So basically , its up to Stern as to when the "clock" starts...does it start after the draft or does it start when the Chinese Gov't says 'ok Yao, go and play for whomever' ...good info HeyP
the clock does not start until Yao notifies the drafting team that he is available to sign "immediately, provided such notice will not be effective until the player is under no contractural or other legal impediment to sign with [the drafting team]."
Maybe all these issues will cause Ming to fall to us at 5 or 6. I would then take a chance and draft him, ala what Phoenix did with Tsakalidis. Houston is light years ahead of Memphis in marketability/Asian population, and I don't think China would bar Ming from coming to Houston just because it is not New York. Heck, we might even get an Olympics.
But if you are Rudy T and your job is on the line and you need to win now and have a team with a 2-3 year championship window before you have to start over, do you take the chance of having to wait 2-3 years to even get the guy on the court?
DEFECTION MADE EASY simply get the nbapa to furnish all the women that they usually peruse at gold cups and such, set up are freakish chinese monster the best black asian white girls we can get our hands on here in the US, drug him up, let him have carnal pleasures in a non camera setting, then marry him off drunk to a good asian girl, then... tuuudah, job, wife...Doesnt that grant you the ability to become a citizen? or at least be here legally? peace
IMO, it depends on a combination of : 1) How good RT & CD thought the team was before the start of last years injury-plagued season. My guess is they thought the team was pretty good because they swapped Anderson for Rice to gain outside shooting for a drive and kick team that had won 45 games the year prior. 2) How much did Eddie Griffin meet or exceed RT & CD's expectations? If met or exceeded, then more inclined to take the risk. 3) How much was RT impressed with Ming during the Olympics? Bottomline, if management thought this team was a playoff caliber team prior to EG and they had NO Lottery expectation for this summer because they felt the team was already good enough to compete (and draw fans) then it is fair to assume they would be inclined to take that risk given the tremendous updside.
Agreed...IMO, a lot of this lies on Eddie and his improvement next year. If this guy is 1/2 as good as RT and CD pictured him to be (and I, for one happen to think he will be), then Eddie, along with a healthy Steve can make a 20 game difference from this year to next year. The #3 point you posted in a great question...does anyone "in the know" have any idea of Rudy's impression of Ming at the Olympics?
