Malone was 6'9".... Barkley and Boozer are both shorter than Griffin. Griffin is a hard worker and will be a good player in the NBA. He will never be Yao but if Yao is permanently broken then Griffin would be better.
I'm curious to hear from the legion of Yao fans that viciously attacked me for having the sheer audacity to "claim" his injury history was a concern. I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous. If you're not at least considering dealing Yao, then you aren't being serious with yourself about pursuing an NBA championship.
Agreed, Hakeem was traded, Malone was traded, Hayes was traded, Kareem was traded, Wilt was traded...... The only reason Yao would not be considered in a trade, is because of the $$$$ he brings in to Les, otherwise the team would consider ANY trade that made them better. I am not saying "GIVE YAO AWAY" but if you are serious about a championshiop, you would at least listen to proposals.....especially considering his injury history, and his shortcomings on the court. At the end of the day, I hope Yao gets better, and leads the Rockets to a championship, but the more often his feet get injured, the more likely they will again...and that SCARES me from an asset management perspective. And, it is why I made this thread. I wish you could reset the poll and do it again and compare the two.... DD
DD, I think what the older heads kinda see is the handwriting on the wall. Part of being great is being on the floor and that's something Yao can't do. Also, impacting the game in ways when teams neutralize u offensively, another thing yao can't do. I'm just tired of tracy and yao spending so much time hanging with the doctors. I think this ship has sailed unless a major,major piece is added. Just as u talked about getting griffin, it would be awesome to have griffin and amare. Oh well, I guess we will ride this cash cow thing out.
I think that the concerns regarding Griffin are legitimate - he isn't a sure thing by any means. With that said, you aren't exactly going to attract a king's ransom for Yao in his declined state. This is one scenario that would seem to make some sense for both sides (as the Clippers would be unloading other contracts), and I can't see much likelihood in getting a better offer than that. Amare or not, you just can't build a team with a $15 million probable hole in your lineup. Assets are too scarce for that.
I'd do it now. Only Clippers can use an injured Yao. Camby, Griffin, Amare, Scola in the front........I say bring on the Lakers..
Well, they're obviously planning on (making the right decision) and addressing the $21million part of that equation via trade. The other $15million doesn't make much sense unless it is somehow clarified that Yao genuinely is an irreplaceable financial boon for the franchise (as opposed to the revenue generated by the Toyota Center). I guess we will never know as Rockets2K's inquiry into that very question degenerated into an embarrassing example typical of most threads on this board with "Yao" in the title.
If it were me, I would trade both and start over. Orlando,utah, and portland has shown u can start over and be stronger. Yao and battier for Camby,griffin and thornton would be cool with me. Tracy and brooks for amare and barbosa. Just start over .
I wouldn't trade Yao for Griffin, but I'd definitely entertain offers from other teams for Yao. People keep talking about how much medicine has improved and all that, but that hasn't kept Yao from missing huge chunks of games since 2006 with foot problems. The writing is on the wall with Yao, I'm afraid.
Not only losing the hardest working big man, team will probably lose hundreds of millions dollars in commercial ads, TV broadcasting, player explores and popularity in the league or the world. On top of that, what do you think that Rockets can get and keep all the solid players with cheap salaries? Besides money issues, the deal is good and solid. However, NBA is all about money. The owner of Rockets are all businessmen, Les only care about $$$$ and $$$ are much greater than a championship.
Nail, meet hammer. Agreed, Les wants to win, but I think he wants money more.... It is his team.....but as a fan...dang.....that sucks. DD
I would consider trading Yao for a lottery pick and package. Not for Griffin specifically. Yao being injury prone is worrisome to have to think about it. And I don't believe for a second that the idea hasn't crossed Les's mind ... I think this cash cow thing is over blown by fans. Anyway sometimes I feel like starting over from scratch and going to the lottery for a couple of seasons and building from the ground up. If we were under CD I would probably feel different but Morey exudes confidence that the job wouldn't be too big for him.
