With his contract expiring soon I was wondering what kind of deal he'll get. Obviously he brings more than just basketball to the team, and that will no doubt be a big part of the contract. He has shown he can be a leader and the go to guy, just not on a consistent basis. If you base it solely on playing, I'd say he doesn't deserve much more than RJ got, however bringing in his other "advantages" pushes him to the max. How much does Yao really deserve based on his play? Even with him being the second best center in the league, does he deserve what he'll get based solely on his play? We're going to be paying him the max and if he never becomes the 20/10 guy we're waiting for and expecting it could be a big kick in the rear to the team, but not financially. Pugs
They will extend him one more year, and then do the deal with him. My guess is that there will be a lockout again next year to get salaries more in control, or their length in control. DD
he's a lock for a max money contract. if rockets don't pay him, then someone else eagerly will. teams are already lining cap space up to try to attempt it. too many people on this board take yao for granted. if you take a step back, he really is progressing. there was a myriad of yao ming stat projections right after he was drafted. It would be interesting if those posts could be recovered and we could check out the projections versus the actual. if I remember right, most of the projections were as followed: year 1: 9 and 5 year 2: 15 and 8 year 3 : 18 and 10 he's exceeded the initial expectations and last year many boosted his year 3 projections to 22 and 10. there's still a lot of season left, and I could see him being a 20 and 10 guys this year. if you step back, the big man is ahead of schedule.
Rockets management should throw a MLE offer to Yao, like what Cavs threw at Boozer. MLE is good engouh for a 7-6 stiff like Yao. I am sure Lakers/Warriors won't have cap to offer more than MLE anyway.
Who's schedule is this? He exceeded it in year one. Then he plateaued in many areas, and if you think he's going to make 20-10 this year, especially once the April-May swoon hits, that's highly, highly unlikely.
Like I said in my original post, I think he'll get the max, but what I'm really wondering is, what does he deserver based on his play, not his marketing or ability to put people in seats. Pugs
He has plateaued, and if he continues on this plateau - the answer is a resounding no despite the dearth of centers in the league. I'd take 8-8 from Kelvin Cato for the neighborhood of the MLE rather than pay the max for 15-7 and spend my money on a superstar PF.
His potential. But most importantly, the DEMAND for big men exceed supply. If rox doesn't pay, some other teams will be more than happy to offer him max.
I have a feeling that even Cato will get more than MLE, and there is no superstar PF that you can get. If you don't think so, just list one. You cannot let a commodity like Yao walk. Resign him, and trade him if you want.
Sorry I was mistakenly thinking of May-June Yao, not the dominating superstar Yao we are seeing right now.
Sorry I was mistakenly thinking of Francis before last season. He got 0-0-0 in May-June. well-deserved max.
Why don't we stop tit-for-tatting and go to the real issue: I'm asking you: does 17-8 deserve the max or not? Yes or no? If so why? Does it change your opinion if 17-8 doesn't go past April and morphs into something worse as a regular pattern? Yes or no? I have expressed my opinion, instead of distracting us with irrelevant stuff about a player that is no longer here - express yours, and why.
I don't know about max maybe if he pulls something out this year. He really hasn't played as well as I thought he would this year..so I don't know
Although I am a big Yao fan, I think Yao should not get a max contract. It is based on his performance and future Rockets development. Basically, 12mil to 14mil is more resonable. Otherwise, either Rockets will lose him ( More teams are willing to offer him more than that ) or there is no money left to sign other casts in order to win a championship. I think Yao will know that, his main goal is to win a champ with T-Mac and he could easily get tens millions from ads, not just from Rockets.
They should give Yao the max and in so doing they can cripple this franchise financially. The type of players they will be able to sign will be guys like ward and sura. With Yao and Tmac there are still alot of holes on this team but if they are stupid enoug to give him the max, I wouldn't hate on Yao for taking it. They won't be able to sign a legit PF or a PG with Yao and Tmac getting the max but who cares as long as Yao is happy, right?
Max contracts should only be for franchise players. Players who will carry the team and lead them consistently. I have yet to see that from Yao. WIll he ever become that player? We have no idea. If I have to base it on the progress I have seen so far, I would have to say no.
Yao will sign a max contract.. there are plenty of teams that feel Yao is not being utilized properly and could do a better job. what does Yao bring to the table. 1. Revenue - no one likes to talk about it but money talks. Yao brings revenue to the Rox likes no ones business and his upside is unlimited. 2. Big Man - That is a shortage of big men in the NBA so if Pau/Dampier/EBrand/SAR/TMurphy/KMart all these guys are getting max or near max salaries so will Yao. If they try to low ball him I can see Yao playing out his contract and leaving. Similar to what happened with Nike (Yao would probably feel offended) 3. Potential - He is in a slump to start the season (maybe due to injury?) and still putting up decent numbers once he hits his stride and recovers he should fine. There are alot of big men with worse numbers that have near max contracts (mentioned above) 4. Impact - Yao has an impact on offense and defense that cant be measured in stats.. He may not get all the blks but he changes shots and even with an off shooting nights commands a double team and alot of attention in the post. J
