Real GM shows Willis at $3 mill this year and $0 for next year. Why would the Nugz let him go for a second when his contract expires this year. At worst he is a cheap insurance policy? Does Kevin maintain a home in Houston? It might be a slight influence on how happy he is to be traded here, and, if he shows us he is still a player, might persuade him to take a veterens minimum next year.
Now I'm starting to feel better about this season. Good trade CD. glynch I like your analysis of the improved team. I have to agree with you. I didn't really feel that way until this trade and reading your post has given me more of a positive feeling for the season up coming. GO ROCKETS!!!!!!!!!
WELCOME KW!!!!!!! I think this guy is a perfect fit. he knows the coaches, the system and he is a proven hard worker that filled in quite admirably when Dream and Chuck went down a few seasons ago. If anything, this will push Cato to play harder.
I consider Willis, at 38, better than Olajuwon at this stage in his career. Any doubters shoud take a look at Olajuwon's stats last night: Hakeem Olajuwon C 22 0-11 0-0 1-2 5 5 10 1 1 0 1 4 1
The last thing I think of when looking at Willis is a "Cato body". Willis has always had and upper body of steel. I'm not even sure if Cato has a chest. Willis' workouts are legendary and I think that has helped keep him somewhat productive for this long in his career. The weird thing is with that great upper body he has the legs of a bird. Old School
I must say I am very disappointed . I live in Toronto (By the way The Dream went 0-10 last night against Utah and looked really tired) but have been a Rockets fan my whole life. Watching Willis in Toronto was awful. Someone said in a previous post that Willis was dubbed the Black Hole because once the ball went in to him it never came out. True to an extent, as he would look to do some awful post up-jump hook, and inevitably he would loose the ball off of his knee. Trading him for Keon Clark was one of the great things Toronto ever did.
Have to agree with you and crispee, Thanos. I got a little overzealous because I was so happy to see this happen. KT has played great this pre-season, and deserves to start opening night at the 4. Finally, I will get to see the Rockets tonight on League Pass...I can't wait. BTW - My trivia question has still gone unanswered...Who was Willis traded for when he left the Rockets?
Willis does not have to keep up. He has to rebound and make the outlet pass, something that Cato has not mastered. Cato is such a bad rebounder that our guards have to go in and help out, which effectively kills the break. Picking up Willis for one year while MoTay is out is an excellent move.
"Coming off a terrific season in which he averaged over 16 points and over 8 boards, the Rockets dealt Willis in the summer of 1998 for two first round draft picks from Toronto, picks that would be used to select Mirsad Turkcan and Bryce Drew respectively." Got it from the best source in the net. check the front page. Talk about major mistakes huh? I'm glad we got the big guy back. Even if that jump hook of his always made me nervous... Also from the front page: Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel wasn't pleased with the deal. "He's a double-double every night for us since McDyess is out," said Nick. "And we definitely need that right now out of a big man. It will be tough, that's all I can say." LOL! If you guys feel like sending LaFrentz our way too, we still have the a Wizard, a Lanky guy and a cement shoes kinda center to spare...
I think that this is a great last minute deal, Jackson would have been awsome, but adding Willis at the last minute is a nice bonus that I didn't think would happen.
a couple of first rounders in '98, wasn't it Manny? I'd say many a team and many a sports writer are in for a rude awakening this season. The Rockets are suddenly solid in three positions and strong in two. Kevin Willis rocks. Do you guys remember that just a few years ago, he was the core player of the team, when that team included Barkley and Dream? I am very, very excited. This is one of those role player pickups that other teams were afraid of seeing the Rockets pull off. The Rockets Center position just went from Kelvin Cato and Jason Collier to Kelvin Cato and Kevin Willis. Start the season now.
I forgot about the draft picks. I was referring to the fact that they got Roy Rogers from the Raptors. Roy was with the Rockets for about a month before the season started and then traded to the Bulls for Quitten. Isn't this right or am I getting this confused with something else? BTW - Whatever happened to Roy Rogers?
My thoughts exactly. Few players could fit our needs as well as Willis does. We are ready to rock n' roll!!!!!! Our team has made a quantum leap from last season. Wait until Mo gets back. Be afraid. Be VERY afraid of the Rockets.
Hey, great news! I always liked Willis for what he brought to the table: muscle. Yeah, his shot is strange, but all I care about are the rebounds (and the eventual putbacks and dunks). Oh, yeah... and whipping Cato's ass into shape. If I recall correctly, he was also a pretty sharp-dressed guy, right? I think the Chronicle always bagged on him (or applauded him) about his fashion sense. Why do I bring this up? I have no idea. Just something I remember from the old days of KW...
Folks, I LOVE THIS TRADE! (Some recycled stuff from another of my posts) Kevin Willis is one of the strongest guys in the NBA and a damn hard worker who stays in great shape. (Have you seen Shaq try to post up on him in the past? Talk about holding your ground!) He's also got a minor reputation as a dirty player (but for our frontline, that's a good thing!). Think a stronger Charles Oakley without the bad attitude and 3 more inches. Look at our big men before Willis....we have Mo Taylor, Kelvin Cato and the worthless Jason "No vertical doughboy" Collier as well as a pair of talented but undersized young big men in Eddie Griffin and Terence Morris. Willis perfectly fills three major needs we have....size, rebounding, and enforcer-style bruising toughness. His scoring and interior post-up ability is an added bonus! Willis has always been a solid rebounder and he knows how to put the ball in the basket. Considering the very strong possibiliy that he could be putting up similar numbers to Patrick Ewing and possibly Hakeem (9 and 9 a game), I'd say the Rockets made out as bandits! KUDOS to the Rockets front office for exploiting an existing situation to their advantage! Look at it this way....Denver for some reason wants younger blood, so they give up Kevin Willis and scrub Aleksandar Radojevic to Milwaukee for a solid younger frontcourt player in Scott Williams. The Bucks give up Willis for a 2nd rounder from Houston and keeps Radojevic for a lower salary than they were paying Williams-leaving more caproom. They don't care about keeping Willis; they want the extra cap room to go after Anthony Mason! Milwaukee essentially gets the Scott Williams for Anthony Mason deal that they've been trying to swing all summer and the Rockets as a third party help Milwaukee and essentially STEAL Willis for a measly 2nd round pick! If you ask me, by getting a solid and proven need-filling player for near nothing, the Rockets front office personnel are pure geniuses in my book! I am stoked about our team!!!
With Willis you know what your getting , A solid Low post Player with 8 to 9 boards , All we really need Willis to do is clean the glass on a nightly basis . If we get some consistent rebounding it will give Francis more time to concetrate on the offense . And if anything Cato sits on the bench for another year until we trade him . If we get anuthing out of Griffin and Rice this year we could be a good all around team .
This may have already been posted, but remember how someone said the radio said we were trying to get someone and they only gave the initials KG. Well it was actually almost right. And I'm so glad to get Willis back. While I don't know what time has done to him, he still seems to be solid and getting him to hit the boards for a year is excellent. Doing it for a second round pick is amazing.
Welcome back, Willis. Nice to have you aboard again. I think there are a couple of messages we should read into with this transaction. One, the Rockets are interested in making the playoffs this season. Two, players truly enjoy being a part of the Rockets organization, and likewise, we treat our players well. I'd like to see Willis do everything he can to help this team, not just on the court, but in practice as well. People like Cato can learn from his experiences and example. I hated to see you go, but I'm glad you're back! Now lets win some games!!!
