didn't see it posted. They were damn quick. Feigen talking about Yao's injury, his future and Ron. http://www.sportsradio610.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=3843309
In the end, Feigen speculated that the Rockets may offer Yao an extension if he goes in for season ending surgery. Presumably, this offer would be at a more modest salary. If Yao agrees to it, would he still get paid the same money for the 2010/2011 season that he would have gotten if he exercised his player option? I'm thinking that if the Rockets can lock up Yao for, I don't know, 10 million for 3-4 years after the upcoming season that could make sense for us.
I'm pretty sure that Yao's new salary under the extension, which would presumably kick in for the 2010-11 season, would supersede and replace his "player option" salary. That would be the primary reason for doing an extension in the first place. Personally, if Yao (and his group, which may be influenced by the Chinese government) would agree to a pay cut in exchange for long-term security, I would do that in a HEARTBEAT. The revenue that Yao generates for the Rockets would easily surpass his salary and would enable Les Alexander to be aggressive in trades (see 2009 NBA Draft, $6M spent) and free agency. Even if the worst case scenario happens and Yao cannot play, at least he'd "only" be taking up $10-11M of cap room. Heck, Bobby freakin' Simmons makes that much. Daryl Morey could maneuver around that issue fairly easily, especially if the league grants the Rockets a medical player exception. Still, I doubt Yao agrees to such a deal. He and his camp know what a cash cow he is for the organization and will want to be paid accordingly, regardless of whether or not he's on the court. But, who knows? Perhaps Yao's deep sense of honor will triumph, and he'll take the pay cut for the good of his team.
That's what I'd hope for, but maybe his handlers wouldn't go for it. Not sure how much input Yao has in his business dealings. What do you think would be a fair offer for an extension if you were the Rockets?
That would be a big potential gamble - it's very possible that any extension done at the time of surgery would result in the contract not being insured. If Eddy Curry had to take a medical retirement over his heart, the Knicks would be on the hook for the full bill. I'd be surprised if the insurers covered Yao's foot - preexisting condition.
I think your proposal (3-4 years, $10-11M per) sounds like a good starting point. Knowing that it could all be "dead cap space" if Yao continues to go down with foot injuries, it may be risky going significantly higher than that. But the revenues Yao generates may make him too valuable to let go. There will definitely need to be a balance of factors between "Yao as dead cap space" and "Yao as cash cow".
Not nearly as much, but still some. Yao would still be an employee of the Houston Rockets. He could still generate positive press for the Rockets in China and elsewhere. The shoe deals, advertisements, etc. might slow down, but they won't go away altogether. Just having the Houston Rockets as "Yao Ming's team" is definitely good for business.
I really like Yao, and it would be nice to see him remain with the team in a reduced role (and with a reduced contract) while building a new core. It will be interesting to see where this goes.
The problem with this idea, to me, is that I have a hard time believing that they'll be able to get insurance on Yao...today. The reason the extension would make sense, with insurance, is because if Yao gets injured for a season or permanently, (i) insurance would typically cover Les' actual cash costs, and (ii) if an injury retirement is forced, the team would get back that salary cap room (or some decent portion of it, however that works). Without being able to insure the contract, I have a hard time believing Les would step up to a guaranteed $35-$45 million when he may get so little out of it, if Yao goes down.
Sheesh, you have to be a CPA to be an NBA fan these days. And you have to be an Actuary to be a Rockets fan...
Hmmm I think it would be dumb to sign Yao to a 3-4 year deal. Why would anyone want to label a guy who is injury prone as their franchise star? I mean its common sense. Why would you want to keep a guy around who has the same injuries all the time. Its frustrated to have to deal with the same thing over and over. If your willing to pay a guy that much money just to wait and see when he is going to get hurt again then thats you but I think it's not a smart move. Yao's foot is always going to be an issue. To stick around and show that much loyal to a guy who's foot is always the issue, a guy who is never really going to rest in the offseason because of his country, its just too much to ask for.
If Yao, simply by being a part of the Houston Rockets organization, increases team revenues by $15-20M+ per year, then he is probably worth having on the roster, insurance or no insurance. The $10-11M salary would make him a "second/third fiddle" type of player, if compared with salaries paid by other teams to such types of players.
i dont know about signing Yao to an extension long term until at least the end of this season. He may be generating cash now, but I dont think people will continue to buy jerseys and attend Rockets games to see an injured player.
He is a cash cow because of the Chinese businesses sponsoring the Rockets. This will hold true forever.
he's not going to generate much revenue if he can't play and play every game for a lot of minutes, which is the most likely scenarios. dr. clanton is usually "optimistic" in his prognosis (like he had always done in previous years regarding other injuries, and like yao's recent injury in may). but his current one is pretty pessimistic. the best role yao can have is to play like 20 minutes a game, being the 3rd/4th option, and maybe missing a game here or there just to rest his foot.
