I don't understand the angst over Yao's draft status.

After watching the firestorm over Francis' comment (which I think was much ado about nothing) and the rumor-mongering of the past few days I have to wonder what I'm missing. Why is there so much worry about the Rockets missing out on Yao? If Yao Ming is as good as advertised the Rockets will likely take him #1 regardless of his contract situation in order to tie up his rights. Wasn't that what Portland did with Sabonis? Wasn't that what Dallas did with Wang Zhizhi? If I remember correctly Nelson successfully negotiated the deal to get Wang to the NBA AFTER the draft. I think he did the same with Nowitski in that he had to convice Nowitski to come to the NBA the year he was drafted. What's to stop the Rockets from doing the same? Despite all the comments to the contrary I think the Rockets take Yao regardless of his status.