Comments on: Yao/McGrady – Year Six: Part 2

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 06:17:33 +0000

The Rockets look good on paper. It's time for them to play and build some chemistry and from there make adjustments

By: rahat_huq

rahat_huq — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:30:50 +0000

I think he meant letting Yao walk, not trading him. I agree though – he'd never be traded.

By: jmwilliamson

jmwilliamson — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:16:11 +0000

Yao Ming will never be traded. There is simply no way. It isn't economically feasible. Yao sitting on our bench injured still means there are more people watching some of our games in China than there are people watching the Superbowl.

By: rahat_huq

rahat_huq — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:12:59 +0000

Distinction with the '94 Rockets was that, as you said, Dream was one of the best ever, so they COULD wait. They already had the talent in that sense, just needed the right chemistry and cast of characters (thorpe, smith, dream, max was the steady core, but they didn't win it till they got horry, cassell, and elie.)

with no elite players left on the market, if they want to win, they probably will have to do it like the '04 pistons. what people forget though is that while that team had no elite talents, they still had an all-star at every position and a lineup still far superior to what we have currently. we can bridge that gap though with someone like iguodala.

By: Rox fan in Dallas

Rox fan in Dallas — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:02:29 +0000

I'll probably get blasted for this, but I'm wondering two things… we keep waiting for some additional blockbuster event… a trade, a free agent signing, where we pick up that marquee player, e.g. Melo, CP3, Bosh, etc., but when we won our first championship we really didn't change that team much from the previous few seasons. Sure we picked up Sam Cassel in the draft and made a “minor” deal for Mario, but I've always thought the key to that first championship was, other than Dream being one of the best ever to play the game, but that team played together for 3 or 4 years without major roster changes… at least among the starters. Maybe it would be best to just let this team stew for a while and let the chemistry develop.

My second thought is this: The 89, 90 Pistons, or what ever years they won back-to-back, their best player was Isiah, who was an all star, but hardly a Magic, or Michael. Same thing with their 02-03 team, they had several all stars, but nobody that would be regarded as a top 10 talent in the league. My quesiton is can the Rockets be that team?

Maybe Morey would be wise to just stand pat and see what these boys can do. I wonder if they're healthy, and they get a chance to play together for a while… I'm thinking they can be pretty damn good, and maybe even contend.

By: rahat_huq

rahat_huq — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:00:11 +0000

Yes. I plan on doing that as we get closer to November.

By: rahat_huq

rahat_huq — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:59:27 +0000

There's a good chance you're right, but that would really complicate matters, so let's hope not.

By: Ryliu_us

Ryliu_us — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:01:51 +0000

Rahat, are you going to do a similar pre-season piece for this year. I am interested to hear your thoughts on what would be a successful season for this year, what development to watch for, .. etc

By: Shaun

Shaun — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 19:45:10 +0000

Even getting a star player in the Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul mold may not be the final domino. If we could land Paul and sign a defensive center like Dampier, we might be better served exchanging Yao for an upgrade or two. For instance, we could target Igoudala and a young, promising center with Yao's expiring contract and marketing value.

Paul/Lowry
Martin/Lee
Igoudala/Budinger
Scola/Patterson
Dampier/Miller/(young center)

Yao's departure might be the final final domino.