Eddy Curry may not be the #1 pick in the 2001 NBA Draft

Talk is centered on China

Yao and Wang are big reasons why

Latest NBA news: One week into the upcoming season, agent Bill Duffy will board a plane for a long trip to what may be pro basketball's final frontier: China.
Once there, he will touch base with his six-person office in Beijing and attend a basketball game in which the two best players in China will be opposing each other. Duffy happens to represent both players, Yao Ming and Wang Zhi-Zhi.
His mission, however, is much more than just to see a game and chat up some clients. The delicate task will be to convince the basketball authorities in China to allow Wang to join the Mark Cuban A.C. in Dallas, and for Yao to enter the 2001 NBA draft. He thinks he has a shot at both.
''I'm optimistic by nature,'' Duffy said. ''We're not there to take players out of China. We're there to help build Chinese basketball. The Chinese are more amenable to building a relationship with us. What better vehicle, really, than a high profile athlete?''
If you were one of the 350 million or so who did not watch the Sydney Olympics, you may have missed a chance to see the 20-year-old Yao and the 23-year-old Wang. They are, arguably, the best big men on the planet not playing in the NBA.
Wang is a 7-footer, a veteran of two Olympiads, and you can only imagine what the proactive Cuban would have ready for him in Big D. Yao is the bigger prize, literally and figuratively. He is 7-5, perfectly proportioned with great footwork, agility, and talent. He's not Mark Eaton, Manute Bol, or Shawn Bradley. He shoots as well as Rik Smits. He has terrific hands.
He would have to declare for the 2001 draft as an underage player. If he did, there is a unanimous opinion as to where he would go: No. 1.
''He's a tremendous athlete,'' says Sixers coach Larry Brown, who saw Yao up close and personal at Sydney. ''He has tremendous skills. He has a huge, huge upside. He reminds me of Bill Walton as a freshman at UCLA. He has solid fundamentals. He holds the ball above his head. I was shocked by his skills. He blew me away.''
Adds Dallas assistant Donnie Nelson, ''What's there not to like about Yao? He's gotten better every year I've seen him.''
But will we ever see him in an NBA uniform? Or Wang? One rumor around Sydney was that the Chinese might allow their players to play in the NBA if the IOC were to name Beijing the site of the 2008 Olympics. At that point Wang and Yao would be in their primes with years of NBA experience under their belts.
Both should be over here sooner than later. Wang has an Army obligation in China and Nelson said the Mavericks were hopeful of getting Wang in two years or less. ''We've got a pretty good feel for how that's going,'' Nelson said. ''Drafting him [they got him with the 36th pick in the 1999 draft] broke some ice. I think the Chinese know we're not out to steal their players and they saw the benefits of Yao Ming getting the exposure here in all the summer camps. I think now they may be less intimidated by the process.''
That is what Duffy is hoping. The United States, for some reason, has stopped producing centers with a capital C. Other than Shaq, is there any decent American-born center in the NBA under 30? (OK, we'll wait on Chris Mihm and Joel Przybilla.) The Dalmatian Coast keeps sending us big men, the latest being Dalibor Bagaric from Croatia.
''I don't know where the centers have gone,'' Magic coach Doc Rivers said last week. ''There's none in college. In this league, they are no longer playing you [just] because you are big. If they have a 6-8 guy who they think can get it done, teams are putting him at the center spot.''
And if you have a 7-5 guy who knows how to play, you play him in the center spot. The same thing with a 7-footer. The problem is getting them here. We've come a long way in our relations with China; the Nuns used to make Catholic school kids call it ''Red China'' back in the 1960s. No more.
You can never really put politics aside in a situation like this, but most people feel both kids are ready for prime time and that everyone would benefit by their arrival in the NBA. Hey, if the NBA can assure the Chinese authorities that Yao won't get picked by the Clippers, that should be enough to get the deal done.

________________________________________ I know Yao Ming has been brought up numerous times before, but now there could be a realistic chance on him finally being granted permission to play in the NBA. Eddie or Yao???



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