Nah. Lebron James will be better than McGrady, possibly as good as Jordan. But in today's game, no Guard can win the championship anymore. There are too many people who can match AT LEAST half of your production: Pierce, Kobe, T-Mac, maybe Jason RIchardson, Micheal Finley, Iverson.... But Yao Ming is the king, and no one can stop him, because, he can do anything. How will they stop him? Double team? Make him shoot? Make his play tough and hold position? Limit his effectiveness to defensive only? They can't stop him. As good as Lebron James would be, and I know he will be THAT good, Yao Ming gives us the same shot at winning it all, which is what's more important. From a marketing standpoint, I'm pretty sure Lebron would be mroe profitable than Yao. Here's a question: Since Lucas LOVES Steve Francis, and Steve Francis LOVES Mobley, how would you feel about trading Francis and Mobley for Lebron James and Ricky Davis? Tricky one. But there's no limits to the media attention that a team with both Lebron and Ming would have. It's like, the chance to have both Jordan and Hakeem all over again. Would you pass it up? With Ricky Davis starting, Lebron can take a whole seasonj being the 6th man until he explodes onto the scene. At PG, we can play Mooch and sign any old guy. James and Ming are superior passers and the offense can run through them.
No way on any of that stuff. James is an incredible talent but from I have seen ( a couple of games via cable ) he will need to adjust his game a bit when he gets to the NBA. I personally think he will do well but to compare him to Tmac and his airness is bit of a stretch. James is lazy on defense and has a slow delivery when shooting outside. Some of his passes are very high-risk type passes through the heart of the defense. He can outmuscle other high-school players but the NBA has men that are stronger, faster, and quicker than anything he has faced in high school. Understand that I am not saying James won't be capable of bettering his game but he has a long way to go to be considered like Tmac or Jordan. I would rather have Yao.
Dennis2112, I think you are right on with your analysis of James. Over the past two years, Ive caught alot of his highlights plus the one game that was on ESPN. Granted, it was just a small sample of him as a player, but he definately has some things hell have to work on if he is to become a great NBA player. Just to elaborate on what you said, his D does look suspect to me. He seems to cherry pick alot and try for the steal quite often instead of focusing on good defensive fundamentals. Also, his jumpshot looks awful. It doesnt appear to be hell dominate offensively right away, although im sure he can develop that aspect of his game. Hes obviously athletic and has tremendous size. I see the big problem with him being is indeed his size. I think hes too big to play the 2 on a consistant basis and he might be too bulky to play the 3. He might be a tweener ya know? Hell have a tough time matching up with some of the great 3s in the NBA like Big Dog, Walker, Garnett, Gooden, etc. In the end, Yao is definately the better choice of the two.
We have seen what Yao can do IN THE NBA and his upside. As for Lebron (I like his athletic ability) but we have to wait to see how he will fare in the NBA proper. Without the benefit of hindsight I would still take Yao Ming at #1 even if Lebron was in this year's draft.
I would choose Yao every time. Even Lebron's more talented than Yao, Yao Ming's team would still have more chance of winning championship than Lebron's team. And championship is the most important thing for us isn't it? Why? Because even Lebron becomes Jordan number 2 he would still have players like Kobe and T-mac that could neutralize him while Yao could just dominate everyone night in night out especially after Shaq retires. And all of these are assuming Lebron is the next Jordan which I highly doubt.
First off let me say no. Lebron James is highly-touted and hyped-up. Lets remember that he is playing against other highschoolers. I don't care what he did in a pickup game against NBA players. Every summer we hear and/or see a player that did great in summer workouts and looks like he'll have a breakout year, and then its the usual gameplay. No one has ever seen Lebron James on an NBA court in an NBA game. Don't get me wrong, the boy's got game. But watching the ESPN2 televised game, I couldn't help but notice how much more developed he was than the other kids. That could be another reason for his dominance. I liken it to when there is Little League team, and usually the best player on the team is the kid who likes like he is too old to be on the team. (See NY Little League team a few years back with Danny Amonte`). I think that Darko Mlicic might give James a run for his money to be the #1 pick. If Mlicic can get clearance to be eligible for the draft (which may not happen), goes to the workouts (which he has said that he would), and based on what team gets the #1 pick, Mlicic could very well go first. I highly doubt it, but he is 7'1", 17 years old (as of right now, will be 18 at the draft), and is considered Europe's best prospect. Whether he plays C, or PF in the NBA remains to be seen. But we all know that there aren't many true centers in the league anymore, and finding a big man with skill is a rare thing. I also think that alot of teams have seen how the Rockets are a better team with a big man in the middle, and may very well follow suit and want to draft a big man. Yao Ming didn't take quite as long to get acclimated to the league, and Mlicic has been compared to Ming in natural basketball skill (besides the obvious of being tall) so that may factor in as well.
NO! I WOULD TRADE ANYONE BUT YAO, INCLUDING STEVE. STEVE PLAYING AS HE IS NOW AND AFTER YEARS IN THE LEAGUE IS A PLAYGORUND SPECIALIST AND OUT OF CONTROL. HE IS TOO HEADSTRONG FOR A LAID BACK COACH LIKE RUDY. STSVE DOESN'T DESERVE RUDY. RUDY CANNOT COACHTHIS TEAM. HE IS A VETERANS COACH. HE OR A LOT OF PLAYERS NEED TO GO. YAO IS THE ONCE IN A GENERATION KIND OF GUY YOU BUILD A DYNASTY AROUND, (UNTIL HE PROVES OTHERWISE). TRADE ANYONE ELSE BUT NOT YAO.
STEVE IS LOOKING LIKE MARBURY AT THE SAME POINT IN HIS CAREER. MARBURY SEEMS TO BE GETTING IT IN PHOENIX. TIME WILL TELL. HOW MUCH LONGER DO WE WAIT FOR FRANCIS TO "GET IT". FRANCIS DOES NOT HAVE THE PLAYERS AROUND HIM THAT MARBURY DOES NOW. STILL STEVE MUST GET HIS GUYS INVOLVED AND ENDURE THE GROWING PAINS NOW OR IT WILL NEVER GET ANY BETTER. HE CANNOT PLAY LIGHTS OUT ALL GAME EVERY GAME AND EXPECT TO GET ANYWHERE.
I agree with much of what has been said here, but one point has not been made -- King James will take years to develop into a top player in the NBA, even if all the hype is well deserved. Look at T-mac and Kobe. They both did nothing for their first two years in the L. Yao, however, is already playing at a high level. All this team needs is time. The franchise and the dynasty are going to be unstobable in a couple of years time. I have no doubt about that (and I'm a Raptor's fan, not a Rocket's fan -- although Yao is making me reconsider my thinking on that.) The team is young, they have only been together a few month, so they are going to lose some games, even against bad teams like the Knicks. The biggest problem this team has right now is that too many of its fans expect it too do too much too soon. Sit back, relax, and enjoy watching a dynasty develop. Sure a few small changes might be in order, but I'm sure your front office can and will do what is needed. Any GM that traded Yao would be a laughing stock in two years time -- if not right away. I don't care what you get for him. I would's swap him straight up for Kobe, so why would anyone trade him for an unproven HS kid who hasn't shown he has MJ's game, but looks to have developed MJ's ego (an ego Jordon can back up, but Bron Bron can't -- not yet anyway). I just wish my boys in Tdot had half as bright a future as Stevie and Chairman Yao.
dynasty=emperor, Servel KINGs are under the ruleship of a Emperor. even their nicknames imply my answer.
Rockets would be robbing the Cavs blind on that deal. I wouldn't trade Ricky Davis for Francis straight up and certainly no way I'd give rights to LeBron and Davis for Francis and Mobley. Davis is a player and if he stays injury free he'll be up their with McGrady and Kobe soon.
bulls will embrace yao if rockets releases him. for any player(s) and any pick(s). even jerry knows that: building around yao is making a larger bulls.
I don't think trading Yao for Lebron would be smart at all. Good players who are 6-8/6-9 are a dime a dozen, but the league is running out of good, solid big men. Yao is one of the few big men who can honestly play like one.
<b>striker</b>, you think Ricky Davis is moving to TMAC and Kobe level, and better than Francis? Geezzzz... no doubt that he'd have been someone good to trade for this last summer, when he was being shopped, and that this is a breakout year for him, but there is no way he is in TMAC or Kobe class or even close to Francis... maybe he could be compared to Mobely ... But, IF Cleveland ends up with the first pick, I don't think either team would want to do that deal. It doesn't win Cleveland a championship, and it sets Houston back a few years in their quest.
No, I keep Ming. Although James may be extremely talented and many compare him to Kobe it will take alot more than that to win a championship. Let's say he is the next Kobe, he might even score more which is very hard to imagine but look at Kobe this year, he's averages almost 30pts a game and has gotten a few 40+pt games this year even against us but he didn't win them. It will take a big man to get the edge to win it all.
One more consideration. If the Rockets play their cards right, they have a massive goldmine in Yao. In many large Chinese cities, such as Shanghai and Beijing, living standards and costs are approaching first world standards. I've lived in Singapore and US and travelled to Japan and Europe. Believe me, Shanghai's living costs are not far off. My point is that there is a massive, massive market opportunity to be exploited here. And we have the first mover's advantage. Lebron might be more marketable in the States, but overall there's no comparison. Now, should the Rockets fully exploit this, it would translate to a very rich Rockets team. and having such financial independence would free the owner from considerations of luxury taxes. Thus, we might be seeing much better role players in the team in the future (See Portland, Dallas).
I've been watched the last five Cavs games to see what Davis brings. I'll stand by my statement. He gets to the basket at will. Has a very good jumper. Good 3 point shooter. Great off the ball defender, seen he stuff a lot of bigs. Great rebounder for position. Could be a very good on ball defender if he had a decent coach. I'd MUCH rather have him than Francis who's defense stinks and who hasn't proven he can play PG.
