ok, I know everyone here loves Yao, including myself. I'm talking about next season, Yao's 3rd, if he improves "a little bit", let's say 18.5pt/10reb/2blk, certainly not a Max player's #, should we still offer him the Max contract just for his marketing value? I know some GMs gonna still be carzy for Yao and we won't get him resigned for anything less than the Max, but if you find out 18.5/10/2 are the most Yao can get you would you sign him to the Max anyway or prefer to S&T him for some proved Max players like J. O'Neal? ok, don't get me wrong, I wish Yao the best, and I know he's already the 2nd best center anyway, and I know T-Max comes in to play with Yao. just assuming "IF" he reached his potential at 18/10/2 what we gonna to do; sign a very good Chinese center to Max contract for marketing purpose and loyoty or trade him for some deals like 1.) J. O'Neal straght up 2.) Dirk+cash (you get cash when dealing with Cuban no matter what) or Yao+Howard for Dirk+Damiper 3.) Brand+a top 5 pick 4.) Miller+BJax 5.) Camby+A. Miller ... why the other teams doing this? Yao at 18/10/2 isn't great and won't get you a title but still a very good center who makes huge profit for your business.
Yao's a capable player who continues to get better on defense and shot selection. Bill Russel was known more for the number of rings he had than the averages he got per year.
Every team in the league would pay Yao the max. If they had the room or could work out a fair trade, EVERY LAST team in the league would get Yao.
That would be the worst mistake the Rockets can do not payin him the max after all he has already done for the rockets as far as ticket sales and marketing the Rockets everywhere. He has to stay a Rocket and they know it too.
I bash Yao half the time I post in here for playing timid. Irregardless, right now I think he is worth the max.
The NBA is a business first. Yao happens to be our best product for marketing. So even if his #'s aren't max deserving, you still have to pay the guy. After signing Yao we went from having a few million fans to having a few billion fans. IMO, even if Yao knows he doesn't perform well enough to earn max money, Team Yao would still want it for all the money and media attention he brings to Houston.
I voted trade him as a joke... I thought I would be the only one ... but there are 8 more of you out there (at last count) - who may not have been joking
I would give him the max whether or not he average 18/10/2. As long as the rox are in the play offs, are perennial title contenders and crowd drawers, im going to bite the bullet. Besides, with Tmac around, he doesnt have to be that heavy scorer. And hes smart enough to pick his spots. But i personally beliv that hes going to top that in his third year in the league. Expect yao a 20/11/2.5 player. A second team all nba and hopefully along with tmac a strong contender for this year's mvp.
if we don't sign yao to the max, EVERY single team out will definetly try to. He wont be on the market for 2 days without the max being thrown his way left and right.
If this, if that. Do you really believe your "if" would come true? If Francis played like Kevin Johnson, we wouldn't have traded him.
Yao would have to regress significantly for him, over at least 2 years, for him not to get the max from the Rockets. Even if Yao plays badly next year, the Rockets have another year(they picked up his option) to see how he does. And if he still sucks in his 4th year, then the Rockets can simply not match any offers other teams would make. Of course, even if Yao peaks at 18/10 a game, he's still more than deserving of a max contract. After all, Magloire and his 13/10 is worthy of an all-star appearance, and Dampier and his 12/10 is worth a 5-year/$75 mil contract. Yao can probably get T-Mac money on the market if it weren't for the CBA holding his contract down.
I guess it is difficult to confuse DESERVE with SHOULD. To deserve a max contract, it would depends on how he get his 18/10/2. If he plays like a p***y, misses 60% of his shots, gets trash boards and points in garbage minutes, he doesn't deserve it. But if he plays hard, anchors the defence (which to his credit, he does already) and draws triple teams (which explains his 18 PPG) then he definitely deserves it. Although, as people pointed out already, 29 teams would be chasing after him whether he deserves it or not, which is where SHOULD comes in. PS. Since Yao is already an 18/9/2 player, I would think it's virtually impossible for him not to get more than 18/10/2 unless he busts his knee or something.
