Doc says its a done deal. Clutch says it close to a done deal but anything can happen and Pops says the Rockets aren't sold on Ming yet. Stop the madness. I'm so confused.
Doc ("... done...") must have better sources than me ("... aren't sold ... yet") or Clutch ( "... close ..."). Have been on the phone all night and I'm no where near "close" or "done" ... but ... I trust both Doc and Clutch ... so I would vote for their take on this.
Best conspiracy theory I can come up with is this: We can't trade Yao till we have Yao. All the static about Chinese league and government demands made executives of NBA teams highly uneasy about taking him on. Why should they trade for the pick if the player might not come with it? Enter the Rockets, with leaks that the Chinese have been pussycats to deal with: in no time at all, we've cut through the red tape, and Yao is ours. And he coulda been yours, if you'd had our pick. In fact, he still could, if you offer us your left and right arms in exchange. P.S. We love this guy. He's so far and away the best player in this draft, we've already made up our minds. No, you can't have him -- not unless you give us both your arms and a leg. It's either that, or Rockets management decided that jerking the Chinese around with "maybe we'll take him, maybe we'll trade him" would come back to haunt us when his national team's schedule conflicts with ours. Otherwise the logical course would be to auction the pick as long as possible.
i have faith in CD/RT to run the draft silly season to perfection (like they have done in previous draft trades). I have every bit of faith in CD to get Clutch, Doc Rocket & Pops into the same room at the same time, and tell each a different line ("definitely drafting him"... "no chance in hell" ... etc) with a perfectly straight face. We're looking at relections within reflections here... CD/RT are playing for big money (what would the rox slice on 100mil yao singlets be...just the tip of the merchandising iceburg too!), and are doing everything they can to squeeze that little bit extra out of the pick (IMHO). Don't shoot the messenger of CD/RTs handiwork... Our sources are all still solid!
Will: I've been on the phone all evening and even saw "someone" at Hooters (1960) earlier today and we had a long chat about Ming while watching the game. He had nothing to say except confirming what I have been posting last couple of days. This has totally blindsided me and of the ones I contacted tonight ... them too. Just this last couple of minutes I got off the phone with a Greenway friend and she was speechless. Literally. We go way back ... I really trust her take on all of this. She had no idea anything was even close to agreement. I told her I trusted Doc's post. But this has me baffled.
I agree with you Pops. I don't see the Rockets making their mind up so early in the game. Too many offers to hear, too much time left, and too many question marks.
There is another issue on this - the "good faith" angle. In the NFL, you can negotiate terms with a number one pick long before the draft (i.e. David Carr and the Texans). This is a unique situation. The best solution, if the Rockets are as serious as I believe them to be, is to do everything they can to deal with China, the CBA and Ming's people NOW. The longer they wait, the harder it gets. We've seen that the people from Ming's current team and others are strongly swayed by protocol. If the Rockets KNOW this is what they want, they have no choice but to start working on it now. If they don't, they won't know how realistic choosing Ming will be based on his responsibilities to his government and current team. Maybe coming out and being open about it now isn't so much a smoke screen for the NBA as it is a gesture of goodwill and respect towards China and the Shangai Sharks. It would seem the Rockets have little to gain by going this overboard only to yank the deal later given how fragile a deal like this could be. Funny thing is that I spoke to someone the other day who is in a position to know fairly conclusively and it was pretty clear Ming is front and center and there are few, if any, discussions about trading him or the #1 pick away unless moving the pick means still being able to get Ming in the process (Chicago?) but that isn't likely. He never said, "Done deal" but it has been shaping up that way for a while now, so this shouldn't be a big surprise. I will say this: for Doc to come out and be as blunt as he has been in this thread means something. Knowing what I do of him, it is not his style to do this unless he is certain. It is still going to be a long month.
Decisions, decisions... I'm just happy its the decision of the Houston Rockets whether to take Yao Mingh or not... Is there a better all round player right now, well yes but Jay Williams is a PG and we have that covered very well... After him there is no clear to player except Yao Mingh, whom I believe will fit perfectly with what the Rox want to do offensively and his height alone will challenge any team... Yeah even the Lakers... He may not be able to defend Shaq any better but who can say they are able to defend Shaq??? I also look at the Jason Collier trade... We have wanted a center that could open things up and specifically to bring Shaq out to the arc(instant offense at the center position)... Well Yao Mingh sounds like the best bet... Like others have post I trust Carroll Dawson, Rudy T. and Leslie Alexander(Can't forget him)... I haven't been sure whom they should pick but Yao is sounding better and better everyday...
If this is what they are doing, they are being smart. Good will and respect are integral parts of good business relationships in Chinese culture, I've been told. A good personal relationship can go a long way towards securing a better deal, with fewer hassles, in almost any business relationship. Ethical business is good business! (/end public service announcement)
Let me amend that to: If we Pops the Clutch, we Will hit an Oily spot and Crash necessitating a Doc. I couldn't think of a good way to work Jeff in. I'm looking for signatures to someday become an Apprentice Senior Member and eventually Senior Member.
Hottoddie posted this from Sam Smith in another thread: There's also talk Houston will stick with Yao but might try to extract something from the Bulls, like Jamal Crawford or a future No. 1 pick, to pass on the trade offers for Williams. This isn't really a scoop; it's just sound logic. It shows why it doesn't make sense for the Rockets to say right now that they'll take Yao. "Sense," that is, in terms of posturing -- not in terms of what the Rockets will really do if push comes to shove. My conclusion: Pops has the authorized truth (we're keeping our options open and hoping for a double bidding war for Yao and Williams), and Doc has the unauthorized truth (if the Bulls don't offer us squat, we'll take Yao anyway; we're just playing them).
I'd be astonished if there was already a "deal." The Rockets management would be imbecilic to make an agreement so early in the game. They are a wild and crazy risk-taking crew, but they are not stupid. The most I could believe would be a statement like, "Hey, your offer is the most tempting so far!"
what I look forward to is that day in late June when Doc, Oeilpere, Clutch, etc. can come clean and tell us what was really going on and piece all of this crap together for us when all the dust has settled. Jeff's statement about protocol is the most logical reason I've heard mentioned yet about why the Rockets might come out and announce that the final deal is in place.
I remember Orlando compensating two teams for not picking Dennis Scott. Where would Crawford fit in here? Is he a diluted version of Odom? I know he's talented. A future #1 from Chicago would be sweet.
There's an outside chance that Ming's handlers don't have a good handle on American currency. If they ask first what the Chinese would agree to, the Chinese might actually lowball their own player - in which case, it would be better to get the deal done than to give them time to reassess their offer. If you had the #1 pick in the draft and the guy you want to take says he's willing to take, say, 75% of the going rate, why wouldn't you do the deal? You could still trade him before or during the draft if he doesn't pan out in your pre-draft workouts. We have a situation where a player's ability isn't really known to most of the scouts. They know he's 7'-5" and they know he has some international competition but nobody knows how this guy might perform under pressure or against centers almost as tall as him. Even if he sucks, we can always play him up as a future Hall of Famer and then fleece some stupid owner. So, if the initial offer is to our liking, I'd say jump on it and let the rest handle itself.
