato as they will be for Yao. Hopefully Ewing will push Cato to broaden his offense and JVG will strengthen his defense. I see it going one way or the other with Cato this season, much improved or total meltdown.
You could be exactly right. We'll have to see how they "handle" each other. Cato has a fragile ego and JVG has a rep of not putting up with anything but maximum effort. There may be an explosion coming. (or a trade, sooner or later) edit: explosion has an "l" in it)
If I remember correctly, Cato had some sort of depression problem. That's why he looked so unmotivated. At the beginning of last season, he said he was "dealing with it" and his teammates were helping him. If his problem is really behind him, then he'll be a very good role player for us, and is worth the money he's making. Otherwise, let's trade him while we can.
If Cato is a good player, we should trade him to fill the void in other positions. We will get a good player in return and let maybe, for example, Collier(I know he's off to Greece) to play Cato's role.The contribution of a quality 3 over our current 3's in 30 minutes from a Cato trade, will be a lot better than Cato's contribution over his replacement, like Collier in 15 minutes. If Cato is a bad player having a good year, we should trade him for the simple season of buy low, sell high, errr ... no, buy high, sell high. Either way, Cato needs to be traded when opportunity presensts itself.
I am sorry but I have to say this and I apologize in advance - anyone who thinks Cato is a stud is simply a compound 1diot. To say he is adequate is pushing? People who do not pay attention to history end up being burned over and over again. Cato MUST BE MOVED soon. His present "distorted" valued is bound to go down very very soon. He lack a professional's work ethic to say the least. As far as I am concerned he is surplus to requirements.
Yao played 82 games last year, averaging 29.0 minutes a game. Cato backed up at 17.1 mpg. Even if Yao averages 34.0 mpg, there will still be at least 14 mpg per game for a back up center. There were times when our defense and rebounding got better when Yao went out and Cato came in. If Yao is injured for 10 games, this team's chances would be tough if we don't have a real back up center. I still want to see him play some back up power forward. He's a center, and he's only 29, and he uses his body well against Shaq and other big men. His value won't diminish if he remains healthy.
Now I know you are yarning complete rubbish. Cato uses his well again Shaq? . Now that is freaking funny. It is obvious you did not watch "Yao Vs Shaq" I & II otherwise you would not have urtered such untruth. Stick to what you know or at least witnessed with your naked eyes.
Sane, basiclly I agree with you. I think Cato's contract, if moved to another team, is a fair contract. In the east, he can start in a few teams, and his contract is reasonable for that. Having said that, I must say he is being underused here so his contract is a luxury that we can not afford now. We have higher priorities, such as PF and SF positions. He is like a stack of cash under the mattress not creating much return. It is better to use it in exchange for some commodities that we can use fully.
I have brought up the idea of playing Cato at 4 a long time ago, but it seems most people here don't think that is a good idea. Let's see if JVG can do that. Putting Cato on Shaq gives Shap free walks to the basket 9 out of 10 times.
Tell me how much better Kelvin Cato is than Vladimir Stepania. Tell me please. Vladimir Stepania is your average backup Center. How much will Vladimir Stepania get this year in free agency. Wait til he signs and that's exactly how much Cato is worth and not 1 penny more. I guarantee you he won't get more than $4 million per year. No backup is worth $24 million for 3 years. Of course Im sure the Knicks would much rather have an $8 million per year Kelvin Cato for the next 3 seasons over Kurt Thomas making $5.4 million.
Once again. if Nesterovic is worse than Olowokandi then why did Minnesota prefer to keep Nesterovic over Olowokandi and offer him more money? Why? of course you know more about NBA value than either the San Antonio Spurs or Minnesota Timberwolves or Bill Duffy who represents both players to fair market value salaries. And how is Nesterovic so much different than say Andre Miller making $6 million or James Posey making $6 million. They are in the same category in terms of caliber players.
I agree with that 100%. Whats this abotu Minnesotta offering more to Kandi? They had no cap space, so all they could offer was teh MCE. If they somehow did offer Nesterovic more money, it's through bird rights or early bird rights, in which case by NBA law they couldn't Kandi as much as Nesterovic. So we can stop that argument RIGHT THERE. Stepania and Cato bring different things. Cato is more athletic, a better defender, most probably stronger, and a better shotblocker. If Stepania is as good as Cato, then he would be signed to the minimum at least by now. Stepania is dying trying to find a team. I guarantee you an FA Cato would have found a team by now after the season he had last year. RIET, one thing you need to understand and stop acting like you don't know is that big men get paid more than Guards or F's. If two players have the same talent, one is 6'1, and the other 7'0, don't you think the 7' footer will make tons more money? So we agree that big men are paid more than Guards and F's, right? BTW, just so you know, Kurt Thomas is playing out of position, can't block for ****, is undersized, and is more foul prone than Cato. Check out how many times Cato grabbed 9 or more reboudns off the bench last season. Cato can average 9 rebounds in 30 minutes easily, as well as block 2 shots. The Knicks would love to have that. I just wanted to answer someone that said "who willw ant Cato in about 2 years when he's playing x minutes"? If Cato serves us well for the next 2 seasons, averaging 15 minutes in both seasons (unlikely, but its your scenario), then we can trade him when he's in the final year of his contract, because players making 8.5M who are in the last year of their contract, and AREN'T old and broken down are worth a LOT. Even when theyr'e old and broken down, they're worth a lot.
Give me a break. 1. Minnesota did not want Olowokandi. If they viewed them equally, why wouldn't they just let Nesterovic go and pay Kandi the MLE. They preferred to keep Nesterovic even if it meant it would cost them more money. 2. And when Minnesota signed Kandi, why did they give him a 3 year contract instead of the 6 that Nesterovic received? 3. Why didn't San Antonio (who was under the cap) sign Olowokandi instead of Nesterovic. You're right. We can stop this argument. GAME OVER League minimum? I see. You think Kelvin Cato is worth $8 million but Stepania isn't even close because he hasn't been signed. Here's news for you. There is nobody that would argue Cato is much better than Vladimir Stepania. When has Kelvin Cato ever proven he could play more than 24 minutes in the league. Please provide the evidence here. Cato may be stronger and more athletic but that has not translated into basketball performance. Cato is better defensively and Stepania is better offensively but other than that, they are the same caliber player. Bottom Line: If given the option, Would you right now sign Kelvin Cato to a 3 year, $24 million dollar contract
