This is really starting to irk me, everywhere I read, the Lakers are "planning" to go after big free agents in 2007, Amare, YAO, and Dirk... C`mon, give me a break, Yao and Amare are both untouchable. All of these "professional" writers are worse than the posters on ESPN board. Les and CD needs to go ahead and give Yao what he wants ASAP.
LA is the second largest media market in the NBA and it is the league's glamour team - has been since the 80's. Anything they can do to include the Lakers in the discussion is good for them because it attracts readers and viewers. It's why even when they suck, NYC and LA always get national tv games. It's business.
Why would Yao leave a better team for a worse one that could only offer him less money? Being in Houston clearly hasn't affected Yao's marketability. And why would he want to play with Kobe, who couldn't get along with Shaq?
Sooner or later everybody will realize Kobe doesn't make his teammates any better. Plus, we all saw how another star like Lamar Odom survived a year in the "Kobe Show." Yao would be foolish to leave a gold mine in Houston to be alienated by Kobe and not to mention, if he's gonna bolt Houston he should at least go Eastern Conference because we all know damn well he won't wanna have to face T-Mac. Fortunately, he'll ink his contract extension and all of this talk will be pointless.
just look back to last year...i mean come on..the Lakers thought they were better of getting rid of shaq and keeping Kobe...let them dream all they want.... Yao is going to be signed way before anyone has a chance to woo him or even think they have a chance.
Since I am a ROF (Rockets Only Fan) - If Yao leaves (which I doubt), then I would need to add him to my enemy list (even though he's a good guy) It's the nature of the beast. But who are we fooling here. Houston is the best place for Yao. His family is here. He has established friendships on the team. Let the Lakers fans hope on something that will never be. They just can't except the fact that they made a mistake in letting Shaq go. IMO
Not to mention he opened up the restuarant and stuff. For many years to come the Lakers know they are going to be the butt of all the jokes and appear on every ESPN "Worst Desicions by a Sports Team" articles. they can't live with that and they know they made a mistake and will be lucky to get a championship again with Kobe on the team and they are going to have to watch Shaq rack a few up for the Heat.
Yao isn't going anywhere but like a poster said above, the media need to have something to talk about
Lakers still have the chance to sign Yao, only if Les doesn't want to offer him the Max (as some one suggested in other threads).
They lost Antonio Daniels because they only offered him two years, Kwame only has two years guaranteed, Grant comes off the books then, Mihm is a FA that summer, Bynum and Vujacic have team options that summer, and Cook is a RFA. Oh, and in an interview piece with Jim Buss yesterday, the LA Daily News wrote that they're making a play for Yao, Amare, or Dirk in summer 2007. I, for one, am looking forward to max extensions squashing their pipedreams. Evan
I feel that if Yao were to go to LA he could potentially make 2x what he is getting here after all the endorsements, etc. The lakers are hoping that Yao will see how much his marketability will skyrocket especially with the high amount of Asian's in the west coast area. So I am sure the lakers believe that they have a couple of legitimate angles to go at Yao with. But the thing that will work for us is his culture. He does not come from a culture of greed, or getting as much as you can. I personally can't see Yao as being someone who is in any way materialistic or money hungry. He seems like a humble, loyal person. I think he will end up realizing that Houston is the ideal situation for him. Here he is on a good team, gets exposure but not near as much as he would be in LA(which I feel is a good thing for Yao). And I am sure he knows Kobe's history and knows he would not be upgrading from T-Mac. I am looking forward to 6 more great years of Yao after this one.
still will be funny once Amare and Yao get their extensions, and they are looking at an over 30 dirk for max dollars i could see Dallas letting an over the hill dirk go for some picks like they did nash for nothing
And appearantly so do posters like us on the BBS... GOOSHHH!!!!........let the season start already! Now that's a classic!!! But I wouldn't put it past the Lakers to try and get KG from Minny....that is something to think about.
LOL.........only laker fans think they can sign amare or yao but its NEVER going to happen. unless MJ comes back and leads the lakers back into the promise land.
This is off-topic, but I seriously disagree that the lakers made a mistake. Shaq was fat, old, yelling at the owner during games, and demanding 30 million per year long-term. So what happens w/ miami? He loses weight and accepts less money (which he wasn't going to do in LA) and played fewer minutes, but nonetheless wore down towards the end of the season, leaving him ripe for injury. He was ineffective throughout the playoffs. Despite all this, he started carping about lack of touches. Miami has him inked for 20mill/year for the next five years, has brought in two more ball hogs, and Wade will be less deferential. Shaq could keep them in place if he was still dominant, but towards the end of the season this could get ugly.
I recently moved to SoCal and it is not unusual to hear mention of Yao coming to the Lakers on the sports talk radio and in the papers. Folks out here just assume that it is going to happen. Without a doubt... they will make a huge, huge push to get him. And from a business standpoint... it would make sense for Yao to move to LA. His endorsements would go out the roof (way beyond what he is doing now) and he would have so much more connection to an Asian community. With that in mind... I can see why LA thinks that they have a legitimate shot at landed Yao. And I can't argue with them. I think that Houston's best option is to win or come really close to winning a championship in the next couple of years while he is still under contract. That might motivate him to stay.
