{Controversial Topic Beware} If Yao Ming wasn't from Asia Would he still be a Rocket?

Yes because then his trade value would take a hit and nobody would want to trade for him then.

 

How many 7'6 centers are there with yaos skill set? 0. We keep him despite the injuries because when healthy he has the most dominant big man in the NBA. And in my opinion a helluva lot better than Dwight Howard

 

He has won more than 45 games in a season, which Al Jefferson has not. He has averaged more than 15 minutes a game for a playoff team, which Al Jefferson has not.

He has averaged more than 31 minutes a game, which Rik Smits has not. He also has averaged more than 8 rebounds a game, which Rik Smits has not.

That said, Rik Smits may be a decent comparison-- Yao has been a more complete player for his career, though. One question for you then: Why did the Pacers keep him his entire career? Was it because he's Dutch and not black? Was it the Dutch money that was crucial to Indiana?

More likely: Both Yao and Smits are huge guys who can play, you don't find too many huge guys who can play, and despite their limitations, there simply wasn't/isn't anything that the team could have done to get rid of either of them while improving themselves-- didn't get offered anything close to 100 cents on the dollar in a trade, and wasn't going to be able to sign anything better than these guys with any salary space that may have been created by not signing them when they became free agents.

Yao is not untouchable. No one in the league is, except maybe Lebron James. But all this "trade him!" talk is silly unless you have a concrete and REALISTIC trade possiblity to discuss that makes the team better.

 

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Carl Herrera again.

 

Of course not.
See McGrady, Tracy.

 

You are delusional if you think a franchise will keep a player who is paid arround 17 millions just because "when he is healthy" he is great.
Almost every owner will go for that "not so great but very good" guy that can play 100 games a season.

 

I think the Smith comparision is right, but just as happened with McGrady, on todays NBA it isn´t enough with one great player, you need a team full of them. And that team needs to roll on all cylinders for it to work.
Yao has a very unique skillset and limitations, so unique that the turn we have to make everytime he enters the court makes a team very difficult to assemble or dismantle everytime his health goes up, or goes down.
It would be really different if we were one of the best half court teams with or without him, but now a days we are only a halfcourt team because Yao is very good at it, otherwise the peace would be different.
I think that´s the main reason you trade Yao, not him being chinese, black or green, it´s because he demands a lot of adjustments and the time he is healthy enough to play is turning into very short stints to justify that sacrifice.

 

Well also u have to look at the fact that even it the franchise wanted to dump Yao and his injury prone legs the return would be awful like a future second round pick some scrubs and an expiring contract or two. Thus were left with an option of either keeping the injury prone player who's great whenhealthy or trade him for players who aren't even a fraction of the player he is

 

The team was playing a pretty high paced game with Yao this season, actually. I don't have the numbers but he was quickly outletting his defensive boards and the team was off and running.

The "adjustment to Yao" thing is somewhat of a red herring as he was not the only one in and out of the lineup (Brooks, Lowry, Miller, Hill, etc). Nor is he the only one who is "different" than his sub: Lowry and Brooks are very different, Hill and Scola and Chuck are very different, Lee and Martin are very different, and Shane and Chase are very different.

And it's not like this team hasn't dealt with players, even stars, being out of the lineup or players being replaced by very different guys. They managed to win 50 games in 04/05, 06/07, 07/08, and 08/09 dealing with some of the same things.

People are grasping at straws trying to figure out what the problem is...

 

I agree, except I would word it like this.

Let's face it, Yao's a great guy but the reason the Rockets have put their last however many seasons in a state of confusion over and over again is because of how much money Yao generates from China. If that money wasn't a factor, the risk started to far outweigh the rewards a long time ago when it became obvious that Yao was injury prone.

If Yao is out for the season (and obviously finished, career wise), his expiring should be traded at the deadline, but no one here believes Les would allow that, because those Chinese sponsorships would start drying up.

 

Exactly. You could even add Sun Yue, Wang Zhi Zhi, or even Liu Wei and that Tabuse dude. If the market was such a big deal these guys would have stuck around a lot longer and Yi wouldnt have been moved so often.

The point is, Yao is still a Rocket cuz he's 7'6" WITH SKILLS. The org wants to give a skilled big man a chance to come back because there is still an upside. I mean look at how long we held on to Bob Sura. The Rox think Yao can still contribute and that is why he is still here. Its not just the money.

Lastly, yes, Yao does change the way we play when he enters the game but I see it as a good thing. We cannot just run and gun the whole way as we have seen with PHX and hope to win. You still have to play in the half-court at times so you might as well throw your 7'6" skilled big man in there to help you do it as well as change shots on the def end.

 

I wasn't aware that Yao was putting teammates under the bus, giving up on games, or having surgeries without notifying hte team.

And Tracy McGrady didn't get traded until his contract almost expired. It's the nature of large deals: If the guy is performing up to the contract value, you don't want to trade him (unless someone offers you something great or under other exceptional circumstances) and if not, the contract is poison and untradable until when it's an expiring contract (again, with very few exceptions like if you are trading for other people's garbage contracts).

Look at Michael Redd in Milwaukee, are they keeping him for marketing purposes?

 

The answer is NO. If he was not from china, he would sign with the lakers after his rookie contract, and he would win multiple rings already.

 

Holy cow, an honest answer. Most chinese fans would go on and on about how great yao is when he's not on the court (rehabbing, shooting practice, honoring china, etc) but won't face the honest flaws that he has... and it's the most fatal flaw in basketball... he can't stay on the court. Not only can he not stay on the court, he doesn't flow well with our current roster....or many rosters at all.

He's only here because we can't trade him or don't want to... because he draws in money (a fact I'm not so sure is true, because other winning organizations bring in more money without a chinese player on their team). Quite frankly, I don't see that yao has any beneficial use on the court, at least not enough to outweigh how ineffective he is

 

In a macro sense I guess it's theoretically possible that being Chinese has "helped" Yao. If you're the type who thinks that being black is what got Obama elected, being Jewish is what gives Brett Ratner a career in Hollywood and being a woman is what made Hillary Clinton's career then you might also suspect that being Chinese keeps Yao a Rocket.

But beyond the trolling when would Houston have traded Yao? Yao signed a max contract in what 2005? Between 2005 and 2008 Yao was the best center in the NBA. Les would have traded him then?? When Yao was 25ppg and 10 rpg?? That's stupid as ****.

Then when would you have traded him? After he was injured? By 2008, who on earth would have taken on Yao's contract when he had demonstrated his bum foot?

I'm interested in hearing OP explain under what circumstances Yao would have been traded and not be a Rocket? When he was in his prime he was too valuable to trade. When he was injured he was too risky to take on.

Being Chinese helps Yao make money in China but the flip side of that coin being Chinese keeps Yao from making more (endorsement) money in the US (and other parts of Asia). If Yao was a 25/10, funny articulate, popular black player he'd have made millions more in the US, Korea, Japan etc and wouldn't have had to put up with so much **** his first 5 years in the league.

Holy cow an ignorant answer. "Most Chinese fans" huh. Do you even know any Chinese basketball fans? If anything there is a large contingent who are much harsher on Yao than anyone on clutchfans is. It's hard to believe that you've actually had conversations with Chinese basketball fans if you think they gloss over Yao's faults.

Seriously dude, is it important to you to actually KNOW something. Or is assuming something based on nothing good enough for you?

 

Peope here take NBA games too seriously. For fans outside of US, Olympics and World Champ are as important. if not more important. Yao took an otherwise weak Chinese team to top8 numerous times, so he's a star of basketball.

If he's not from China, he would have entered NBA at 18, and refused to play any Olympic/World champ games, and he would had left Houston to form a 'big 3' and got multiple rings already.

 

Very true but that doesnt change the fact that he has skill. To say he is only here for the money would be a slap in the face to Yao who has worked his ass off for this team.

Look at how long we held onto Bob Sura, white dude, didnt mean a whole lot to any other team let alone a country and we stuck with him, reserved a spot for him until he retired. You gonna tell me it was cuz of his marketability?

What about Andrew Bynum. Hes in the same boat as Yao, solid bigman who gets injured and yet the Lakers are sticking with him. Its not about the color of his skin man, its cuz he can play when healthy and they are hoping for that to happen.

Gilbert Arenas, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill...

 

I swear i saw the exact same thread about a month ago

 

I dont think his race has alot to do with it in a blind kind of way. Yao is a very good, but limited player when he plays. His skills and height are the teasers for the team and management. As a black man, if Oden was as productive as yao when he played, teams would have patience with him also i would think. I mean darko is in his 8th yr and from the looks of it, people are still talking upside with him. Yao is good when he plays, but of course,its when he plays.