So you are saying that: if Denver agreed to a Yao Ming/Carmelo Anthony trade AND if Carmelo and the Rockets went at minimum to the 2nd round AND if Carmelo bolts to the Knicks after season ends AND if Yao Ming comes back next year as Rocket then you wouldn't be happy? At minimum we tried to keep Carmelo here at the cost of nothing. Best case, he likes it and stays...
No way they do that, remember the Hornets are owned by the NBA now, there is no way that the NBA will let Chris Paul leave that franchise, if he leaves, they will not be able to sell that franchise.
I agree on PHX being a target. They are headed out of the playoffs. And they are hurting financially. Nash wasting away. Next target: Atlanta. They can't win in the East with what they've got. And they are looking at like $63 million in payroll next season. Can you say Joe Johnson? Another target: Utah. They are in the luxury tax this season. Jefferson/Okur for Yao/Hill???
Yaos' not coming back this season...and if you meant next season, well yao would be a FA by the time he's ready to play, so it doesnt matter what that team does or doesn't do. Yao has his own trainer to get him back in shape.
Paul is under contract for 2 more years I believe. Like you said, the NBA owns the team now. Their goal is not wins, not starpower, not even making money necessarily. Their #1 goal above all else is to SELL the team, to a new owner. And ask yourself why did the NBA buy the team from Shinn in the first place? Because he couldn't sell it to anyone else, and needed to be bailed out. There were no other buyers, WITH Chris Paul. Why? Because they are bleeding red from all orifices. They are losing money so bad that any buyers would be hopping on to a sinking ship. The only way to make it attractive to buyers is to cut costs. And their two biggest contracts are Paul and Okafur. It is not as simple as just talent for talent, especially when the NBA is involved now.
The most bitter moment of my rockets life was Hakeem not retiring as a rocket. This won't even touch it. If anything I like this move. Lets see if we can get something good back for this (bad) investment named Yao Ming.
Not to mention the owners are going to be pushing really hard for a franchise tag. And I believe he has one more year and then an opt out....IIRC. DD
True, we could get into conspiracy theories, the easiest way for the Hornets to move out of town is to trade Chris Paul. Chris Paul is traded, team goes in the tank, fans stop caring about team, attendance drops, valid reason to move the team. Still, I don't see anyway they can do it unless the Hornets fall off a cliff and drop out of the playoffs. There's no way they can justify blowing up a playoff team.
I like the idea of packaging him with Brooks for a star-caliber player. If we can't get a star-caliber player, we should not trade him. We are full of good role players and taking on some horrible multi-year contract could even set our franchise back a couple of years or so.
Rashard Lewis anybody? Not sure if Washington has him in their longterm plans, but he would be a perfect fit at SF in Adelman's sytem and a HUGE upgrade over Battier.
PHX I don't see it, They are below the luxury tax and they signed a lot of new contracts this offseason. Plus they have the Vince Carter contract expiring this offseason. Atlanta, I don't see Morey acquring that albatross of a contract considering SG is our strongest position. Utah I don't see it either, considering they acquired Jefferson on a trade exception. They also have a deron wlliams situation to worry about, so I don't think they would want to piss him off with his contract extension coming up. Honestly I can't see a single realistic scenario for a Yao trade. There is no big Free agents this year, so teams are not really in a rush to shed contracts.
Well, considering half of that has already happened, only a matter of time before the other shoe drops- team in the tank, Paul is traded. And the "fans stop caring" and "attendance drops" is with the team IN the playoffs. They are currently 26th in the league at under 14,000. Imagine if they start losing(like right now) and actually drop out?
This could be great news for several reasons. Yes it could put us in the mix for a trade to acquire a superstar or at least a significant upgrade. I would hate to see Yao in another uniform, so I hope there have been talks about him returning on the cheap or coming back here to retire a Rocket. This said you have to trade him if presented the chance to get better.
Firstly, I have to say that trading Yao would be a sad day in Rocketland. But it's a day that has been written on the wall, and it makes sense to do so. He's been great for the city of Houston, a true class act. It's just too bad injuries have derailed his career.. It's too bad he probably we have to take this course but it's the best course there is to take. Sadly, Yao is done. Secondly, we can speculate all we want on possible trades, but remember Morey always seems to throw curveballs. So no matter what you are thinking it's probably no where close to what the actual trade is lol.
If Dream can be moved anyone can. Hell, look at how many times Shaq has been traded and he has been able to play. I'm assuming Yao is done so if you can move his "contract" for something then that's a good move.
