who cares Rockets legendary failure had an amazing 02-03 season, and then got worse and fatter every single year from then on until he became washed by age 29
If you watched the Raptors at that time though you thought you'd get a very athletic defender without good shooting numbers. The 2 time scoring ships got people's hopes up in retrospect. And you would still pay hefty sums for potential and talent, even now without knowing 100 percent what each super talented player amounted to. After all he was better than Franchise, Franchise would have gotten worse too with his drinking and drugs, so there is no holding onto him either. Yao's injury history is a narrative of its own. Good thing the NBA turned to undersized stout players who are durable. Ray Allen, a more grounded player, would have been a good alternative, but guess the Sonics wouldn't have traded with us.