If Minny offered Garnett for Shaq, Riley would be insane not to do it in a heartbeat. Shaq is not what he was and has very little future left. IMO, the first tier superstars consist of 5 players: Garnett, Duncan, Lebron, TMac, and Kobe. (Shaq should be there, except that he is not in his prime any more.) Wade is great. But he is not in this class, at least not yet. I left out Kobe on my list because of his character issue. I think the Lakers (or any team) would gladly exchange Kobe for Garnett.
Well, it's kind of the truth. As the first person of Asian descent to have some success in the league, Yao's marketing value alone makes him close to untouchable. Would he nearly as marketable if he were a non-Asian with the same level basketball skills? Frankly, most likely not. I'm Asian-American and didn't find anything wrong with what he said. Judging from his moniker, Luckyazn is Asian as well.
As ridiculous as I see the idea, but since there are so much discussion around it, I start to think about it seriously. Maybe it isn't a bad idea for both Yao and Rockets. For the Rockets, they come closer to a title with TMac + KG. For Yao, he would finally realize that NBA is about business and business only, all the love, loyality and talks are just talks. He would realize that his stats and fame is more important than the team and teammates. Maybe only then, he would wake up and play in his full potential. Just too bad for him, that Sam is gone, otherwise, maybe the Wolves with Yao can get out of the first round as well. It would be a sad sad event for me, that if Yao plays against the Rockets in playoffs. Anyways, I don't think the deal will go down or even be proposed, other than on a message board.
If we offered Yao and Stro for Garnett I think they would take it in a heartbeat, but theres no way it will happen in the forseeable future. Garnett has a lot of miles on his tires and I think will continue to decline. He is significantly better than Yao right now in his passing, defense, rebounding and feel for the game, but Yao is actually a better back to the basket post up player. Thats always been the knock on KG, he is not a traditional post up guy like a Yao or Duncan and therefore cannot get a shot off near the end of a game. Though I think pairing KG and TMac would be a defensive grid, I think their game overlaps in some respect. KG usually has the ball in his hands and a lot of times plays out of the high post. T-Mac usually has the ball in his hands on our team and thats why Yao is a good compliment, he doesn't need the ball in his hands and is a solid post up player that commands a double team to free up the perimeter. Though a KG to T-Mac pick and pop/roll would be unstoppable! KG is a better midrange shooter and can grab that roll pass better than Yao. I think that KG is declining and will slow down as Yao will get better. I would not do it as a rockets fan because I think Yao gives us a long foundation and could potentially pass up KG next year or the following year ( his decline coupled with Yao's improvement) That and Loyalty: Yao has shown so much loyalty. He didn't even talk to anyone and let himself be courted by the lakers etc. I just don't think we could re-pay that loyalty with a trade that is not as sound. The only person that would make me think otherwise would probably be Tim Duncan.
I never thought the day would come when a caveat against a Garnett trade would be his age and his impending decline. Where have the years gone?
Very good post Khan. The first one that actually makes me think it isn't the best idea. The other thing to consider along with KG and T-Mac's game overlapping, is that Yao and T-Mac's game are very complimentary of each other. T-Mac is essentially a peremiter player and as much space as Yao creates for others, he creates for Yao with his shooting.
What's this talk about KG going to the Knicks by midseason? There's an ESPN Insider article referencing that possibility.
Awww... feeling a bit old do we? I still remember the days when Robert Horry was a rookie and now I can't believe he is a veteran in the last few years of his wonderful career.
How far can we really go with Yao and TMac....i dont wanna look back 10 yrs from now and see that the Yao./Tmac combo made it to the second round. We might as well trade Yao for KG and milk two championships out of that. Yao has been in the league 4 years and its not like he was playing soccer or lacrosse before that . He played for the Chinese National Team. In year 5 he is not going to turn into Shaq part 2. The aggressiveness is not there. We all know that. I like Yao alot , I love it when he exploded for 33 against Dallas last year in the playoff. But thats his problem, he dominates every blue moon. I love you Yao, but remember its a business.
