Bigger blow to franchise?

About the same. But also have to consider that Greg Oden is probably done and at the very least will never be a starter on a title contender

 

In general I really have to say Portland.

Cuz we beat them to win a playoff series.

 

Houston.

Portland still has a nice team and likely still will be better than Houston.

 

Portland still has a star player in Aldridge. He can be built around. We were left with no one.

 

Did you forget about Martin and Scola? Add another piece like Dalembert and we're fighting for the 8th seed.

 

Yao.

A guard who can score is a nice thing to have, but they're easier to find than 7'6" centers, especially one who can beat you inside and out.

I miss Yao Aside from injuries, he had no major flaws. He never breaks his leg in '08, we win the finals.

 

Although in response to your poll, I'll say the Blazers suffer more. We have been good for the majority of our history, the Blazers haven't.

 

Frail blazers can't get a break at all.

 

Roy was a superstar, a franchise player.

Yao, not so much.

 

It's harder to replace an all-star big man than it it an all-star guard.

I vote for Yao.

 

Didn't forget about them. Neither of them are players that you build a franchise around. LA is that kind of player.

And fighting for an 8th seed just keeps us mediocre.

 

skilled big men that can shoot over 80% from the free throw line are much more rare than guards. Yao could shoot from any where on the court, he could pass, he could rebound, and you could depend on him to make free throws at the end of games.

 

I wouldn't say it was the retirement of Yao that hurt us at all, it was the injury. Remember, we owned Roy and the Blazers in that playoff series right before Yao went out injured (I know it wasn't his first, but definitely was the beginning of the end).

IMO, this is no contest. Rockets definitely lost more by losing Yao ... he was becoming unstoppable. Think about all the times he owned D12 ... think about how much teams are salivating over him now ... imagine how many people would be salivating over a healthy Yao!

No contest.

 

Ummmm .....

Fixed.

 

If you're going to throw in Oden on their side, throw McGrady in on ours.

 

It's tough, but when you look at the direction the two teams went after their star players left, I have to say the Rockets.

Like a previous poster said, if Yao hadn't been hurt in the playoffs, we had a good chance winning the entire thing. For all of his shortcomings, Yao was our best chance at a championship, which we won't even get close to sniffing for a long time.

 

Might as well throw in Sam Bowie and Ralph Sampson too. Both teams have a history of injuries, basically a toss-up.

 

Not even a question. Yao played more.
Off the court not worth even a mention.