You also run the risk of getting injured by this point next year and NOT getting the max deal. Besides, money is money and he's going to be loaded no matter what.
thats true. Yao gets most of his money from china endorsements anyway. and i have a question. did he actually sign anything yet? or did he just agree to terms?
Really, who gives a damn 5 or 6 years, 20 mil 14 mil, what ever ! Yao is in and that's what matters. 5 years is an eternity in the NBA. GEEZ...some of you are sooooooooo anal.
Yao couldn't sign for the 6/90 max until 2007. It's possible he could have a career changing injury in the next 164+ games. For players just coming off their rookie contract, waiting the TWO extra years to grab an extra 15MM+ is an unlikely event IMO. For someone like Kobe, at least he had made serious money already. Signing their first max contract is the ultimate goal of NBA players. Once they play through a max contract, they can afford to be selective (see SAR). Even then, money still rules most of the time (see DS). As stated before, the one big exception I could see to all of this is LeBron. But if the Cavs have a really good year, it's 99% he re-ups with them next summer.
Awesome news! Great scoop by Berman once again. I hope the Chronicle runs a story on this tomorrow so it can spread on the web.....and onto those Laker boards!
He signed his 4 year deal in 10/2002 so I believe he could have re-upped before the 2007 season, meaning he would be at risk of injury for 82 games and the guy has been a rock so I don't think that waiting until next off-season is risky given his history. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Yao is locked up but I find the signing curious and the CBA rules quirky.
I hope this is really true. I haven't see any Houston Chronicle article or othe media reporting it yet.
We are so incredibly lucky to have Yao and Tracy tied up in long term contracts a the age of 25. They will now spend their primes becoming stars together on the same team- ours. Question- what does our cap situation look like now, for the forseeable future? We have several expiring contracts that come off the books once Yao's max deal comes into play. With Yao and Tracy at the max long term, are we ever going to be under the cap for the next 5-6 years?
The CBA rules are quirky in order to give teams an advantage in re-signing their own free agents. And it's not as if one of these deals has more profit potential than the other. A five year extension now and a six year contract next year have the exact same starting salary and same raises. It's just that the six year extension has an extra max year at the end. I mean, it's not like Yao will never see another max contract offer. In a few years, they can open up negotiations for another extension and they'll just tack on 3-4 more max years on the end of his deal . I mean look at the risk in signing a five year extension, Yao gets hurt or doesn't live up to expectations and isn't worth another max extension in 2011. Weigh that against the risk of waiting waiting one year to sign a six year contract. There's still the risk of getting hurt, and losing a max contract. But if you get locked up now, you can always fall back on that $70+ million.
