If he does not get picked up by another team he more than likely will get a nice deal with Rio Grande (Rockets Minor League team) and get brought up when injuries come around.
Leebigez's translation: Yao will not stay on the blocks and bog down the offense. I like movement and that old way is dead and gone. Yao will have to be a play finisher in the pick and pop game and as a high post passer. His defense is more valuable to us than his offense at this point. :grin:
I've seen lots of talk suggesting that the volume of trades Morey does is going to backfire, and be a deterent to FA wanting to come play here. Although I think there is a little bit of merit to that, I think it's also well known that Morey doesn't target garbage. There are cases where you come to the Rox to fill a need (Andersen, Artest, Miller) or come in a package deal (Cook, Jeffries), but for those that we drafted or traded specifically for (Brooks, Lowry, Martin, Lee, CBud, Scola, etc) there should be a great honor knowing that one of the best talent evaluators wanted you. Your wanted not because you fit the mold of a conventional player, but because you're good at what you do naturally, whether other GMs can recognize that or not. Career wise, is there a player that didn't benefit from being targeted by Morey?
Lee has gone from starting on great team in his first year, to starting on a terrible team, to now playing backup on a good team. In his mind, the next step could be playing backup on a bad team. Yes, its time for him to prove something. And the Rockets were fortunate in not only getting him, but getting him at the right time.
Adelman is never sure about anything when he is asked question. I just judge him by his on-court performance.
That's what he wanted from Yao a couple of years ago - Brad Miller II. A couple of years ago I was totally against this because Yao had too much talent to put him in a Miller II role. But with the injury and all, it may be wise to move him out from the blocks and let the other guys do the dirty work. It will be an adjustment for Yao, but I think he got all the tools to handle it. It's a shame that we won't have a 7'6" presense down low though.
Let me clarify. I wasn't comparing Yao to McGrady haha. I just thought it was kinda scary what Adelman was saying about Yao. It was almost 'word-for-word' what he was saying about McGrady last year. Of course I don't expect anything to happen to Yao. He's a totally different person. Yao's safe. He'll be on the court and do great things for us.
Man whenever we need a crucial stop I hope to see a line-up of Lowry Lee Battier Chuck Yao. Our best defensive line-up ever!
The Ariza-Lee deal may turn out to be another Alston-Lowry steal for Morey. And with Lee's PG skills and Ish Smith's getting coach's praise, it looks more and more likely that Brooks is our biggest trade bait for now. With Lowry and Smith, you worry about their ability to spread the floor as a long-ball threat. Lee, however, can knock down the open 3. That makes Brooks expendable.
I admit that I was not to happy when Ariza was traded. However, I now understand why the trade was made. It wasn't purely for LT purposes. Lee is a multi-dimensional player who can score, defend, and man the pg spot if need be. I can see Lee guarding the big points guards who have given us fits the last two seasons such as Williams and Rose. I love the trade now.
The question is for whom you trade him. With the team having depth everywhere, unless multiple injuries seriously deplete a position, trading Brooks (or any one of the other good to very good players the Rockets have) for anything other than a "top level" star is kind of pointless.
Like i said earlier, Ish makes Brooks expendable. It has nothing to do with him being better than Brooks. If Ish can hold his own on the court well enough to satisfy the coaching staff, that would allow them to look at trade possibilities for Brooks. Not saying that they will, but satisfactory play from Ish allows them to. I got alot of crap last time i said this( i expected it ), but if you sit and think about it, it makes good basketball sense. It is true now and it was true then, even before they got Lee.
I've been saying thos all summer and all year in regards to adelman and how yao will be used. He will spend the bulk of his minutes elbow extended or mid post. Now, there will be times when they will post him, but the days of looking,double looking,and triple looking with down screens to free yao are gone. His defensive presence is more important than his offensive presence right now and going forward. They will keep the baseline open, create creases, and attack the basket with the offense. Yao will be 12 ppg 6 rebounds this season, but he will be effective and help the team.
