<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 3 2008, 07:01 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ly_yng @ May 3 2008, 07:53 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ May 3 2008, 11:36 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>His per 36 minute rebounding numbers are better the 3 full seasons in Houston than they were on the Nets and his FG% is much better.
He has also played better in the playoffs for Houston than he did for the Nets.
Scott's inability to use him also caused the Nets to buyout Deke and have a huge unmovable load on the cap for two seasons.
Deke has fully demonstrated that he can still be useful and the Nets and Scott screwed the pooch.</div>
First of all, the fact that Deke was hurt all year needs to be considered as one big factor.
Secondly, this was a big transition year for Deke. In addition to all the changes NI mentioned league-wide, that season in NJ was when Deke was forced out of the spotlight and into the position of role-player. He plays about 15 minutes a night now. The season before NJ in Philly he played 31. That's a mental adjustment, and one that he wasn't ready to make for another year and a half.
Also, Deke now plays on a slow team, relative to the rest of the league. The Byron Scott Nets were a fast-paced team relative to the rest of the league. I don't have stats to back this up, but the conventional wisdom was that the Nets played best when they were running, and Deke CLEARLY slowed the team down. That's not a problem in Houston - they're used to being slower paced that whoever they're facing.
Byron Scott had a tougher job than JVG ever did as far as integrating Deke goes.
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It goes beyond that one season though. Scott's use of him convinced Thorn that he had to buyout Deke and leave a giant 2 year untradeable albatross on the cap for two more seasons.
Deke proved he could still be effective in a limited role and the Nets would have been better off with him.
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So let me get this straight, paying Mutombo $37 million over two years to come off the bench was a smarter move than paying him $30 million in a buyout. In the last year of his contract, Mutombo would have been paid nearly $20 million, and would have been the second highest paid player in the league that year.