So this is disrespectful to Terrence Williams and Jordan Hill, who make a combined salary of what I suggest Yao should be making? Suuuuuure... they should consider themselves lucky to even be in the league.
I agree with OP in principle. Vet minimum up to 1 million a year to take up 12 spot. The upside is more than most min players. Probably wouldn't do more than 3 years. Until yao is dead or retired he should remain a rocket
I cannot wait to see the traffic around here once Yao is gone for good. I stand by my statement that players value is based on demand, and there will be little demand from anytime to give Yao a big contract. I'm not sure who thinks Yao is going to come back and play 50-70 games a year for a few years, that is a pipe dream. Plus with his skillset you have to tailor your game to his style of play which affects the team when he is not out there. We had a decent run with Yao, now its time to move in another direction, at least Houston has been successful with center's so maybe we will get lucky in the next few drafts.
Would be a good idea on the Rockets part to resign him in the 6-7 mil range just in case he can play in a few years again. I really think Yao needs to get away from the Rockets training staff and hook up with whoever rehabilitated BIg Z. Short of the Rockets signing Yao, if Yao ends up rehabbing back to serviceable playing ability, I could see him someday signing with the Heat. Riley loves comeback players.
Which explains why both teams are mired in mediocrity. It is what's up front that counts. Poor decision making is a habit. Successful in business does not always equal successful in "sports business." I think both owners are sentimental and allow personal feelings and relationships to effect their personnel decisions. Not to say that both aren't also about money. With Les it is the "Chinese" connection and with McNair, the stadium is still full, so what me worry.
For all the heat that McLane has taken for "holding on too long"...McNair and Alexander have nearly cornered the market in that endeavor.
i see your point but this hurts the organization as we will bei n this same position a year from now or whenever yao is cleared to play again, 24 minutes, work him back in slowley, constantly adjusting the rotation, plus if yao is here, he will keep being regarded as the best center and #1 option. It will keep morey from going after centers in hopes that yao can stay injury free.
We already have a couple of centers. What centers do you think Morey could go after realistically that would make a difference?
FOOL'S GOLD seriously, how many times do we have to see it? how many doctors have to come out and say, "man, these superbig players just can't stay healthy....their bodies aren't designed for the grind of the NBA game." ??? how many times do we have to revisit the players who've played before him at 7'5" or greater whose careers tracked EXACTLY as Yao's has, with even less minutes played than Yao has?? he is a great dude...and i get the fanaticism over him...i really do. easily the most likeable guy the rockets have had in a long, long time. but he can't stay healthy....that's not his fault. but committing a roster spot to this guy is a distraction and is a waste.
Distraction yes, but at least a positive distraction because it gives us hope, however faint it me be. Don't act like one out of 15 roster spots would not be worth it. It's not as if the Jerome Taylors and Terrence Williamses of the world occupying that roster spot would make more of a difference. Heck, we were willing to give a roster spot to Dampier, who is like 57 and never was and never will be half the player Yao was and potentially could be if this gamble works out.
I don't see anything positive about that distraction. Seriously. Nothing at all. By the end of this year we'll have 164 Rockets games, of which Yao participated in 5...and those 5 were with a cap on minutes. Back up (include this season) and over the last five seasons, (2006/7 through end of this season) he will have played in 182 out of the 410 Rockets games.....that's 44% of the games over 5 seasons. If this were a freak injury, I'd get it. But this is EXACTLY the kind of injury that we expected...that doctors talked about before we drafted him...that makes his career mark the same trajectory of every other player who has played at his size. I would rather give Terrence Williams a shot. I'd rather see that. Seriously. No kidding. It's time to stop pretending. It's ok to acknowledge we've hit the end and move on. I don't think there's anything insensitive about that. And from an organization standpoint, I think it needs to happen...as you know, I think it needed to happen a while back.
If we are talking about a 3 year plan, there could be centers in the future draft which we would pass up on because they will be hoping Yao can come back strong this year and play a full season. That aside from the distraction and uncertainty of the rotation, then a year from now or 2 years having him start up again with the 24 minute limit and going from an uptempo team to a slower one. Moneywise it's not much of a gamble, you maintain the chinese fans who became fans just because of yao along with maintaining the revenue, but it's no good for the team's performance.
