ESPN Insider... Draft Rumors: NBA still courting China, Yao Ming The NBA is doing its best to convince the Shanghai Sharks that letting Yao Ming play in the NBA makes sense for both countries. The league recently shepherded a group of Chinese and Japanese journalists through Dallas and Denver to give the countries a better glimpse at how Wang Zhi-Zhi and Menk Bateer are faring in the NBA. The league is anxious to getter a stronger foothold in China, where the NBA is growing in popularity. Currently six games a week are airing in China and the fan interest seems to growing since Wang and Menk entered the league. "Right now, the most exciting market would be China," Cheong Sau Ching, part of the traveling party and senior director of public relations for NBA Asia, told the Denver Post. "We want to grow this market. Asia still overall, be it economy or what have you, represents a lot of potential." A lot of that potential could be realized if the NBA can find a way to convince Chinese officials to let Yao play in the NBA next season. Next month, Chinese officials reportedly will allow Yao to visit the U.S. for 10 days and work out for about half-dozen teams. The visit will likely take place after the NBA holds its lottery drawing and there's a clearer picture of who will be drafting where. Sports Illustrated recently reported that Chinese officials are hoping he is drafted by a big-market team with a big Asian population. There are already rumors that workouts are being set up in New York, Chicago and Golden State. Denver's inroads with Menk also make them a likely target. If Yao was drafted by, say, the Cavs or the Grizzlies, would they refuse to release him? League sources told Insider last week that they were confident that they could work out a deal with the Sharks, regardless of who drafts him, but the problem for NBA teams is the uncertainty. Yao is a No. 1 or No. 2 pick in the draft if he's available for next season. However, that high of a pick is too valuable to waste on Yao if the Sharks won't release him. With Chinese officials vowing not to officially release him until they see who drafts him -- teams are in a bit of quandary. He might be too good to pass up, regardless of the dilemma. In Yao's last game, he shot 21-for-21 from the field and finished with 49 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and three steals. . . It looks like Alabama's Rod Grizzard will throw his name in the NBA draft after all. Several league sources said that Grizzard has been actively researching his position in the draft with the help of an agent advisor (not the same as hiring an agent) and is likely to throw his name in the draft and test the waters. NBA scouts project Grizzard as a late first-round pick right now. His shooting struggles this season have really deflated his stock. Grizzard has the height and scoring mentality that excite scouts. He projects as a shooting guard in the pros and really has the ball-handling skills to play point forward in a pinch. However, Grizzard is built like a bean pole. He really lacks the physical strength to compete in the NBA. He also can be very streaky and lacks aggressiveness. A strong senior season would increase his chances of being drafted in the first round. . . Florida's Brett Nelson will be the latest underclassmen to declare for the draft. The Gainesville Sun reported that Nelson will not hire an agent to protect his college eligibility. Nelson is declaring despite a lukewarm reception from NBA teams. He was not projected in the first round by any of the scouts Insider talked to. . . Indiana's Jared Jeffries has dropped out of school to prepare for the NBA draft.
Maybe if the demands or uncertainty gets to high, he would fall to the Rockets at 5. The Rockets should remember that the Celtics took Larry Bird at 6 and waited a year to get him. If he falls, we should take him no matter what the wait.
While I think Ming will be over here sooner rather than later, Sabonis also provides a real good analogy. Portland drafted him a long long time ago and by the time he finally came over, his reputation as possibly the best basketball player in the world was pretty much all he had left. Don't get me wrong, Sabonis still displayed some very good skills, but I don't think it helped Portland in the long run to draft him - although I don't know who else they could have got that year. Still, like I said, I think Ming will be over sooner rather than later, and if I were the Rockets I'd do everything in my power to obtain him. Look at this line He might be too good to pass up, regardless of the dilemma. In Yao's last game, he shot 21-for-21 from the field and finished with 49 points, 17 rebounds, six blocks and three steals. . . He might be too good to pass up?
although they state they'd only decide to release him based on who drafts... i think it would only be rejected by china if it were a few areas... like memphis? perhaps if wang is a FA before lotto time, the best thing the rockets can do to ensure drafting ming wont be an airball is to bring him to houston first. not mengke, just get wang. mengke is not as talented and more importantly, the chinese put wang and yao ming as the two stars of the cba wayy over any other players. the promise of those two together is sure to delight up the officials over there.
Sabonis was drafted 24th overall in 1986. Later picks include: Mark Price (25th), Dennis Rodman (27th), Nate McMillan (30th), Jeff Hornacek (46th), Drazen Petrovic (60th, also taken by Portland)
Thanks for the update... Houston may not be their ideal going in, but I think he'd go to a big city like Houston, with its decent sized Asian population. crossover-free agency comes after the draft, so picking up Ming is a good way to get Wang. It's worth watching what Grizzard does. The guy is talented. 6'8'', long arms, a point forward type. He has bad shot selection, but probably can be partially credited to lack of players around him. He has a decent shot, but it's inconsistent. If we go big at #5 (or, with luck #1), and decide to acquire a small forward at #14, we'll have plenty of options-Grizzard, Yarbrough, Prince, maybe Anthony, and some foreign prospects.
the draft tampering sickens me as much as tanking Like when Kobe said he would not go here or there [Even when Steve francis forced his way out. . .it sickened me. . . ] It corrupts the process and the point of the draft the draft is for bad teams to get competitive If no one wants to goto a bad team and threaten to GO BACK to COLLEGE or whatever. . . the whole process is suspect because the Lakers can get a Kobe for basically nothing The Rockets benefitted from it Some teams will be cellar dwellers for no other reason that they cannot improve through the draft so the cannot pick the BEST . . because the best will pull out from them and they lost a pick so they must settle for maybe 'second' tier players just to improve a little. It sucks!! Rocket River
Yao Ming broke the Shanghai Sharks out with three free throws from the last tie in the decisive quarter, leading the home team to a 129-122 crucial victory over Bayi Rockets in the third match in the finals of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) in Shanghai on Wednesday (April 17). The 21-year-old center was 3-4 on the line down the stretch to give Sharks a 121-118 lead for the good with less than three minutes left on the clock. Yao, who scored 46 points and grabbed 23 rebounds, was not called for a block on Rockets' center Li Ke, and the Rockets were called a time violence in a sequence with just one minute left. The visiting Chinese army team missed two three pointers as the time ran out, seeing the Sharks taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series. Liu Yudong scored 17 out of his game-high 47 points in the fourth quarter, in addition to 10 rebounds. Li Nan had 34 points and 10 rebounds after he buried three 3-pointers in a row earlier in the quarter. Six Sharks players had double-figure scores with Zhang Wenqi chipping in 21, David Benoit 19 and Liu Wei 15. "We have displayed our best game tonight. But here is the home of Shanghai, so they got the win," said Rockets' head coach Adijiang. Li Qiuping, coach of the Sharks, said, "We did a brilliant job on the crucial moments. We fought them back. My players made very important points in the fourth quarter. I'm really satisfied with their consistency." The Rockets held the lead in the most time of the first half, leading 35-34 in the first quarter, and 66-62 in the second when Liu had 30 points while Yao got 29 points and 15 rebounds. Americans Benoit and Steven Hart were pitched together in the third quarter when the Rockets rested Liu and Li for 5:40 minutes with the visiting side still leading at 77-75. The fourth game of the tie is set for Ningbo, Rocket's home court, in Zhejiang Province, on Friday.
A 7'6" player who hits clutch free throws ? Take that, Shaq! These Ming scouting reports just keep getting better and better ...
