How much is a championship worth vs. how much Yao is worth to Les

I said the same thing in the "Superstar a real strategy" thread.

It is very questionable to me whether Les is a "Win at all costs" guy or a "Win if I can make money" guy.

I think how he handles Yao will clearly define it.

DD

 

Some rockets fans are over-confident! How can you be so sure that Yao want to stay in Houston?!

 

Les got lucky he inherited Steve Patterson's team.

 

Corporate foreign $$$$ from possibly the largest foreign investor in the World Vs One (1) Championship ring... If I was a owner realistically it would be about the $$$$ because that is why you bought the team in the first place.. But as a fan I would trade Yao in a damn heartbeat...

 

we won two championships then les decided to change the uniforms to those ugly pajama ones because he thought it would make money.

have you noticed that the word "HOUSTON" is not on our jerseys?

 

The chance of winning a championship ? It is incredibly small. You have to be very lucky, very patient, very smart. It will take years, decades or generations.

I will bet this:
the chance of Rockets winning another championship in Les' life time = 0%.

However, Yao is a sure thing. $$$ is a sure thing.

You always go for the money than go for something happens 1 in a billion tries.

 

Basketball is business, it's always business time for Les..

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ugh. how depressing.

 

We don't actually own the picks I though, just the right to swap them.

 

If we don't trade Yao, there's always the (fairly strong) possibility that no other teams offered anything reasonable for him. I have no doubt that Les puts winning above everything else. That's why we went and got Yao in the first place. At this point though, I'd rather let him play (or sit) out his contract, because I doubt we can get equal value in return.

 

The only way we turn into a contender by trading Yao is if we get an all-star center back in return.

I think all-star centers are pretty rare right now and none are on the trading block.

Keep Yao and sign him to a reasonable contract to be a role player next season. He is our best choice to fill the middle until Jordan Hill makes some giant strides or we find a better center in the market.

 

How does this make sense? Are you saying in today's NBA, you have to have an all-star center to be a contender?

I don't think that's right at all.

 

Is Miami guaranteed a championship? They have Wade, LeBron and Bosh.
If yes, Les can forget about championship because Florida will keep it before Yao's career ends.
If no, Les can forget about championship too because Melo is not bigger than Wade+LeBron+Bosh.

Again, there is absolutely no chance for Rockets to win a championship in next ten years.

Les will do the same calculation.

 

I didn't really make myself clear on that...

What I really meant is we will still not be a contender if all we have is Chuck/Hill/Miller. We will still need to upgrade the center position big time if we lose Yao. Maybe not so much an all-star quality center, but at least one that is close to that caliber.

Here are the centers from the possible contenders in each conference:

Duncan
Chandler/Haywood
Gasol/Bynum
AlJeff/Okur

Perkins/Shaq/JOneal
Dwight Howard
Miami big 3 (no center, which is one reason why people doubt they will be contenders this year)
Noah
Al Horford

It just seems that Yao is still our best option in the middle at this point. Yao is still going to consistently present matchup problems if we can somehow keep him on the court in the post-season, even if it is only 20mpg.

If Nene goes up on the block once Denver falls apart, we need to pursue that asap.

 

Your thread assumes we could get a superstar if we dump Yao. FIrst no ones giving us a superstar for Yao. Second Lebron or Wade ain't walking through that door anytime soon. Third the only way we get a superstar in the immediate future is to suck so much we can get a top 3 pick and get lucky at that. Fourth even if we draft a potential superstar it will be generations and a lot of luck for us to return to championship form. 5th without Yao we are at least a 500 team so no lottery players walking through that door.

I am starting to believe there is a good a good chance Yao's foot will never be the same. Of course I have no medical background but it just seems to long with too little progress and now he is not even practicing. Even after he said "I'LL BE BACK". But irregardless of that Yao is still or best bet to contend. Yes a return of that healthy Yao force makes us a real contender again. As slim as that possibility might be it is still a lot more likely path to a championship than the other alternatives.

Morey said, like it or not we are on the Yao train. There is not real way to get off. Bosh was supposed to be a step in that direction but he didn't want it. Melo is a rental. So the Yao train is it. And if it breaks down it is unlikely we will suck so much to get a top draft pick. Plus it isn't like Morey didn't want to sign Lebron or Wade or Bosh. Like it or not we are stuck with the hope that Yao leads us to the promiseland. SO might as well get use to it and enjoy this team we have. We are not so bad and we will get Brroks and might even pull a trade that gets us iguodala. That makes us a decent playoff team.