T-Mac is great. Yao is great. Battier is ok. This team cannot compete for a championship and it can't be built to win a championship without trading Yao or T-Mac. It's not stupid, it's not anti-rocket, it's not being a hater or a pessimist. It just is. What is the 26th pick in the draft or the MLE going to bring you that will allow us to compete with the younger, more athletic teams in front of us or those behind us which are adapting to the new NBA? That is all we will have to work with this year and the year after. We are in salary cap hell with no end in sight. Even when Juwan moves off the books we will have filled his cap room with other over-the-hill players that will only come to the rescue for multi-year deals (Hill, Bibby, Webber, etc.) I know on rare occasions a star player is found late in the draft, but do we seriously think the Rockets, with their draft history, will be able to pull that off? Yao and T-Mac are the only players on the team that will get enough in return to set this franchise straight. We either have to re-build now or re-build in 4 or 5 years of early exits. I'm not sure we can find a willing partner, but we have to give it a try. For Yao we would have to get the first pick in the draft plus an all-star (such as Gasol). For Tracy it would take the first or second pick plus an all-star or several very good young role players. Yao would require the first, because you would have to make sure Oden was available for a replacement. If Tracy was gone you could take Oden or Durant. If I was the other team, I wouldn't make either trade, but maybe there is some combination of young players out their that could make a trade work.
My point is that we will have to re-build without winning anything in a few years if we don't trade Yao or McGrady. We might as well start now and maybe have a chance at building a winner in 3 or 4 years.
I know this has been said on this board before...But what about a package with Yao for KG and McCants. I know KG's game gives us the versatility to play many forms of offense and defense. Also KG know exactly what T-Mac is going through...both of them together can really make noise in the playoffs. I don't hate Yao, I just think with him, your offensive style is limited to a low post sorta game. With Olajuwon, O'neal, Robinson, Ewing era passed us, we need to move into the "new" NBA. And with KG in the line up, we have the ability to play half court and the run and gun style of play...on defense he is not quick enough to guard the stronger PFs and his turnovers and rebounding (or lack there of) really effect his over all game. I'm not just talking about his play in the Utah series...if you remember the Golden State game towards the end of the season...they fronted him and totally took him out of his zone...And when he got the ball on the high post there was not much he could do because everytime he put the ball on the floor it was 4 on 2 fast break the other way. I understand not every team will play him like that, but its got to be a concern.
again, think before u post. u will NEVER get equal value for tmac. as well as he has played and u can convince patterson has contained his back problems, no teams will bite w/ another superstar in return. and unless u get kobe, wade, lebron, no one else can do what tmac does in this league. to score, rebound, pass, create, play defense and be able to shoulder an entire offense consistently... no one else can do that but the 3 guys i mentioned. and those guys won't be traded. and if u get fillers + picks for him, and have yao as the main guy, you have seen who we are => a 25% winning team. u want to trade yao? after how he played in this series and his lack of speed and power being exposed, u think any team would give much to have him? w/ the game moving to a faster pace and teams want quicker offense and more athetlicism, yao is not the answer. we have the foundation in tmac and yao. stick with that. add mike james/chucky atkins (trade rafer or howard to get this done), and u have head/vspan as backups. i think we should develop vspan in the offseason. then for PF, hope management tells him to improve his weight/strength. tmac had a guy like him in garrity in orlando and tmac made his career b/c he can shoot. we can use novak occasionally at PF for 15-18 mins next yr. hopefully sitting this yr taught him about the NBA alot. and trade howard. have hayes as backup. and get a decent pf like even a chris mihm is good. chris mihm is 7' and he can shoot the open J. lakers dont want him. if u saw the series v. utah. tmac could have played much better. yao could have much much better esp. w/ single coverage. so relax. our stars didn't play that well and we SHOULD have won. and our role players sucked and we SHOULD have won. stop panicking.
Does anyone think we could trade Battier or head or a combo of the 2 and get a decent 3rd option. He doesnt have to be an All-star. Just someone who could put the ball in the hoop without Yao and T-mac making it happen?
cant trade battier man, we need this guy b/c he allows another tall guy on the perimeter to help tmac out w/ defense. we basically can switch anything b/t tmac and battier on defense. head yes can be considered but only if we get another great shooter in return. and again MIKE JAMES BABY. or stevie franchise if he learns to be 3rd option
I'm not saying trade T-Mac...I agree with you on that whole point. I don't think Yao value has dropped as much as we make it sound...apparentlly he was an MVP candidate before his injury. Also, one reason why any team might consider taking Yao is also the one reason why he won't get traded...from a business prespective, Yao is Key!
I have a question for everyone who thinks we should trade YAO.. DO you all remember how good YAO was playing before the injury ? Do you all remember how DOMINANT he was ????????? I guess not...
It drives me crazy when people say "trade Howard and get a decent pf". Don't you think the Rockets would have done that already if it was possible. For the 500,000th time, you cannot trade Juwan Howard unless it is in a deal including one of our stars. It just won't happen. If it could, I wouldn't have started this thread, because I would agree that there is no reason to trade T-Mac or Yao.
Winning may not be Les' #1 priority, his net worth has increased 5(?) times in the past 5 years, why would he trade that (ie Yao) away? It is a business after all!!!
What about Battier and Head for Manu and Bruce Bowen? Or what about Battier and Head for Davis and Mike james?
If you look at the stats it isnt that bad But of course I am not a huge Manu fan either. I think he is a decent not great player. So that may be why I feel it is fair for both sides.
when i say decent, its not a star. a guy like chris mihm would work on this team. 7' and can shoot. he's out of the lakers now b/c of injury concerns but he's a decent player. at least he can rebound an defend. so no, we dont need to trade our star. lakers would love to get howard.
but winning brings even more. look at the yankees. look at the lakers. we're not winning so yao is helping us with that. now imagien if we win. winning overrides anything. yao doesn't help us in america that much since we dont get much national airtime. the only time we got some is the first yr tmac came here and out of curiosity for tmac/yao combo, they put us on.
the Lakers would only love to get Howard if they could get him for a stiff like Mihm with a worse contract. Mihm's not a PF and even if he was he is not athletic enough to help this team. We don't need one bad PF to take the place of another. We need a PF that is athletic and can help Yao on the boards and defensively. It does us no good to get another slow or undersized big man, especially if we get a bad contract in the process.
