You know the trump in all Yao's worth arguments has always been "how many 7'6" guys can do what Yao does?" None, but, what good is being 7' 6" if there are smaller players putting up the exact same or better numbers? I would like to see some numbers though on how much more revenue he brings to the franchise. Also, didn't somebody state that the league evenly splits the merchandising profits amongst all teams?
I will put it to you very simply. Because Mcgrady see's the same - or even more sometimes - amount of double and triple teams those guys recieve - and yet, he still is scoring more. And guy, I don't know if you've been watching, but Mcgrady is playing shut-down-defense this year in crucial parts of the game. To say Mcgrady is not as good as those guys, is not as vlauble to his team as those guys, just means you don't really know what the hell you are talking about. And you're gonna have to live with that tonight.
I don't think MeMac can be as good as these guys until he brings the intensity that KG brings every night, and provides the sort of fiery leadership Da Kid provides for his team. As for Duncan and Shaq, I come from the old school of big men win championships, in my mind, no Guard can ever equal a big man's importance. I think MeMac is top 6 right now. KG, Duncan, Shaq, Kobe, Lebron, and then MeMac.
Do people have any ideas what a Max contract is worth per year? I bet most people here have no ideas. Most people also have no ideas how much a center with a 18-8 is paid today in the NBA.
People who think Yao doesn't deserve the max must not have watched the NBA for very long. It's only recently that the NBA have instituted such a limit on the max salary of players. Because of this limitation, the very top players in the game are UNDERPAID. Look at Tim Duncan. How in the world is he paid only half of Shaq? Because Shaq came into the league a few years early. Because Shaq signed his 7yrs/$125 mil(?) contract during a time when you can give a player whatever you have under the cap. Just look at the salary figures of the time. Mourning at 7/110, J. Howard at 7/105. Garnett got something like 6/$100, I can't remember. Heck, I think Horace freaking Grant got 5/50. The question is not whether Yao is worth the max. Heck, it's not even whether he's worth 6 yrs/~$85 mil extention after next year. It's really simply a matter of what we can do with the money that not giving Yao the max contract provides. Due to the Rockets salary cap situation, the answer is absolutely NOTHING. Even if we give Yao about $10 mil less than the max, similar to K-Mart's contract, the Rockets still would be in salary cap hell for the forseeable future. So if Yao wants the max, why in the world wouldn't the Rockets give it to him?
Please correct me if i am wrong. I guess it's around 100mill for 6,7 years. I am not sure if you are aware that Rockets' value jumped 30% while T-Mac wasn't around, we had the same old SF and Cat etc. The X-factor were Yao + one year of JVG. I would assume that Yao helped half of those 30%, do you agree? Let's leave another half for beloved JVG and some other intangibles. That 30% is 100 mill+. Yao makes 4 mill annually. I would assume this year will be another jump, because of T-Mac. But my thinking is that Yao will still have a big impact in the net worth growth, besides T-Mac came because of Yao. Now, you please enlighten me by providing the statistic facts, how much a center with a 18-8, who draws double team night in night out, alters multiple shots, and is a growing cash cow, who also happens to have a little bit potential because of his height and skills, was/is/will be get paid today in the NBA. So we can figure out how much he should get paid in your book. By the way, if I am an employer, one of my employee can brings me 100 mill, and he wants 10 mill from it at some point. I would probably give that to him, and honestly look into his eyes and tells him that how fortunate I am to have him. To show my appreciation, I would probably add another 1 mill as bonus. I don't know about you.
Gasol is producing similar or slightly higher number than Yao's. His salary can be found at hoopshype com. So pretty much Yao's starting salary from the new contract should be around 10.9 mil/year. That's assuming Yao can still produce the same numbers as he is doing now. With the way Yao is playing, I am not sure that's going to be the case.
Dropping TMac and Lebron off your list. Neither of them ever brings their team to a title-contender level. They are promising but they are not there yet. What I mean is you can't either of them to the TD, SHARK, KOBE, KG table, it's purely disrespect for the winners.
Here is a salary list H O O P S H Y P E. 1. Shaquille O'Neal Miami $27,696,429 2. Dikembe Mutombo New Jersey / Houston $18,771,511 3. Allan Houston New York $17,531,250 -. Chris Webber Sacramento $17,531,250 5. Kevin Garnett Minnesota $16,000,000 6. Jason Kidd New Jersey $14,791,000 7. Anfernee Hardaway New York $14,625,000 -. Antoine Walker Atlanta $14,625,000 -. Shareef Abdur-Rahim Portland $14,625,000 -. Stephon Marbury New York $14,625,000 -. Zydrunas Illgauskas Cleveland $14,625,000 -. Ray Allen Seattle $14,625,000 -. Allen Iverson Philadelphia $14,625,000 14. Michael Finley Dallas $14,609,375 15. Grant Hill Orlando $14,487,000 -. Keith Van Horn Milwaukee $14,487,000 -. Jalen Rose Toronto $14,487,000 -. Tracy McGrady Houston $14,487,000 -. Latrell Sprewell Minnesota $14,462,500 20. Tim Duncan San Antonio $14,260,640 21. Kobe Bryant LA Lakers $14,175,000 22. Eddie Jones Miami $13,455,000 23. Brian Grant LA Lakers $13,233,434 24. Tim Thomas New York $12,900,000 25. Antawn Jamison Washington $12,584,688 -. Vince Carter New Jersey $12,584,688 -. Dirk Nowitzki Dallas $12,584,688 28. Paul Pierce Boston $12,569,688 29. Damon Stoudamire Portland $12,500,000 30. Glenn Robinson Philadelphia $12,071,250
