Associated Press report BEIJING -- Yao Ming's agent says the 7-foot-5 center has reached an agreement on compensating his Chinese team if he is selected in the NBA draft, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday. Compensating the Shanghai Sharks is a key issue in whether Yao goes to the NBA, where he is expected to be the No. 1 choice by the Houston Rockets in Wednesday's draft. "We have reached agreement in principle with the club,'' Xinhua quoted agent Zhang Mingji as saying. The agency said Zhang would not elaborate. Zhang wasn't immediately available for comment, but Yao scheduled a news conference for Saturday night. The 22-year-old Yao would be the third Chinese player in the NBA after Wang Zhizhi of the Dallas Mavericks and Menk Bateer of the Denver Nuggets. Xinhua on Friday quoted the Chinese Basketball Association as saying Yao can't go to the United States for the draft because he is training with China's national team for a four-nation tournament this month. However, it said, "Whether or not Yao Ming participates in the draft will not affect whether he later plays in the NBA.'' According to Xinhua, the association also said Yao was expected to join the Chinese national team for a world championship qualifier in August and the Asian Games in October. The Rockets would want Yao in their training camp in October. A crew from Turner Sports will be in China to interview Yao live by satellite hookup during the draft, NBA spokesman Terry Lyons said. ******************* Welcome to Houston, Yao.
