So three years from now who will be deciding whether Yao stays in Houston or leaves for another franchise? Ming or China? Will he be able to make his own decisions?
From our point of view, does it make any difference? There are two major reasons that a player decides to go to another team: 1. MONEY 2. Because he thinks that he'll have a better chance to win a ring with another team. Since he'll be our player, we can offer him more money, so that won't be a factor. If he goes to another team to win a ring, do we care if he does it because he wants a ring or because China wants one for him? Possible third reason in this case: China wants him to be on a team with more media exposure. BUT, if he's as good as we hope, the Rockets should have great media exposure. If he's a bust, they won't want to advertise it (and we won't care if he leaves).