Posted by BigSm00th:
But they still wouldn't have a second scorer. It had to have been Sprewell/Thomas for Mutumbo, and Layden was smart to pass up on it.
more insight on the mutombo trade:
http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=608170
MONROE: Mutombo a coup for Nets
BY MIKE MONROE
FOXSports.com
Aug. 6, 2002 7:40 p.m.
The New Jersey Nets just took a giant step — exactly how far can Dikembe Mutombo go in one stride? — toward another Eastern Conference championship, maybe even an NBA title.
A team with the best point guard in basketball and one of the rising talents at power forward stood no chance in the 2002 NBA Finals against the Lakers because it had no answer for Shaquille O'Neal.
But Mutombo remains one of the few centers in the game capable of guarding O'Neal without help. He did a decent job of it in the 2001 NBA Finals, when he still played for the 76ers, though O'Neal dominated Game 5 after too many of us media types began suggesting that Mutombo might be the Shaq Stopper.
Now Mutombo's a Net, and the message is clear: New Jersey wants to be better prepared for the Lakers in NBA Finals 2003.
But the question remains, how much does Mutombo have left?
I know there are a lot of NBA observers who believe he's got nothing left in his tank, that he's right on the heels of his idol, Patrick Ewing, as far as being a sad, washed-up case. And it's true his contract will be badly bloated, relative to his contribution, by the time it runs out after the 2004-05 season, when he will have to be paid $19.7 million.
But Mutombo last season played 80 of 82 games and averaged 36.3 minutes, which is a lot of playing time for a 35-year-old, which is what he was last season. Please stop with that malarkey about Mutombo being older than advertised just because he was born in what used to be Zaire.
The Sixers last season didn't have a legitimate backup center — ironically, they just got back MacCullouch, who had allowed Larry Brown to limit Mutombo to 33.7 minutes a game the previous season — so Mutombo played much more than he should have, a fact even Brown acknowledged Tuesday.
In New Jersey, Mutombo can rest while both Jason Collins and Aaron Williams get some time at center. I expect his average minutes to drop back to around 30 minutes a game, which is going to keep him a lot fresher for the playoffs.
Go ahead and point out that his numbers slipped, which they did, but he still was the No. 6 rebounder in the entire league. And the No. 5 shot blocker.
Mutombo's scoring average dropped to a career-low 8.8 points, but how much will he need to score in New Jersey, where Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Kerry Kittles and Richard Jefferson will put up the big offensive numbers?
For the Nets, I say the deal was win-win. Not only did they get Mutombo, they got rid of Keith Van Horn.
Remember Kenyon Martin after Game 4 of The Finals?
Martin ripped into some teammates he said didn't have enough heart to be on the court with him and Jason Kidd. He refused to name names, but he didn't have to. Everyone in the interview room at Continental Airlines Arena after Game 4 knew the remarks of the Nets' lion-hearted young power forward were directed right at Van Horn.
"It's just a game to some people," Martin said back on June 12. "I live and die for this game. Some people, they just approach it, 'Oh, well.' That's their attitude.
"Some guys on the team, they play hard every day. They play with their heart. I feel I'm one of them. Nothing I can do about nothing else that don't want to help Kenyon. I talked all season, tried to motivate people. Did that to the point I was tired of talking.
"It's difficult to deal with," he said. "It's the most important game of our lives, and people just didn't bring it."
Martin did give us a pretty big hint. Asked at whom his remarks were directed, Martin asked the media wretches to check the stat sheet from Game 4.
In 31 minutes, Van Horn had scored a whopping seven points and gotten four whole rebounds.
Now Van Horn's a 76er, playing for Larry Brown, who will love his ability to score from the perimeter and hate his unwillingness to mix it up inside.
The Nets get back Todd MacCullouch, a salary cap pawn in this deal.
He's no Mutombo, at least not on defense.
The Nets just got a lot meaner and tougher.
Van Horn just got out of a locker room where he clearly wasn't wanted.
Senior writer Mike Monroe can be reached at his e-mail address, mmonroe@foxsports.com
8/8/2002 9:46 AM