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

I see so many people saying that we could trade Yao to a contending team because he could help them win.

If that's the case, why couldn't the Rockets use him as a piece to help build a contender? It's crazy to think Yao will keep us from winning a championship in the future, but if he was on another team, he would help them contend.

If he receives a contract next year from Houston, I'm sure it will be reasonable in terms of setting us up for the future.

 

Ok first of all, I disagree vehemently with the bolded statement. Even this is the case, Melo and Nene still won't get the job done, not against Kobe/Pau/Odom/Artest, LBJ/Wade/Bosh, Duncan/Parker/Manu/Jefferson and of course Rondo/KG/Perkins/PP/Allen.

The four contenders right now are all outliers and all stronger than your average championship team: Lakers benefitted from a rape trade which only happened due to absolute stupidity, Boston spent over a decade's worth of lottery picks to get their superstars, Spurs have the PF GOAT and Miami was born of collusion between three top players in the league.

You haven't addressed Don Fakefan's point at all: you are weighing an improbably small chance to win a ring versus cold hard guaranteed cash. As a fan you would want Les to take the high road and go all in....but as a realist you also have to understand why he's making the decisions he does. I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot and 90% of your wealth depended on the Rockets you'd probably have a tough time deciding what to do as well.

 

If anything we'll get worse if we trade yao; yao's market value is horrible, and I'd say we'd be lucky to get 10 cents on the dollar for him

 

Well not really. In the same way the new Rocket fans still have respect for the rocket greats like Hakeem, China will still remember Les Alexander as the guy one of their sports hero worked for. OTH if they traded him you can certainly expect some resentment from the chinese market.

 

It's weird that none of the "We only have Yao because he makes Les money" group can point out how the Rockets can win a championship by kicking Yao to the curb.

Did Les pass up a Yao for Duncan/Kobe trade the last few years that I wasn't aware of? Did Dumars want to give us the entire Pistons starting lineup for him a few years ago? Did Yao prevent us from accumulating a Miami-like Wade/Bosh/Lebron combo?

What could've Les/Dawson/Morey done that would've made us hoist another championship trophy that they failed to do because Yao was a cash cow? And what have they done to show they value money over winning?

 

we'll get worse by trading away a player who doesn't play?

 

it's weird how none of the Yao lovers group can point out how the Rockets can win a championship by keeping a guy who plays about 50% of the games over the last 5 seasons; who started the season with limitations on playing time because of injuries; and who has currently been out for about 3 weeks with no timetable for his return.

 

This. ^

If Yao can help you win, then why do you want to trade him? If Yao can't help you win, then why would other teams want him?

The only way this logic makes sense is if you can trade Yao for a superstar. But again, why would any team want to do that?

There are a couple of things I think many people have not considered. I don't know how true they are but it's worth considering:

1. If Yao is really a cash cow, keeping him does not necessarily mean Les is just in for money. The cash generated by Yao may help Les afford going over the LT for some pieces to win, which might not be if Les did not have Yao.

2. It is reasonable to assume that Yao and the Rockets organization have a good faith commitment to each other. Yao being a loyal guy, and the Rockets respecting that, do not want an ugly divorce like that of McGrady's or LeBron's. A very likely scenario is that if Yao's injuries keep him from playing superstar level basketball, he probably will either retire or accept a role player's contract.

 

it's weird how the yao haters can't suggest a pathway to championship without yao except to say 'trade him'

but trade him for what?

He is worth more to us since he may be willing to sign for much less and help us to acquire additional talents. I do think yao is loyal. How much he would be willing to take less is the question.

As for building a championship he can always be a piece. If he can play and contribute then he can definitely put a team all the way. It's obvious that things are taking a long time but ultimately I still think he can contribute an be a factor. He can contribute at a much higher level than the sum of some collection of scrubs that we would have to trade for.

 

I see. It's a shame that you weren't the Rockets GM, MadMax. If only you were running the organization, you could've steered this team towards a championship the last 5 years. You could've made the moves that brought in a championship caliber team that would've destroyed the Gasol/Kobe Lakers. That would've made the Celtics big 3 look like chumps. That would've made Lebron/Wade/Bosh look like a mediocre lineup compared to ours.

Indeed. The Rockets could've had everything. They could've accrued the greatest talent ever seen on the basketball court... if not for that meddling Yao Ming. If only Yao wasn't Chinese, the Rockets would've gotten everything!! EVERYTHING!!!!!

 

If he doesn't play, why would any team want to trade for him?

 

Simple answer to this question..it's the same answer you'd give for any other player in the league...is his value ON THE COURT better than what you could trade him for...or vice versa?

That's it.

Just because you don't value a guy a certain way doesn't mean another team sees it the same way....otherwise trades would rarely be made.

To me...if you could get some value from him in a trade this season, you do it. Because I doubt seriously he is going to play consistently ever again. I have no reason to believe it's going to get better as he gets older. He has missed so much time it's ridiculous. There's just nothing to suggest that's going to get better with time. Nothing at all.

 

This Topic sucks...........

I would trade him, so we can stop talking about Yao's worth.

 

I can point out a team that has won championships by keeping a guy who can't stay on the court, a guy who has started the season with limitations on playing time because of injuries, and someone who hasn't even played a game this season!

Spoiler

Andrew Bynum of the Lakers

Games Played:
2005-2006 = 46
2006-2007 = 82
2007-2008 = 35
2008-2009 = 50
2009-2010 = 65
2010-2011 = 0

It is because he is just one part of the puzzle, not the main piece. This is how the organization will treat Yao from now on.

 

easy on the chinese talk. i'm not calling out the man personally..and i'm certainly not being critical of his nationality. back the mother falcon truck up on that one. i don't appreciate that at all. i've said over and over again i like yao, personally...that i love his work ethic.

i have never suggested i know all..or would have this team winning. this isn't about me at all. i think it's well past time to cut bait, and i'm not alone on that. and that damn sure doesn't have to do with his nationality. it has to do entirely with the fact that the man can't stay healthy..that he's missed about as many games as he's played over the last 5 seasons.

 

this post will be relevant when Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are wearing Rocket Red.

 

Correct, Bynum is not one of the top two players on the Lakers.

However, this post is relevant because the Rockets should not expect Yao to be one of our top two players if we are championship contenders. I do believe Morey is aware of this and will no longer try to build around a guy that can't stay on the court.

 

That's crazy. There's no way anyone can guarantee keeping Yao or not trading him will mean Rockets win a championship.

As you stated it all depends on his health, if he can't perform or maintain his health then viola, his contract expires this year or trade him come trade deadline. At this point with his history and him currently being out, there's nothing to defend there. We just have to trust that Morey and Company know what they're doing and are doing their jobs.

When healthy he's a impact player that gives the current Rockets Team as they're constructed a chance to contend. That's pretty much it. If the Rockets can trade him for something that can help this year then do it but I don't know if the return player(s) will have the same ceiling level that Yao can take us when healthy.

 

Well, I only said Chinese because I thought it would make the obvious connection to him being a cash cow. My stance wouldn't change a bit if Yao was black or white but still has business worth.

But I'm glad you ignored the substance of my post and concentrated on one word.

Your previous post stated that the Rockets could not have built a championship team with Yao the past 5 years. That was the statement I was responding to. So I would like to see basis for that statement. Basis for saying that Yao was the reason why we do not have a championship roster.