Yao Deserves a Rest in 2009-10 Season

The good news: Yao Ming is doing well after surgery. The terrible? He’s “vowing” not to play next season, despite some time-tabled glimmer of hope that he might. To flip it further, the Facts of Life “take ‘em both and then you have”: Yao’s confident that this extended recovery will allow him to come back for 2010-11 at full strength.↵
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↵For the Rockets, this hardly comes as a surprise. Nor should it really affect their strategy all that much. They knew that their team would be small for much of the year, and their fabled win streak of 2007-08 had a Yao-less phase. They tried Yao, Ron-Ron and T-Mac, and are now down all three: Yao, for reasons previously mentioned; T-Mac because of his uncertain, post-microfracture recovery; and Artest, well, he’s gone. What they do have, though, is undersized beasts Luis Scola and Carl Landry; speedster PG Aaron Brooks; do-it-all forward Battier and new face Ariza; and Rick Adelman masterminding the whole thing.↵
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↵No, this is not a contender. But consider these Rockets poised, for now, to deal well with the death of homegrown dinosaurs. Their lineup has an identity regardless of their absent stars, if not one that makes us all jump up and down hoping for a title. Watch the team Morey wanted take shape, and then, just maybe, see McGrady worked back in late as the point-forward whiz he’s always had in him, plus maybe Yao the following year as the center of the storm. That is, assuming they decide to re-sign either of the two big names.↵
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↵The league may never be the same after 2009-10. Not just because LeBron might be about to get an offer he can’t refuse, bring Amare with him, and take over the world in all senses. It’s that, as much as the free agent bumper crop had been viewed as a good thing, it also offers the likes of Houston room to shed huge salaries, if they make that call. The Rockets will be one of those teams to watch, as we gauge whether they’re set to move on without their stars, bring them into the fold, or forced to fall back on depending on them fully.↵
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One thing’s for sure: Given all that Yao’s body has been put through since he entered the league, he’s earned the right to take this rest. This kind of fracture—more specifically, premature comebacks from it—brought down the great Bill Walton, ironically Yao’s ceiling as a player. No matter what strange new brew might fester in Yao’s absence, whether Houston’s protecting their asset or taking stock of a Yao-less future, I think I speak for all floating around the NBA when I say the man needs a break.↵
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↵There is nothing to be gained by running players into the ground. Basketball players, if managed properly, can last a while. It’s in the interest of all parties to see that their careers are as long, profitable and productive as is mortally possible. So get well soon, Yao; fare thee well, small ball Rockets; and we’ll sort it all out in 12 months.↵