If we were to renounced the rights to everyone, we have a gm who can take others teams scraps and some 2nd round picks and put together a championship team around Lebron and Yao... He'd actually probably prefer to have a team of all minimum contracts except the superstars...
I believe the rockets have just as good of chance to land lebron here...My thoughts on how we could get this man to land here is maybe the chinese team will hrlp us sign him to a life time deal that would bring him the big bucks and will put a smile on yaos face... and lase time i checked lebron wanted ariza to play with him in cleveland, arent they good buddies? hey! maybe ariza can ask lebron to come play with yao and him...scary thought, dynasty for the next 5 years C-yao/J.O'neal F-Scola/landry/Anderson F-Lebron/battier G-Trevor/buddinger G-Brooks/lowry
Why do you think this, when Lebron has obviously not resigned with Cleveland yet? By resigning, he gets the biggest contract possible. And he's safe from any potential injury from now until the end of the year. Regardless of whether your point is correct or not, it's worthless because Lebron and his people obviously don't feel the same way. This is just a conjecture on your part. The Rockets as a brand name has a lot of impact in China. And could easily continue after Yao stops being a superstar. Besides, he'll play for quite a while. It's just whether he can play at an all-star level for long that's in doubt.
Because there is a "set-up" in the maximum salary for players with seven seasons of experience in the league, as opposed to those with only six seasons. By waiting until 2010, when Lebron/Wade/Bosh will have had seven full seasons of experience, they get a much higher STARTING salary. Combine that with the annual (compounded) raises on that starting salary, and it adds up to a LOT more money. Even if the cap goes down, the difference in the "stepped-up" maximum salary is probably a higher increase than the expected decrease in the cap.
It's not about whether or not Lebron can get endorsement deals without China. It's about how many endorsements he's able to land comparatively. His goal of becoming a billionaire athlete a la Tiger Woods is going to be a tough cookie, unless he drastically expands his marketing appeal. With his current endorsements, and NBA salary, he's not going to be able to touch that billion dollar mark. Therefore, from a financial standpoint, breaking into the Chinese market and becoming a marketing icon there is a much better bet for him. Like I said, if money is the only thing of concern for him, then he should have his people look into the potential of his capitalizing on his increased popularity in China should he join the Rockets. I'm almost certain that the Chinese market will far exceed whatever difference in salary he can garner from the Cavs and/or NYK.
