Yao’s Future in Jeopardy: A) Not Totally Surprised, B) How Snake-Bitten Was the 2002 Draft?
NBA June 30th. 2009, 11:15am
Nobody should be totally floored that a 7-foot-6, 350-pound man who has missed 20 or more games in three of the last four seasons due to injury now finds his career in jeopardy after breaking his left foot again.
It’s sad, though; Yao’s great for the league internationally, his English was coming around, he’s probably the best center in the league (remember, he owns Dwight Howard head-to-head), and he seems like a nice guy. Â
No point in hammering home how bad the Rockets could be next season: Artest seems gone, they’re trying to unload T-Mac, and now Yao’s gone. At least they can hang their hat on taking the Lakers to 7 games in the WC semis.
About that 2002 draft …
1 Yao Ming (C) - Enjoy this career highlight reel, in case he never plays again.
2 Jay Williams (PG) – Never rebounded from motorcycle accident; just played one season.
3 Mike Dunleavy, Jr. (SF) – A rich, rich man. Has never made it to the playoffs.
4 Drew Gooden (PF) – Christian Laettner had a better career.
5 Nikoloz Tskitishvili (F/C) – One of the biggest Euro busts ever.
6 Dajuan Wagner (G) – Injuries and health problems (entire colon was removed) ended his career far too early.
7 Nen̻ Hilario (PF) РProbably the 4th best career of anyone in the lottery.
8 Chris Wilcox (F/C) – A beast at Maryland; a great athlete for his size, but he’s got a low bball IQ.
9 Amar’e Stoudemire (F/C) – Has survived microfracture surgery to be a 20-8 guy five times.
10 Caron Butler (SF) – Has had a solid career to date.
11 Jared Jeffries (F) – Bust, but at least, thanks to Isiah Thomas, he got paid.
12 Melvin Ely (PF) - Non-factor.
13 Marcus Haislip (PF) – Three years in the league, eight starts. A typical Milwaukee pick.
14 Fred Jones (SG) – He’s had his moments (like winning the dunk contest), mostly above the rim.
Rockets could lose Yao for season, if not longer (Yahoo Sports)
Yao could miss entire season with foot injury (Houston Chronicle)
46 Responses to “Yao’s Future in Jeopardy: A) Not Totally Surprised, B) How Snake-Bitten Was the 2002 Draft?”
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June 30th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Have they mentioned having Yao get the surgery Ilgauskas had? Z had his feet completely re-built and re-formed (they broke the feet and gave him a larger instep, then jammed like 20 screws in each foot). Z has been pretty damn solid since coming back. Sadly, here’s a 2003 story where it says Z could have had Yao’s career if not for the foot injuries:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/cavaliers/2003-02-10-ilgauskas-all-star_x.htm
/irony’d
June 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am
remember, Yao, Scola, and Landry together owns Dwight Howard head-to-head)
yep
June 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am
There was always going to be a limited shelf-life on Yao, given what we know of guys over 7 feet. I’m trying to remember of the last 7-ft+ C that didn’t have lower body ailments of some kind. That’s just been made worse by the Chinese demanding he play on every tournament they enter.
As for the Rockets, their window seems shot and I think they know it. Hence the Battier/Brooks offer for Ricky Rubio they made to Minny. Brooks is their PG of the future and Battier is the heart/soul of that team and here they were ready to part ways with them to bring the next international face they could market.
If Houston falls this season, I think they’ll be down for a while.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Crutch City.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Crazy how Melvin Ely has won a ring (SA 2007) and I don’t think any of those other lottery guys has. He played in six games and was paid 3.3 million that year, too.
Top four are easy – Yao, Amar’e, Caron, Nene. Who’s fifth? Gooden? Dunleavy? Wilcox?
June 30th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Really feel awful for Yao. Easily the most likable player in the NBA.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:34 am
I know the water skews the picture some but his head looks ridiculously small compared to the rest of his body.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am
You can hate him, but it makes it more incredible to me that Shaq now enters his 17th NBA season without a significant breakdown.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am
you mean other than kobe, right?
June 30th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Wagner made it out of Camden NJ. He still wins this lottery.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:41 am
I really don’t know how Nene is automatically fourth.
Nene 11/6/2
Dunleavy 12/5/3
Gooden 12/8/1
I’m willing to concede that Dun Jr’s lack of playoff appearances hurt him, but Gooden has played in more playoff games than Nene. And he has better postseason #s than Nene…he’s 10/9, while Nene is 8/5.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Ain’t that some truth.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I’m thinkin of hiring this guy to negotiate my next raise
June 30th, 2009 at 11:43 am
When it could be argued that Dan Dickau was in single digits as the best first round picks in this draft, it sucks.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Tayshuan, Boozer, and Scola in this draft, too.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Of the ENTIRE 02 Draft:
1. Yao
2. Tayshaun Prince
3. Carlos Boozer
4. Luis Scola
5. Nene
6. Caron Butler
7. Nenad Krstic
8. Roger Mason
9. Drew Gooden
And I can’t even come up with a 10th!
June 30th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Can’t really compare playoff stats here. Nene missed the 2006 playoffs due to a blown knee, and hardly played in the 2008 playoffs due to recently returning after the cancer situation.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:55 am
I’m telling you, Dickau averaged 13 points and 5 assists one year
/and then CP3 came
//God, that pre-hurricane Hornets team sucked
June 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am
That’s an ugly list right there
June 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Is Tayshaun the only guy from that draft to have contributed to winning a ring?
I think Joe Dumars made the correct pick.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:58 am
caron butler THAT low? jesus christ is that guy underrated.
id take him over washed up, overrated gayshaun and that backstabbing asshole boozer any day.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
^ and you left off amare ^
June 30th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
June 30th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Fair enough, but honestly Gooden has had the better career so far. Going forward…I imagine the answer will be Nene, but to date, Gooden has been at least as good.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
word
June 30th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
You Cleveland guys are so funny with your jealousy and your ringless fingers and your envy and of course, your losing. Very funny stuff.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
^ and you left off amare ^
My bad. Slide him in after Prince and before Boozer.
caron butler THAT low? jesus christ is that guy
underrated.
And so far Caron Butler has had 2 really-good seasons with Washington — actually 1 great season and 1 good season. But let’s not act as if he’s led the league in scoring or even become his team’s go-to guy (the Wizards are still Agent Zero’s team).
June 30th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
That’s 1 great season more than Tayshaun has had.
Caron’s been a beast for 4 years straight.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Clown got nothing for “Crutch City” ?? Must be a bunch of Howard Stern Fans in here.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
That’s 1 great season more than Tayshaun has had.
Caron’s been a beast for 4 years straight.
Tayshaun – Ring.
Caron – NO Ring.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Caron has been great (Think how the Lakers would be if they had kept him?) But let’s not act as if he’s on the Kobe/LeBron/Dwayne level.
Maybe I just valuate defensive players higher — I think guys like Tayshaun and Battier are necessary for any championship contender.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
maybe that was true a few years ago, but tayshaun isn’t a great defender anymore…and he doesn’t contribute shit on offense.
did you see him in the playoffs? dear god, he was atrocious.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
He doesn’t have to be on the Kobe/Lebron level to be better than fucking Tayshaun Prince.
I like Tayshaun Prince, but somewhere along the line, he went from a nice role player to an overrated supposedly great all-around great player.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Wasn’t Tayshaun drafted 23rd? I think that a solid starter on a team that has won a championship and been to six conference finals is a good value for a 23rd pick. Why all of the Tayshaun hate?
June 30th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
15 games the last two seasons. What exactly makes you think Gil is still the guy?
June 30th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Detroit made a huge error not looking to trade Prince last year when he had overrated trade value. Now I don’t think they could get nearly the same for him. I just don’t understand what Dumars’ game plan has been the last year and a half.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
I’ve always thought of tayshaun as a poormans Shawn Marion.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
BINGO.
June 30th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Milk the 2004 title for every last ounce?
June 30th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
@Paris: I agree with everything you said. But BFFredo is not arguing that it was good value. He’s arguing that Tayshaun is better than Caron Butler, which is Looney Tunes.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Cleveland homer again here? It sure was typed again like another fuckin’ one.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Lot of Cavs and Ohio teams fans, which means they hate everything in Detroit and Ann Arbor more than Osama bin Laden and Bernie Madoff. It’s called jealousy.
It’s funny how the second half of the first round and some second round guys are comparable or even better than lottery picks. Silly NBA.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
What exactly makes you think Gil is still the guy?
The way they keep handing him multi-million dollar contracts?
He’s arguing that Tayshaun is better than Caron Butler, which is Looney Tunes.
I’m arguing that, for the value of the draft, Tayshaun Prince has accomplished more in the NBA than Caron Butler has. In my eyes, a quality defender is as important as a quality scorer — perhaps more so because it’s easier to find great scorers in the NBA. The list of great defenders is smaller.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
That is the worst reasoning I have ever heard. BFFredo…are you Isaiah Thomas?
June 30th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Pistons fire Michael Curry.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090630/SPORTS03/90630042/Pistons+fire+Michael+Curry
June 30th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
That is the worst reasoning I have ever heard. BFFredo…are you Isaiah Thomas?
If only…then I could blame the white media for tarnishing my image!
I’m not saying Caron has been more valuable to the Wiz the last 2 seasons. But that’s not what you hear coming out of them. All you hear is about how they’re going to be once Gilbert comes back.
It’s like the Rockets telling everyone that it’s still T-Mac’s team. (It isn’t).
June 30th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Of course they’re saying that. They foolishly invested all of that money in Arenas, they have to say it and believe it. All I know is that when the Wizards were playing their best ball 2 seasons ago, it was Butler’s team whether anyone wanted to say it or not. When they brought Gil back for the playoffs it killed them. Also lets not make it like Prince is some defensive giant or make Butler out to be a sieve just because the rest of his teammates aren’t committed to defense.