Yao looked better tonight than he did te other night. He's picking it up quicker than we expected. By the season opener he'll be ready for 10-12 pts 9 rbs 5 assts. in 24 mins.
A max extension, right before the next CBA, on a player capped at 24 minutes a game? With no back to backs? Who's 30 years old? Ask me in the Spring.
He may make the decision for us if he cant make the whole season again. Then again if he knew he would make less and accept it here? He might be worth resigning then he somehow gets his old form back and we have him at a good deal... He might only perform at half and get paid less. That would be fine. We could use that extra money to sign others.
since you didn't mention a salary, the question is impossible to answer. No to the max, yes to the vet min.
As of RIGHT NOW...nope. But things will change for better or worse before his contract is up. Yao may get back to the prime form he was in before injury and that would make a huge difference. But if Yao continues to play limited minutes and looks sluggish out there then yes, I think it's time to move on.
as a fan..this is the worst part to me. i'm not remotely concerned with how much money Les makes..i'm concerned about the product wearing Red.
every center in the league was better than Yao for 82 games last season. that's the point. no one is saying he isn't/wasn't skilled. they're saying that locking him up with a contract when he misses so much time is a mistake. From the 2005/6 season through this last season, the Rockets have played 410 regular season games. Yao's played in only 237 of them. You simply can not throw that much money at a guy who isn't around. We talked about this before we even drafted him. Men who play the NBA at this size don't play long. They have short, injury-riddled careers for the most part. None of this is a surprise. If there were no salary cap...sure...fire away. But in a league where you have to manage the money you spend wisely, Yao is a bad investment. For his "on the court" value, at least.
1) "Bad investment" depends on how much you invest, and for how long, and what your "opportunity cost" (other options) is. A blanket statement of "Yao is a bad investment" is simply wrong. 2) You always take a gamble when you sign a player. Yes, the past is an indicator of the future. But Ilgauskas had the same injury and later managed to have several very productive years without further injury. Conversely, you could sign a player who has never missed a game and he could have a season-ending injury at any point in time. 3) You keep citing the numbers, including the 82 games he missed last season, then coming up with an average of games he played. Missing a whole season to a very serious injury obviously skews the numbers. It needs to be taken into consideration, but cannot necessarily be seen as indicative of the number of games he can play in the future in a season (see: Ilgauskas). 4) I'd rather throw, e.g., 8 million per year at Yao with a 66 % chance that he will be able to play in 2/3 of the games and in the playoffs than throw even a couple of millions at Dampier. If Yao plays, he can be difference maker. Tell me for which other centers on the market that holds true. If there were a lot of other centers on the market with the potential of Yao to make a difference, then I would be with you. But there aren't. So you have to take the gamble. As of right now, I would not pay the max, but I trust Yao and his advisers will be somewhat reasonable, and Yao is a very loyal person, so let's just wait and see what he, his management team and our GM can come up with, and be loyal fans this season. Saying "Yao is a bad investment" when not even knowing the price does not sound loyal to me.
Just a little too early to answer this poll wait for at least 75 or 80 games into the regular season. Nobody can answer this now Except Daryl Morey. I bet he has already made a plan.
