That was Wang's case, can't apply it to Ming. Shanghai Sharks agreed to release Ming to play for NBA if gets compensated well. However, Wang's Army Club is not same as Sharks. Amry Club has enough money from national defense budget. They don't want to give up Wang for any reason. And Wang did not enter into NBA draft. Because Big D is get along with Army Club very well and help Army Club a lot. So Army Club "loan" wang to Big D. But Army Club still own Wang's contract and has the right to call Wang back after wang's contract with Big-D expires.
Provide me with a verifiable source that can confirm Ming will be available for training camp, all 82 games, practices, All-Star events and the playoffs and that the Chinese will not be able to pull him to play with the National Team at their discretion and I will lay off. It would be poor judgement to assume anything less than a total commitment. There are legitimate reasons, mainly publicly known demands by the Shanghai Sharks and the Chinese government, that provide enough doubt to warrant my argument at this point. Hopefully this will change, but as it stands, there is still too much doubt to devote all efforts to drafting Ming. We all know there are still alot of cards that need to be played, but in the meantime there is nothing wrong with debating the whole Ming situation.
Gator, I am not anti-ming. I am anti-gettting screwed. If you want a reliable source regarding Ming being yanked back to China, then how is Clutch for a source. Go to the draft page and read his recap on Ming. Ming comes with alot of baggage. There are just a few things that china should do (before draft night) to help ensure the Rockets that he is worthy of the #1: 1. Most important, let him come workout for the Rockets (Before Draft Night). If he is really the REAL DEAL, then let him prove it. He showed great offensive skills in Chicago, but also showed he lacks the strength (or skill) to defend NBA players. He could not even guard his opponet in Chicago. 2. Let Shanghai (the biggest spoiler in the party), go public with their endorsement of Houston (before draft night) 3. Let him train in Houston, for his summer tournaments. Practicing with NBA talent, will only make his game better for the chinesse tournaments. (Hell, bring the entire team to Westside). He cannot build team chemsitry without training with the team. 4. See if all 8-9 governing parties will put in writing that they will not interfer with Mings commitment to the NBA (doubtful). Now if we get all of these things, then we can judge Ming on his talent. I have no problem drafting Ming, as long as we can pickup a quality SF (butler/odom) to help the rockets NEXT YEAR. Ming is a project that could take a couple of years to develop (see pops post), but he might be worth the wait.
originally posted by TedRuxpin- Hmm, You think we could unload Collier, Langhi, Rice and the Wizard (and Cato) to the Chinese army?
Since Im no great b-ball expert, and I don't have the ability to read the minds of all the parties involved, I will trust the Rox to do what's right for the team. (Yea...I'm a sunshine-as$ homer...so what..deal with it.) sirhangover........I'm not on anything right now..thank you very much. I didn't say one word about a deal being done......so I'm not sure where that rant about working out deals came from. I have absolutely no experience dealing with anyone from China...so I'll bow to your experiences on that one. Im with Gater on this one...if these concerns are obvious to us..don't u think Les and CD will have this covered from all angles if they decide to take him? No matter what happens...this is gonna be a REAL interesting month. Possum.... ..ROFLMAO Barbourdg....it is my understanding that 3 of the 9 required signatures are Ming and his parents..2 more signatures are from the team drafting him and the NBA....thats 5.....and the other 4 are from the Shanghai Sharks,the Shanghai mayor,and i think the CBA and one other that I can't remember at the moment (damn disabled search)...oh well anyway..you get the point. Having to get 9 signatures on the contract isn't as bad as it sounds. But as with everything else....thats just my opinion....I could be wrong.(thanks to the 400lb gorilla for that one)
No it's not. I would also like to see documented proof that Yao will be available to the Rockets for summer league play, training camp, regular season, and playoffs. If you can provide documented proof that he will be available for all of these then I will stop ragging on Yao's situation, and will be totally behind the Rockets drafting Yao.
barbourdg - Thanks for clarifying your position on Yao Ming ("I am not anti-ming. I am anti-gettting screwed."). Yours is a valid point. But please allow me further comments. I can not quote Clutch verbatim and am not able to find where Clutch has determined that there is too much red tape or baggage associated with Ming. My take is that Clutch is fairly neutral to optimistic: "Oh boy. No doubt about it, the Rockets are interested in Ming, and thanks to lady luck, they find themselves with the chance to grab him with the #1 pick. If the Rockets do feel Ming is the risk worth taking, he will no doubt have a huge impact on the Rockets, affecting the game of every single Rocket player. Houston's biggest weakness is the glaring hole in the middle, and Ming, at 21 years of age, could potentially fill that hole for years." Now some of your points: 1. Most important, let him come workout for the Rockets (Before Draft Night). If he is really the REAL DEAL, then let him prove it. He showed great offensive skills in Chicago, but also showed he lacks the strength (or skill) to defend NBA players. He could not even guard his opponet in Chicago. Is it worth creating another "dog and pony show" when RT has already seen Ming from a front row seat at the Olympics? What if the Rockets are actually planning on trading Ming? Does forcing this additional display alienate the Chinese to the point where they make negotiations more difficult for the trading partner who then says - Rockets, you have muddied up the water - the deals off. Ming went to the Chicago workouts almost immediatley after a very long international flight...and still performed well enough that the Rockets are probably receiving more inquiries than we'll ever know about. 2. Let Shanghai (the biggest spoiler in the party), go public with their endorsement of Houston (before draft night) Is this necessary? Be as honest as possible - do you really think the Shaghai Sharks are going to issue an ultimatum anytime soon to the effect that, "if Houston drafts Yao we will not release him"? Their silence on the subject is their approval. What concerns the Sharks is whether the Rockets management and team will interact with the Sharks once Yao is a Rocket. This is a valid point. We are taking a valuable business asset from them. (And no, the meager money they will receive in the Communist system is not equivalent to the asset value they lose). If anyone needs to do reassuring, it's the Rockets - make sure RT, CD, and Mr. Mean will give clinics next summer and that the Sharks know it. 3. Let him train in Houston, for his summer tournaments. Practicing with NBA talent, will only make his game better for the chinesse tournaments. (Hell, bring the entire team to Westside). He cannot build team chemsitry without training with the team. I absolutley agree. Bring the entire Chinese National Team to Westside. See if it makes sense to offer Wang ZhiZhi some of the MCE. As much as I agree with you, these things can not take place until after the Rockets draft Ming. So this really doesn't address your pre-draft fears. It doesn't make sense to make an offer you may need to back out of later. Not good busienss. 4. See if all 8-9 governing parties will put in writing that they will not interfer with Mings commitment to the NBA (doubtful). Poster Rocket2K is correct. The 9 signatures include Ming, his parents, his cousin Erik Zhang, the NBA, and the Rockets. the remaining 4 include the Sharks, the city of Shanghai, and the ChBA. Does that look better to you? It always has looked good to me. It is fun having all the options the #1 pick brings. My only concern is that we get more than the #3 pick and Adonal Foyle if we trade. That (IMO) would be worse than holding Mings right for a year until details are worked out. Sorry for the large post but it's a large subject!
Yao will not be in the summer league. This is a known fact - deal with it. Instead of playing against the Jason Collier wannabe's, Yao will be at Indianapolis with the Chinese National team and he will be banging against Ben Wallace. To my knowledge, there is nothing in any NBA players contract that requires them to be in a summer league. Need I remind you that Cato has ducked both the RMR and the Newell Big Man Camp. And there's nothing anyone in management can do about it. As I recall, Kenyon Martin didn't exactly fall off of the draft charts because he was rehabing and couldn't make the RMR. To not draft Yao Ming because he is not going to play in the Shaw Summer League (LA) or the RMR (Salt Lake City) is about as short-sighted a comment as I have seen. I am truly elated you are not managing my stock portfolio. No vision... Now if you think the NBA is going to let the Chinese National team call Ming back during the playoffs, I have a nice bridge just outside of Brooklyn I'd like to sell you. I haven't seen this much unwarranted paranoia in a very long time.
Actually it willbe the Rockets that will have to deal with it. I never said that playing for the National Team will hurt his game I only said that missing the summer leagues will limit his game. You only help make my point here. How much better would Cato be if he did attend those camps? Yao seems like a very smart guy, and I would think that he would take every opportunity to make himself a better basketball player, at least I would hope so considering he'll be a #1 pick. True, but the Nets were 100% sure that he would be there for training camp, and would be available to them for every camp, and summer program for the rest of his career (baring injury of corse). Right now no one is 100% about anything pertaining to Yao other than the fact that he's tall. And if you think that the NBA will have a choice in the matter, then you might want to hold on to that property because I hear the value is going up on that bridge. Not to mention ignorance.
Sometimes with all these regulators for china's politics i wish we would have just stayed at 5 and traded the poick to the clipps for Odom. Thenwe would't have all these foreign policy experts on the board.
"Dallas May loose Wang to the Chinese Army" this is why everyone should carry Cyanide never let them take you alive man!
