.... for bunch of role players and build the team around Yao, I think there's one more risk people haven't considered. Yao leaving town. I have no doubt in mind that Yao has the potential to be one of the greats, but what if we try to build a team around him and he leaves? The Rockets will go from an up and coming team with two all - star to perhaps the worst team in the league. If we trade Francis for role players, Yao will be the focus 100%. If his developement is hampered or hurt by that, he could very well be upset and leave. Remember also, when CBA let him go, they said specifically "we hope the Rox will develope Yao instead of just using him". When Yao was drafted, there was a general consensus that the Rox would be good for Yao since the attention would be on Francis and Cat to take the pressure off. To that end, they've more than done there share (in the media). If Yao has a bad game, it's always because the guards can't shoot/pass/play defense. The pressure have never been on Yao. But if we trade Francis after this season for role players, and Yao doesn't deliver (and when I say deliver I mean 23 / 10), things can get very ugly for Yao in the media. I'm still up for a trade if we get a really good player in return (T-Mac, Kobe, and possibly Brand), but I say we should wait one more year to see if Yao signs the extension before we break ties with Steve. If Yao resigns next year, make what ever moves are neccessary to build the team around Yao, otherwise, hold off unless you get the right deal.
Good point. I think Yao will re-sign, as the Rockets can offer him the most money, but they should still wait until that contract is signed.
Does Yao even have a say on whether he re-signs or not? Or does the Chinese government have the say? From reading some of the Yao fansites, many of his fans think he'll leave Houston once his contract is up.
YM leaving has always been a possibility. If he does, the franchise will be set back years. I'll say this though. If YM bolts to LA, SF, or NY you can kiss off any chance of a future Chinese player ever being drafted by a team outside California or NY. Raven
personally i dont think Yao will leave houston if SF stays.... from what i've seen on the court it seems that Yao geniunely likes SF as a teammate and a person. i think everyone is giving up too quickly on these two guys, they've only played 2 full seasons together in two very different systems. Yao is still 2 years away from being able to play well from begiing to seasons end and probably 4 years from being the dominant man. trading steve away for role players is not the answer, clearly as shown by this years playoffs that steve was the man for the team during the 4th qtrs when yao struggled and did not have confidence. Yao's skills will continue to improve steadely each season, but the mentality and stamina that will be needed to make him a top 5 player in the league will only come with time. Kobe and shaq played 3 season together before wining their first ring. Kobe benefited in advancing his game because shaq was already a dominant player and it freed up kobe. Yao would get nearly if any open looks of course since he is an impact player on the court, it will actually take time for steve to play off of this and realize this, once steve becomes more dangerous it will free up yao during doubles like kobe gets now. What the rockets need to do foremost is get a real pg that is big, like 6'5-6'7 and slide sf to the 2 spot. This will allow SF to guard the smaller of the 2 opponent guards and also free up his game. SF doesnt need to be the PG to be the playmaker on this team. I dont question his play making abilities, but i do question his judgements at times because he has the ball so much. He could end up like kobe who still manages to get 5-7 assists from plays he creates from the 2 spot. Francis' best decisions have always been when he penetrated and dished to the open man which is how kobe gets most if not all of his assists
Aw Yao's not going anywhere. We're competitive and its not in his nature I wouldn't think to pull a Shaq. We always complain that he's not Shaq, but in this case let's be glad. We'd at least get a huge sign and trade for him. Some of you guys are like the guy who always checks for his wallet.
Thr Rockets will re-sign him, and if Yao wants to leave, the Rockets could allways do a sign and trade with him.
Orlando didn't think they would be moved. Lakers were ALLOWED to tamper with Shaq [thought Miami was not allowed to with J Howard but. . . anyway] The League makes special cases for LA and NY [esp when THE LOGO was in LA] Rocket River I would not count it out. . . and as stated I think negotiations would be like with the Chinese Govt . . .by proxy
that was in the old collective bargaining agreement. The lakers were able to offer Shaq more money than Orlando. That has now been corrected. The team you play for can offer you more than anyone else. So, i wouldn't call it a special case at all
Because it would happen this coming year? And the decision this summer coming up will affect it? If this summer, we face the decision of trading away one of our pieces to build around, and the other one still isn't 100% committed, wont you be a little worried? That's why I say give the team 1 more year to gel, as well as us time to see if Yao will resign next summer. I'd still trade sf if it would make us better and net us a star player in return, but not just for HInirich and crap.
Yao is about to enter his 3rd season. Obviously the rockets will pick up his 4th year option meaning he will only be a restricted free agent, which gives the rockets the right to match any offer. He doesn't become an unrestricted free agent for 3 years.
Well next year is like the litmus test to determine whether Yao is worthy of building around. If he proves he can dominate and carry this team without Francis, than why would he want to leave? If he’s a complete failure without Francis and the Rockets are the worse team in the league, then why would the Rockets want to keep him?
I think Yao's a restricted FA next year. That means the Rox will offer him the max. If he rejects, only then the Rox will pickup his 4th year option, at the end of which he'll be an unrestricted FA. Now here's the thing, if Rox offer him the max and Yao agrees, then we can go about trading pieces we have now for not as talented pieces but pieces that fit Yao. But if Yao for some reason rejects the max contract next year, then serious warning flags needs to go up, since that means he'll start considering possibility of playing elsewhere for non- financial reasons, (our max contract after 3rd year is still the most out of what anyteam can offer him). That's why I am thinking we should wait one more year before we trade for role players, it'll give this team a final chance to prove themselves (somewhat earned with a playoff birth, but if we get a major player that can helpus back that goes out the window) and to see if Yao will committ to us (what's most important).
Unless his rookie contract is different from other rookie contracts the rockets have the option of picking up his 4th year option without having to offer him a new contract. He won't be a restricted free agent until after year 4. Look back at Eddie Griffin, #7 pick in the draft who we made the decision not to pick up his 4th year option. It's the same type of situation, unless of course something is different in his contract.
The Rockets will offer Yao more money than anyone else. And most importantly Yao has a "sense of loyalty" to the Rockets (just like to China) and I dont see him breaking that loyalty.
What if... Yao doesn't care about the money? What if... in order to help his team, he accepts less money? Just because a team offers more money, does not mean a player will go to that team.(Example: Cuttino Mobley) The Rockets keeping Yao isn't set in stone. A big mistake is assuming the Rocket's ability to offer more money will intice Yao. Yao accepting a cheap contract will free up the team to pursue that "T-Mac"esque player while keeping Steve Francis. A sign and trade will still set this franchise back a lot if Yao decides that a max contract isn't what he's looking for. We'll be stuck with a team filled with roleplayers. Yao is getting quite a sum from his endorsements and if I was Yao, I wouldn't care if my NBA contract was the minimum, 5 mil, or 10 mil a year. With that said... we don't know how Yao and the people behind him think. I won't even try, but I can sum up a few possibilities and what I would do if I was Yao. Who knows? Maybe Yao is a SF3 lover and wants to win a championship with him. Wouldn't that suck if we traded SF to the Nets, and Yao demanded that he be traded to the Nets as well? We are assuming way too many things. Maybe Yao doesn't want to be 1st option with a ton of roleplayers around him. Maybe he does... We just don't know. Don't rely on select quotes picked up by the media to make your decision either, that's a huge mistake. We lack too much information to make an educated guess.
