LOL, if you don't want to see Yao anymore, It's ok But I can bet you with all my money that even the Yao with NO legs would be better than Brad and Hasheem........
The broken down carcass of Yao Ming is still better than any center on the roster. Bring him back at the minimum. It's all gravy from there. I just had a problem with him being a max dollar player.
Welcome back, Yao, to your $7 million a year contract loaded with team options under the new CBA. I will enjoy the heck out of you giving the fans without your mental fortitude heartattacks next season if you come back to play for us.
Injury prone former stars like Yao are ideal for contracts with performance bonuses. Low risk/high reward. If he gives you mileage and performs, he gets a bonus. If not, he takes the minimum--no harm done.
Want Yao back. Just don't break the bank or build around him any more. The problem was never Yao getting re-injured (probability was always high), it was building around him being back healthy playing 82 regular season games and playoffs.
The Rockets won't turn the corner until they put the Yao Ming era behind them. I wish Yao the best - somewhere else, but not here.
http://<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qm3ijDdtKKM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>http://<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3BdTOAKxXsE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [/URL]<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fuzXUv48geU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> That's me playing the keyboard... no not really haha :grin:
As much as I love Yao on the Rockets, watching him play in the last few years has been nerve-wracking. Every time he jumps for a block, a long rebound or exerts any amount of physical effort I wonder if he's going to get hurt. Images of the Clippers game in '06 pop up, of him limping in the playoffs, of something even more catastrophic that I would never want to witness happen to the consummate franchise player that is Yao Ming.
Exactly. Why not have him come back on a much smaller salary and no longer build the team around him. Whats there to lose, if it works its all gravy and if it fails there is nothing really to lose.
Yao is a rocket through and through, it's such a shame things have turned out this way. I would have him back provided 3 boxes are checked... 1. Vets minimum contract with performance bonuses 2. His presence doesn't affect our off season trades/ FA signings as we can't expect to build around him. 3. Yao the person, husband and father doesn't ruin his life attempting this comeback. If he loses his ability to walk should the injury happen again and it affects his quality of life it isn't worth it. I love Yao but those are the conditions for me.
I'm excited to hear that. At least there's hope, otherwise the team is stuck in the middle going nowhere in the next 5 years anyway.
Yea, NO WAY Morey can even hope to have Yao back at full strength or even 80 percent. The moment anyone in the organization expects ANYTHING out of Yao, is the moment we take a step back. Yao is, at best, a backup center with a very short NBA lifespan left.
Count me in for the vet minimum, 2nd year team option plan. We move forward like he isn't ever going to play again as far as drafting, trades and free agent acquisitions. If he can't play again then it doesn't disrupt the team and if he can play we end up getting probably still a top 10 NBA center (even if it's off the bench for 15 minutes a game) for super cheap.
:grin: Yeah, if only there was a way to keep Yao without having to expect anything out of him . . . oh, wait! I've got it! Let's pay him THE FREAKIN' LEAGUE MINIMUM!!! Guys, why WOULDN'T you want Yao back at the league minimum salary? At this point, Morey and Les are obviously not going to plan on building around Yao Ming. He would be a complementary piece in their plans at best; and they can even continue to develop other centers (see Thabeet, Hasheem). It hardly costs the team anything at all. And the upside would be far too great NOT to do it. Also, if Yao takes a major, "near-minimum type" of pay cut, there is no way that he agrees to any team options on future years. It would either be a one-year deal or a two-year deal with a PLAYER option (kind of like what Steve Francis and Bonzi Wells got during their reclamation projects). How anyone could be opposed to Yao at the minimum is beyond me.
