MUTOMBO is available

[slinslin]

InsideHoops.com 7:30pm ET report: The Nets have requested waivers on Dikembe Mutumbo. An agreement between the two sides has been reached to part ways.

http://insidehoops.com/

 

[slinslin]

If we aren't somehow at least mentioned in rumors to acquire him I will be upset.

We were trying to get him for like 3 years when he was in Atlanta. He might be old and broken down but his defense still creates problems for the other teams.

He should come here , retire and play golf.

 

[3rdside]

what does 'reaching an agreement mean?' Is he a free agent now or is the contract albatross still hanging 'round his neck?

 

[slinslin]

Well if he is waived doesn't that mean that the Nets will pay the rest of his contract?
Or whatever they agreed to.

His old contract shouldn't play any role. The question is if he is playing for the veteran minimum now or wants more money.


Lets hope he isn't going to Dallas.

 

[dyle_ph1]

With the direction this team is going, I'll be very surprised if the Suns get Mutombo. The New Jersey experiment proved that Mutombo couldn't keep up in fast offenses, even with the Jason Kidd...

 

[slinslin]

Yeah but we aren't exactly a running team like New Jersey.

And I thought that Deke did extremely well in the finals and gave Duncan fits.

He would be good on the Suns starting at center and depending on matchups play more or less minutes. Just like Big Jake but much better.

Man imagine Amare and Deke guarding the basket.

 

[JCSunsfan]

If we thought this was our year, we'd be looking at him.

All he would do now is take minutes that our younger guys need to develop.

Pass.

 

[jimjames1]

With the direction this team is going, I'll be very surprised if the Suns get Mutombo. The New Jersey experiment proved that Mutombo couldn't keep up in fast offenses, even with the Jason Kidd...

Yeah, I'm about 99% sure that's true. Even if the Suns considered signing this guy, and he considered signing for what we wanted to pay him, I'm not sure he could help us anyway.

However, we need a center, and Voskhul cannot play 48 minutes. Right now we the only guy we have coming off the bench at forward is Tom Gugliota, and while I'm optimistic about his return, who really knows whether he'll be effective either.

We CAN NOT have this Tysababa or whatever his name is playing in real NBA games. Is Carbakapa really going to help us? It took Dirk Nowitzki 3 years to really be a good player in the league, and I'm guessing this guy isn't much better off than dirk was at the start of his NBA career.

Voskhul, Stoudemire, Gugliota, Carbakapa, Williams, and Tysa-baba are 5 players playing the power positiosn for us. Simply enough, that will not get it done. Stoudemire is the only legit starter in that group, Voshkul is the only guy who has proven he can be an effective bench player. Those other guys, like Gugliota and Carbakapa, might end up helping us, but we certainly can't rely on that.

I'm very excited for this season, but I just don't want to see our hopes go down the tube because the Suns think small-ball is cool. Mutombo, as slow and stiff as he is, could really solidify our front line.

 

[slinslin]

Originally posted by JCSunsfan
If we thought this was our year, we'd be looking at him.

All he would do now is take minutes that our younger guys need to develop.

Pass.

Like who?

He is good guy and I think he would only be a great mentor in practice to the younger guys.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by slinslin
Like who?

He is good guy and I think he would only be a great mentor in practice to the younger guys.

Jake, Trybansky, Zarko and Amare.

While Mutombo was an intimidating defensive threat because of his size and long arms. He was never a fundamentally sound player, especially on offense. He would have fit well with earlier Suns teams because of the need for defense, shot-blocking, and rebounding from the position.

Googs would probably fills the role of mentor from the player position and Ivaroni is the guy we hired to do it. Mentoring is part of Scott Williams job description. You can have too many voices.

I don't see Mutombo as the mentor-type, but thats just a general impression.

 

[elindholm]

Yeah but we aren't exactly a running team like New Jersey.

Apparently, that's exactly what the Suns are trying to become. All we hear now is run, run, run. Draft Cabarkapa because he can run. Take a flyer on DerMarr Johnson because he can run. Dump Tsakalidis because he can't run.

Did Mutombo have to give anything up for the agreement to be reached? If he did, that probably means that he hopes to catch on with a team where he can have a greater impact. Dallas springs immediately to mind; maybe the Mavericks would then trade Bradley for Knight.

I'm very surprised that the Nets are taking this gamble. You'd think Mutombo would be worth a fair amount just as insurance. They must really think Mourning is ready to go.

 

[slinslin]

Mutombo would take away minutes from Williams and Googs. Certainly not Amare or Trybanski who won't play anyway.

The Nets would have paid Mutombo roughly 38M$ for the next 2 seasons.
I imagine they told him that he can either ride their bench like last year or take a paycut like 8M$ and be waived so he can look for a better place to finish his career.

Don't know if money will be such a big concern for him and I don't think that Mark Cuban will offer more than the veteran minimum either because anything else would become very expensive being over the luxury tax.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Originally posted by elindholm
Did Mutombo have to give anything up for the agreement to be reached? If he did, that probably means that he hopes to catch on with a team where he can have a greater impact. Dallas springs immediately to mind; maybe the Mavericks would then trade Bradley for Knight.

I immediately thought the same thing. Mutombo is the type of presence that Dallas could use. But he would make Bradley completely redundant.

I could see the Kings interested in Mutombo. But I doubt Dikembe wants to come to the west. He won't want to tangle with Shaq 4-6 times in the reg season.

Famous words spoken everywhere, "I'm getting too old for this!"

 

[elindholm]

I don't think the Suns will pursue Mutombo. I think their plan is to play small ball until Cabarkapa comes back, then play "skill ball" (whatever that is supposed to mean) afterward.

Stoudemire will see most of his time at center. When Voskuhl sits, Gugliotta will play as many minutes as he can without getting horribly embarrassed. The rest of the time the Suns will use three guards.

I'm guessing the minutes will look something like this:

C: Voskuhl 20, Stoudemire 20, Gugliotta 8
PF: Stoudemire 15, Gugliotta 17, Marion 16
SF: Marion 24, JJohnson 16, DJohnson or Jacobsen 8
SG: Hardaway 22, JJohnson 18, DJohnson or Jacobsen 6, Marbury 2
PG: Marbury 38, Hardaway 6, Knight or Barbosa 4

This puts a lot of pressure on JJohnson (34 mpg in the above estimate). Let's hope he's ready.

 

[slinslin]

The Kings have Divac and Brad Miller.

Mutombo won't go there because the Kings are likely not interessted and Mutombo wants some playing time.

 

[slinslin]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nets-mutombo&prov=ap&type=lgns

By TOM CANAVAN, AP Sports Writer
October 4, 2003
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- The New Jersey Nets have reached a tentative agreement to buy out the contract of eight-time All Star center Dikembe Mutombo, a deal that is believed to be worth approximately $30 million.

Nets president Rod Thorn and David Falk, Mutombo's agent, brokered the deal on Saturday. It probably will be finalized on Monday, Thorn said.

The move saves the Nets about $7 million in salary owed to Mutombo through the end of next season, and it gives the four-time NBA defensive player of the year a chance to find a team where he can contribute.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I'm guessing the minutes will look something like this:

C: Voskuhl 20, Stoudemire 20, Gugliotta 8
PF: Stoudemire 15, Gugliotta 17, Marion 16
SF: Marion 24, JJohnson 16, DJohnson or Jacobsen 8
SG: Hardaway 22, JJohnson 18, DJohnson or Jacobsen 6, Marbury 2
PG: Marbury 38, Hardaway 6, Knight or Barbosa 4

This puts a lot of pressure on JJohnson (34 mpg in the above estimate). Let's hope he's ready. [/B]

Probably pretty close, but I really hope that Shawn doesn't see 16 minutes a game at pf.

I'd like to see Googs get a few more minutes, and much more of his time at center than pf.

But I guess Im picking nits.

 

[slinslin]

http://www.nba.com/nets/

Nets Statement on Mutombo
The New Jersey Nets have agreed in principle to request waivers on Dikembe Mutombo. "Dikembe is a first-class individual, and we wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors," team president Rod Thorn said Saturday, Oct. 4.

 

[slinslin]

Originally posted by elindholm


C: Voskuhl 20, Stoudemire 20, Gugliotta 8
PF: Stoudemire 15, Gugliotta 17, Marion 16
SF: Marion 24, JJohnson 16, DJohnson or Jacobsen 8
SG: Hardaway 22, JJohnson 18, DJohnson or Jacobsen 6, Marbury 2
PG: Marbury 38, Hardaway 6, Knight or Barbosa 4

.

Why would Marbury play 2 minutes at SG and Penny 2 minutes at PG?

It's tough to figure this out because it will all depend on matchups.

 

[elindholm]

I was actually thinking that Marbury's stints at SG -- they'd be zero minutes in some games, five or six minutes in others -- would be with either Barbosa or Knight at PG.

But it doesn't matter. That was just a guess.

 

[hcsilla]

Originally posted by elindholm
Did Mutombo have to give anything up for the agreement to be reached? If he did, that probably means that he hopes to catch on with a team where he can have a greater impact. Dallas springs immediately to mind;

I agree but doesn't DAL run at least as much as PHO would like to in the future?

Is Mourning a true running, finishing the fastbreak-type of C?
Not at all. And DAL still tried hardly to sign him.

If you are a running team it doesn't necessarily mean that every single player has to run up and down. A fastbreak doesn't take 5 players. Mutombo or Mourning could take a rest under their own basket (after forcing a bad shot and taking the rebound or blocking the shot itself) while the other 3-4 are finishing the fastbreak.
And they would still a very valuable contributors for their teams.
That's why DAL tried to sign Zo and will try to sign Mutombo as well and that's why also the Suns would try to sign Mutombo, IMO if they would have the money.

BTW, Suns didn't dump Tsakalidis because he can't run.
They dumped him because Tsakalidis didn't do anything which Suns would have needed.

He isn't a good defender, he isn't a shotblocker, he can't run and he doesn't have a face-to basket offensive game at all.
He is a so-so rebounder whose importance is very limited for the Suns since they have best rebounding F-duo of NBA.
Sometimes he can score from low-post which seems to be Stoudemire's task for a long time.

 

[hcsilla]

Teams who will be interested in signing of Mutombo,IMO:

DAL, PHI, NYK, POR maybe BOS and NOH.

 

[SunsTzu]

Originally posted by hcsilla
Teams who will be interested in signing of Mutombo,IMO:

DAL, PHI, NYK, POR maybe BOS and NOH.

I doubt Mutumbo would go to NO to be a back up to Magloire.

 

[capologist]

I can’t even imagine him in Celtic green. That’s about as wrong as wrong gets.

Aren’t all Celtics players required to attempt at least a hundred three-pointers per season? Vin Baker only attempted four, and they suspended him. (They claimed it was due to alcoholism and other personal issues, but that was just a cover story.)

 

[Forrestham]

Mutumbo is not the player he used to be. But in the finals he was the only player who did respectable against Duncan. If the Suns can sign him for the veteran minimum to me it is a no brainer. He can still be a defensive prescence. He can be agressive player off the bench who can guard other teams big players. He cannot run the floor but if you lower your expectations, he can help this team