Maybe I'm not on the same wavelength as most posters, but is Bosh better than Yao? If we take health out of the equation, I'd take Yao over Bosh any day. Bosh is fairly injury-prone too. The year that Bosh had a great supporting cast and won the division title, he was not able to lead the Raptors out of the first round. TJ Ford, Anthony Parker, Bargnani, Calderon, Garbajosa etc were no slouches, especially in the East.
Well said. Everyone knows that the best way to win a championship is to have an elite superstar. But there are only a handful players in that category (Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Howard, Melo, Duncan), and they were all obtained on draft day by bad teams. We were actually quite fortunate to get Yao in the first place by winning the lottery, and although he's had injuries, he is by no means a bust like some other #1s. (Imagine if you had to settle for Kwame Brown or Michael Olowokandi). Morey is no fool, and I don't think he's expecting Yao to come back and dominate the NBA next year. However, if healthy (and the doctors seem to suggest that he will be healthy next year), he's still a Top 3 center and can be a critical piece on a championship contender. Kevin Martin is not a superstar, but he's a very good offensive player even without an elite center, and his game should compliment Yao's when he comes back. Brooks is ideally a sparkplug off the bench, but we got him late in the 1st round, and I don't see anyone CP3 or Deron Williams coming over here anytime soon. The reason Ariza signed for the MLE is because he's basically a mid-level player, not a star. So, here's to hoping that we get Bosh or Amare in the off-season, but the odds are against us, and this team will have to move on one way or another. I, for one, am on-board with the way Morey is re-tooling this team on the fly and am hopeful for the future.
I was actually going to make a similar post. Assuming Yao is healthy next year (yes, I know that's a big IF), how will we do next season? contracts next season: LA - everyone will be back, except for Fisher. But, I would be surprised if he didn't sign a 3 year contract with LA again. So for the sake of argument, lets say he does and their team looks the same. Dallas - Everyone by haywood will be there. Denver - same. (of course some contracts are up, but im just looking at the key players) How will we do against these 4 teams? Even with a healthy Yao, we wouldn't be #1, I think the best we could be would be #3, maybe 4. Does that mean we need to make some moves? Right now, our roster for next season will/should look like: AB/Lowry at 1, 2 and 3 will be Martin/Ariza/Battier/Bud, 4 Scola/Jeffries/hill, 5 yao/hayes/andersen Good lineup, but not great. Do we trade Battier and fillers for a key player? What do we do in the offseason? Of course I'd be very willing to sign and trade for Bosh, but I dont see that happening.
Honestly, Yao probably is better than Bosh...but considering he's always hurt, health has to be a part of the equation. And im not saying we need to go out and get Bosh/Amare/etc
There is no way we can get Bosh or Amare in sign-and-trades without giving up several role players and draft picks. We've decided to roll the dice and ride on Yao and Martin's health, let's go along with it and see where it takes us. With a lottery pick and Ariza reverting to a less focal role in the offense, I think next year's team will easily top 50 wins and push for home court advantage in the West. Looking at next year, we can match up well with any of the top teams in the West. Lakers: no point guard, plus they have Artest who is always due for craziness. Nuggets: You have to wonder if Billups can keep up his strong play given his age. Ty Lawson is intriguing but if Billups goes down for a month or two I doubt his ability to replace the scoring and leadership that Billups provided. Mavs: Strong team, will be great in the regular season but I'm confident we can beat them in a 7-game series.
IMO, The Rockets do not know what to expect from Yao, and if they are smart they will limit his role severly next season to protect Yao, and to lower his value as his contract expires. No way, should they build around Yao, he is just not reliable enough, his injury history, size, and slowness in a fast paced perimeter oriented league make him a big risk. They need to build a team that is good without Yao, and possibly GREAT with him. But do not COUNT ON HIM...as he is coming off major surgery and honestly may never be close to the same player again. Though, I am cheering hard for him to be that player. DD
I do agree with some of your post but I'm really tired of ppl saying lowry over brooks with our current team. If we added bosh or stoudimire I can see lowry maybe starting because they would bring more offense to the team but brooks can't be held by anyone one on one, have we forgotten what he did to the lakers they had to game plan on stopping him. O and jason terry killed us at least 2yrs in the playoffs we had no answer for him so good comparision.
According to Morey in a recent interview, Yao becomes the most dangerous offensive player in the league once the opposing team is over the foul limit. Clearly, Martin was obtained for drawing fouls and Lowry is going to assume a more prominent role on the team for this reason. It isn't that Lowry is "better" than Brooks (although he might be), it is just that he fits the game plan better.
Great post but it's really a bit too early. Save it for the off-season when we really need it. You know how boring the off-season is on here? It's like everybody left for camp except people with asthma and are allergic to the sun. I'm guessing I'll be one of the wheezing kids in the off-season watching the summer league. :grin:
I hate to break it to you, but the rockets are giving yao an extension this summer BEFORE he plays in the regular season. It could backfire drastically. You are basically giving him 18+mil per for over 4 years and he may be terrible from now on. IMO this is more riskier strategy than signing Amare. I think Moreys biggest mistake will come this summer when he signs Yao before seeing him play.
Yao was not fully recovered from a serious injury, and - more importantly - our third option on that team was Rafer Alston. RAFER FREAKING ALSTON. After that? Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes filled out the starting lineup. Pretty amazing what those guys did considering the supporting cast they had those years. That's why the team was so miserable when McGrady went down. Anyways, those guys were certainly good enough to win with the lineup we had for the past couple seasons... Just that they've never been healthy together during that stretch. The only point of this post is that injuries are the reason that duo did not work out. Not lack of talent or selfishness or anything else. Just injuries.
Do we sign Yao to max this summer before he plays? an extension this summer will be in the ballpark of 80 million over 4 seasons for Yao +- a few million Should Morey give Yao an extension this summer before he plays in preseason? Positives to extension: this will show loyalty to Yao and prevent other teams from signing him. It will prevent team Yao from testing the market. It will prevent a distraction through out the year. Negatives to extension: A max or near max contract will prevent signing another any free agency signings of another allstar for years(unless 1 can be had through s&t). If Yao is not ever healthy this contract is on the books for another 4 years past 2011 till he is approx 35 years old. You wouldnt be able to trade the albatross contract should he be a shell of himself.
And you know this how? I really don't see us doing anything like that unless Morey has good reason to have full confidence in Yao's ability to bounce back.
Please do not give him the Max. I hope we keep him but at a discounted price. An injury prone Yao Ming is not worth the max. Even a healthy Yao Ming is not really worth the max either. Only about 5 players in the league really deserve a max contract. Lebron Wade Paul Durant Kobe maybe 6 TMAC -- haha
well i dont know for sure, but maybe a chinese poster can fill me in, i heard in their culture loyalty is a big part of business, and by not extending yao immediately team yao may take that as a slap in the face?
well for what its worth i dont see amare or bosh coming here this summer. simply because morey thinks outside the box and he always gets a player we dont talk about or expect. i do expect a trade ,like battier + our lottery pick this summer(11th) for a okay pf. But not a game changer. The only way Les pays the tax is if we get Bosh, and a sign and trade puts us in lux tax. So,unless we get Bosh, this team will do the same thing, which is trade to get under. More than likely the public relations will go like this "we had to sign lowry and scola,bosh wasnt available,and we had to trade shane for an expiring in order to sign lowry and scola". thats what realistically will happen. anyone thinking there will be a dynasty or championship,or bosh or amare(doesnt like rockets) is dreamcasting.
Folks, hate ta break it ta ya but Yao is staying here for a LONG time. He aint going nowhere. We are gonna sign some powerfoward by the name of Bosh or Stoudemire and be locked to win the ship next year. Brooks/Lowry Martin/Budinger Ariza/Battier Bosh/Hill Yao
