Okay, here's the deal...
I get all of the reasons why we should keep Yao... including the ones actually related to basketball. I don't want him to play for another team, period. I especially don't want him to (magically - Harry Potter's done as a movie star, maybe he becomes a team physician?) get healthy and play for another team.
But, painful or not, the reality is that he is now more valuable to Houston as an expiring contract (and a BIG one, at that) than he is as a player.
So, the question begged (?) is, "What can the Rockets get for him that will 1) help quell the pain, all-around, of losing him, and 2) be worth a sh*t on the investment?"
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I wanted to try to find a way to trade Yao to Phoenix 'cause of their training staff. (They kept fat Shaq healthy for an entire season, for God's sake...) I couldn't put together a single trade that would work well under the cap that wouldn't drastically cripple both teams. The best one I got was:
- Houston gets: Jason Richardson and Mongo Turkoglu. (For those of you that don't know me, it pains me GREATLY to say those words...)
- Phoenix gets: Yao's $17 million last leg, and Shane Battier - who also has an expiring contract.
This would give Phoenix $24 large in expiring contracts to go with the $7 mil they already had on the roster. That's enough to allow them to sign two max players to play with Nash for his last season, as well as a potentially healthy Yao. But, most likely, it gives Phoenix Battier's services for at least this season; a defense-minded player who plays smart basketball, shoots the ball well from the outside, and is completely unselfish playing alongside Steve Nash? Yeah, Phoenix would like that, I think.
Their new starting five would look like this: Nash, Battier, Grant Hill, Channing Frye, and Robin Lopez. In other words, only Richardson would be leaving their starting lineup, and Battier is also starter-caliber at the 2 (at least defensively) once he gets to know the system a bit. So they would lose Richardson's athleticism, but not much else.
Houston's team would be drastically changed, though: Brooks/Lowry, Kevin Martin, Chase Budinger, Luis Scola, and Chuck Hayes would start, at least until Adelman figured out a way to play Martin and Richardson at the same time since they do different things anyway.
Also, as much as I hate, hate, hate to say it, I suppose that Mongo's versatility would help Houston's second (third?) until maintain their poise in the halfcourt offense, and, if they were playing him at the four, he could be paired with Jordan Hill so that his defensive weaknesses wouldn't be as painful... although if Hill starts getting in early foul trouble, it should be Mongo that comes out, not Hill. Also, Mongo played for Adleman before, in Sacramento, and it'll make the coaching transition a bit smoother. It makes them even deeper than they already are, and helps solidify them as a team that likes to run on offense, not grind it out in the halfcourt. Adelman loves to get his teams out on the break.
- Yao to Charlotte for Gerald Wallace and DeSagana Diop. Wallace is ridiculously unhappy in Charlotte, Diop is still just a project at best, and Larry Brown has been dumping players left and right since he got to Charlotte trying to bring in "his guys." Well, Yao's $17 million expiring contract would allow him to bring in another max player this summer, if he (and Michael freakin' Jordan) can talk a player into going to North Carolina for professional basketball. Houston does it because Wallace is an All-Star caliber player, and Diop gives them another big body; something which, because of Yao's injuries, they're sorely lacking. Houston would probably have to throw in a first-rounder as well, just to sweeten the pot. A second-rounder for sure.
Houston: Brooks/Lowry, Martin, Wallace, Scola, and Hayes with Battier moved to the bench to strengthen it, along with Diop bringing in some much-needed size. Also, Wallace likes to get out and run, and plays much larger than his size. He is also an excellent defender.
Charlotte: They get Yao's $17 million expiring contract to try to entice someone to come to Charlotte next season. OR, if Yao (see above) gets healthy, they get an All-Star center around whom an entire offense can be built. Dominic Macguire (17 boards last night) would replace Wallace in Charlotte's starting lineup, and the rest would go on until next season when that expiring contract and first-rounder (likely a middle-of-the-round pick) would come into play.
Jamal Crawford, Tayshaun Prince, Shannon Brown, Zach Randolph, Michael Redd, David West, Jason Richardson, Carl Landry, Andrei Kirilenko, and Josh Howard are some of the 2011 free agents that may consider Charlotte as a new home. (I didn't count guys like Tim Duncan. Sue me.) Also, current college players who may be taken in the middle of the first round (according to the latest projections) include: Kenneth Faried - Morehead State, Trey Thompkins - Georgia, or Kyle Singler - Duke. I think that, if you asked Brown and Jordan if they'd trade Wallace and Diop now, for Yao now, but Zach Randolph and Kenneth Faried in a year, they'd say "Yeah." I would.
Bye, Donger. You did it right. Your body failed you. I sympathize. I promise.
the_ouskull
