he spent five years in houston, averaging a career-high 8.7 points per game in 1999-2000, and started all but two of the games he played in both the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons. on october 28, 1999, cato signed a six-year, $42,000,000 contract extension that increased in controversy as his playing statistics cooled. with yao ming as the rockets' new starting center, the rockets traded cato in a seven-player deal that sent steve francis, cuttino mobley, and cato to the orlando magic for tracy mcgrady, juwan howard, tyronn lue, and reece gaines. while he started 50 games in the 2004-05 season for the magic, his playing minutes went down significantly the following season as he battled shoulder injuries.