Of course people take my attitude or wording and interpret as me not liking yao. I just feel as a organization , everyone has a trade value. As a organization , u have to correctly project a careers. Example: I've watched Oden enough to know right now he's going to be 15ppg 12rebs and about 2 blks. Is that enough to warrant a straight trade for yao? No, but they have enough young talent that I can add players or picks. Then when I rebuild the team, I build it with 5 really good starters. So say Yao for Oden, pryzbilla, and bayless/outlaw. So now I have Oden,landry,outlaw,sg, and brooks. Now I need a swing and I'm ready to go? Is that a title team?No, but its a team young enough and good enough to male the playoffs in 2010 and with everyone under 26, it will get better. That's all I'm saying. Everyone has a trade value, yao is no different.
Yao opting out to be a FA would be only slightly worrying. Sure, we might lose him for nothing, but it would give us a ton of cap space in a very talented FA class. We all know Yao is a world-class player, but he's got some well-known limitations. He struggles against fronting defense, can't catch a lob pass, turns the ball over too often, and isn't very good at catching the ball on the move. And those weaknesses can't be corrected. Surround him with the best shooters in the world and he'll still struggle against a fronting defense. It's tough to build around a guy who's game is so inflexible. That said, I think Yao is a rocket for life and I'm looking forward to it.
People here have made the point that Yao should assess whether or not his best chance to win a title is in Houston. Should not the Rockets do the same thing? We're talking about a max-salary guy who, as JVG would say in his most glowing words, "has his assets and deficiencies". I understand that, because of the monetary side of things, the Rockets will make every attempt to keep him. However, if he decides to go somewhere else, I'm not going to be sad. 20+ million is 20+ million, and with a sound GM at the helm, we will find a way to rebuild our core and return to championship contention faster than we would have with Yao (if Yao himself is not good enough to take us all the way). Franchises perennially suck because they have crappy GM's that throw money haphazardly at marginal stars that do not deserve it. Our organization has been crippled by huge contracts since Francis signed his, but the current administration will not make that mistake, and I for one cannot wait to see us have some flexibility once again.
I've always thought Yao would excel if he had superb role players around him. He doesnt need so called stars of the game who are nothing but diva. I'll take guys like scola, battier over artest, mac anyday. If u love ur teammates you can inspire each other to great things. If Rockets can get a decent PG than it will certainly help. I have no doubts whatsoever that mac has to be gone. If only we had CP3/ deron instead of mac then we would be an instant contender. For those haters/whiners out there; I'd love for Yao to go somewhere like LA or NY, where he'd be appreciated bit more. When you are 7'6, its really hard to play the game the way you want to. That guy breathes so heavy after 8 mins of up n downs yet he keeps giving it his best, keeps delivering it in crunch times, never complains once about his role. He is basically on his knees the whole time he is on court. It takes 3 times as much energy for him to do stuffs as ur lebrons or howards. Just think about that while u slouch infront of ur keyboard n tap in ur rants about how much he sucks.
Spacemoth- That's all I'm saying. Orlando traded Shaq, struggled, manuevered and had enough money to offer duncan,hill,and mcgrady max money. Didn't work, traded mcgrady for the rox deal, struggled a liitle, had some money, now look.A smart gm, all he needs is money and evaluation.
It's people like you who bash their own race that makes you guys cheap. So pathetic. Yao stays in Houston for sure.
Setuablaz3 ,Shaq didn't struggle getting up and down the court and he was over 330lbs. Maybe he should rest then work on his conditioning as opposed to playing summer ball.
The only deal I would ever consider for Yao is Bosh. Bosh back to Texas, Yao in the large Chinese market of Toronto, etc---might make sense. Then we find a center. Yao plays a lot better when he doesn't have to defer to Tracy. Not so much Tracy's fault; it just is. They don't mesh very well. Naturally, Yao has a bad game and all the "wouldn't you trade him?" posters show up. Of course, I'm the same way about Tracy, but Tracy provides a lot more ammunition for me to take shots.
Then I agree with you completely. It is certainly possible to be a diehard Rockets fan, root for Yao and everyone on our team as currently configured, and still be open to rooting for a completely different roster in the future, one that will perhaps have its own deficiencies but at least none of the mind-numbing ones our current team suffers from like being clutch late in the game, jumping ability, team offensive efficiency in general.
Bynum??? R U Kidding? Look at last four years Lakers with Bynum... I can say that Anyteam in the NBA will give offer to Yao If he is free...
How many games has Yao played in the last 4 years? Bynum is only 21 and he put up better stats last year than yao did in his rookie season when he was 22. Bynum's not as polished and as skilled on the offensive end as yao but i can see him averaging 22 points, 12-13 rebounds a game consistently. I could care less abotu scoring to tell you the truth as long as he remains the anchor and pulls down 12 + boards and 3 blocks a game
The problem with idea like that is it contradicts with your own assessment. Everyone has a price, and in other words, everyone can be traded, and will be traded at the right price. Even the so-called big 3 or whatever. That being said, it's hard to get equal value back. So I can hardly see organizations of big 3 will go out to seek for trades actively. Now, Yao's value is certainly debatable. It's perfectly normal for fans, or GM, or coach, or owner, to go out look for trades if you think your max player is not franchise player worthy, or you want to go different directions. However, one has to be reasonable, if you actively seek for trades of your max player, you will have to be ready to get a little less back. As little value as you or any other fans who want to trade Yao gave him, some want Howard as a return. You want Oden, pryzbilla, AND bayless/outlaw. What? Random rockets fans are just smarter than everyone else, so we can rip them off? Remeber, Oden was projected to be No. 1 center before he entered the league. Only 2 explanations - 1. you don't value Yao much, but want a lot more extra value back in a "fair trade", which means logic is really not your forte. 2. you value yao a lot, just want to rid of him for some reason. What else is left? They are both perfectly fine. Just no need to circle around. Speaking of No.1 center, Amare, Bynum, and Oden, were all PROJECTED to be such, at one point. Yao was never projected that high, but somehow he's always the default top 3. Now of course Howard is considered No. 1, we'll it that changes in a year or two. i don't think Yao will be considered No. 1 either, even if Howard regresses, some new kid will fill that role. That's the way it is.
I guess that the rockets will lock Yao before someone else starts to make an offer. Les is a smart business person first, then a basketball owner. He knows the value of Yao for the basketball and his business, and not stupid enough let him go, get someone like Bosh. Be happy, real rockets's fans, Les and Morey will make a right decision for his team.
I would be surprised if Yao opts out. He chose to stay with Houston after the rookie contract. He signed with Reebok rather than Nike whose offer was much higher. He is not a money-centric person. If he cannot get a contract from Rockets 4 or 5 years later, I guess he will not take a 3m contract from a .50 team but go back to China to start something tremendous. Will Houston host Olympic games in next 30 years? Yao may come back to Houston as the President of Chinese Olympic Committee,
Did you imply that China makes money on Yao and China will make the decision only for maximizing Yao's pay stub? LOL
Wow... Being a Chinese doesn't exempt you from being racist against the Chinese and your post proves that perfectly. As for the content of your post, I'm not even gonna bother to comment, way too low for a decent Chinese like me.
People keep saying NBA is just a business. Well, this is partially true. Playing basketball for Yao is something more than a job. He works hard for a ring, but I don't think he would appreciate getting an easy ring in LA/NY as a role player.
Most likely Yao would stay, I would say for 3 more years. After the contract running out he'd be 34 somewhere, usually just pasted his physical prime if he's been living a healty life style. Then he'll worry about championship rings like Karl Malone used to be(If he didn't have one already).
No way does Yao hit the market. Les isn't going to let his cash cow go anywhere. China however, may want him moved so they can cash in on the new sales of Yao gear.
