You're absolutely right. I wouldn't pay much, if it were left up to me. I think a full strength Yao is nice to build around...and a player like him is typically built around. I don't know if Yao was ever the kind of player you rely on to be THE MAN on a championship squad. I think this understates what we've seen from Yao. Few players in the league today have missed as much basketball over the past 5 seasons as Yao Ming. Again...his body type doesn't lend itself well from a longevity standpoint for an 82 game season...not as he gets older, especially. You can't really do that because he DID miss those games. By the converse, should we also remove the 77 game season in 08/09, because it's way above the norm from the 3 years prior to it? Ultimately, you have to play the games. The team doesn't stop simply because he isn't there. Missing entire seasons and then saying, "but we can't count that when considering investing in him in the future" is ridiculous. But I'll play along. Let's just look over the 4 seasons before that. So not counting last season which he missed entirely...he averaged 59 games played over the seasons before that. Put another way, he averaged missing 1/4 of a season. And that INCLUDES the 77 game season and completely removes the entire season where he couldn't play a game for us. And that's also NOT including the fact we lost him for the playoffs multiple years and the weighted impact of missing those games. This is where I disagree. Basketball isn't a sport where you plug guys in by stats and numbers and say, "there's my team!" Teams have to build chemistry. When you have a player missing that much time...who the team has traditionally been built around...he has to be someone you can count on being there when it matters most. We've learned time and again, Yao can't do that. It's not his fault. It's not a character thing. I see zero reason to believe that, as this oversized man gets older, his body is going to allow him to play more games than it has so far. I'm not concerned with having the best center in the league....particularly right now where there's not much strength in that position. I'm concerned with having the resources necessary to acquire one of the best PLAYERS in the league. The alpha dog type player...first or second team all NBA...MVP discussion type player. And if committing more money to 24 minutes and/or 57 games a season keeps me from that, I want it gone. I'm a Rockets fan. I've spent way too much money and time with this team. Please don't start on the loyal stuff. It's likely my head will explode.
nothing over 14 million per. You can load it with incentives but I just don't see him becoming an All Star (in production) any more.
I'd rather spend 8m on marc gasol than the same amount on yao. I'd rather trade for thabeet than sign yao for 8m. If there are no other obtainable options, I guess yao will be signed for 8m. If he proves to be somewhat healthy, i kinda think his defensive presence is worth 8-10m, but that might be insulting to him.
What happens if the guy is healthy and playing over 30mpg at the end of the year, because that is the most likely scenario. DD
You need options for how much. Obviously it depends on this season. But if he's able to play 65 games without a serious injury, I'd resign him for under 10. If anything, can you imagine him coming off the bench? He would own the other teams bench like no body's business.
The poll doesn't have enough options. There is no way I would resign him to max contract money or anything close to it and I have been saying that since we found out he was going to be out the entire season last year. I expect Yao will return to pre-injury form at some point this season, but I would not bet the future of the franchise on his health given his history. But for midlevel exception money, sure. The flip side is will Yao WANT to resign here if we only offered him midlevel money or something in the 8-10 million. If he is just going to be a 24 minute a game player playing for midlevel money there are other teams he might consider that can offer similar or better deals.
At the center position, the only option for that is Dwight Howard. So you will have to find that type of alpha dog player at another position. And having that type of player at another position and having a top three center in Yao - when healthy! - is not mutually exclusive, yet you make it seem like it is by saying "I want it gone". I did not mean to say you are not a loyal fan, that would obviously be wrong. What I was trying to say is (and I know you do that) "let's support the players we have and let's worry about the extension of contracts when the time for that comes - by then, we will also have more info" (e.g., Yao might have had a career-ending injury by then (god beware) or he might have led us through a great playoff run, playing 28 minutes per game in the playoffs)). Really doesn't make such sense to say now "I want it gone"/"It's a bad investment", etc., just as it doesn't make sense to talk about handing out a max deal right now.
EXACTLY what I have been saying, let's just wait and see. The only caveat being the limited minutes, I am all for that in the early season, but by February/March, Yao needs to be playing over 30mpg so the team can find out if his new bionic foot is going to hold up. They need to be able to make an informed decision about him going forward... I have pretty good hopes, because for the first time, they are thinking about how best to limit his stress......and I am hoping that they do more of that in practice. Honestly, it was pretty damned stupid of the organization to not take a more cautious approach after the first break....I mean we are talking about PRACTICE...lol.... Yao should have been limited after the first break....at least in offseason training etc. DD
read my post again. i said IF it detracts or impedes your ability to go sign that kind of player, THEN I want it gone. I will absolutely be rooting for the Rockets. You don't need to worry about that.
Depends entirely on how he performs and what the contract is. Your poll gives the option "yes, he is still worth the money" but we don't know what kind of money it'll be. I wouldn't give him a max deal but would probably give him something less than that.
Because 24 minutes in the pre-season after over a year of rehab from major surgery is certainly a good indicator of his future worth, right? It is knee-jerk, jerk.
No...not sure where you would get it from that I would question that you are a really loyal fan - I would not. I mean, you and I have been on this site for more than 10 years rooting for the Rockets, and you obviously get to go to games, too...I have seen you in chats, game threads, many threads...why in the world would I be concerned about your loyalty to the team?
I think the worst scenario is him having an injury free season playing limited minutes this year and returning to pre-injury form, getting resigned to a big contract and then getting injured again next year. He would basicly need to have an MVP level season this year for me to even consider resigning him to a max contract, as I think the injury risk is just too high based on his history. But if he is willing to play for significantly less a max contract then I would definitely consider it. That is assuming he puts up a close to pre-injury showing this year in limited minutes which I suspect he eventually will. He is going to have a tough time averaging 14 a game this season if he is limited to 24 minutes for most of the season though as he only averaged close to 20 with no restrictions on his minutes. I just think it is way too risky to pay max money for someone who there is a good chance will always need to have his minutes closely monitored and held out of back to back games even barring future injuries. Also with Ilgauskas, he missed all of 99-00, then played just 24 games in 00-01, and 62 games in 01-02, so even though he hasn't had any more problems with that particular injury, it isn't like he came back and started playing 82 games after fixing the problem.
No, I did not. You did. I meant that the statements "bad investment", "I want it gone" (even with "if" qualifiers) sound unnecessary illoyal at a point in time when we do not have make such statements. Maybe he ends up playing >30 min. in the playoffs and comes back and says "I'll re-sign for the minimum" (hypothetical case). Maybe he will have another injury and call it quits. In either case, why then, at this point in time, burn bridges by making statements like "bad investment"/"I want it gone"...if anything, that attitude from the fans would reduce the probability that he would come back and say "you were loyal to me, now I will be loyal to you" (and re-sign for less than market value, or whatever). But I would not doubt that you are very loyal to the team and a hardcore Rockets fan. I have said this what, five times, now, and you still say "you brought it up, you tell me". Do I need to re-post it in a bigger font size?
i'm not suggesting I was speaking on behalf of the Rockets when I used the words, "bad investment" or "I want it gone." that's my opinion. my words. that's why i naturally assumed you were speaking of MY loyalties. i expect the rockets management to use more tact than any of us would on the BBS regarding these issues.
