This is from Saturday Sports section from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1444836 Rockets officials get OK to visit China By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle The Rockets had long since eliminated on-court concerns about drafting Yao Ming and clearly said again Friday that they want to make him the first pick of the draft. Their other questions, they believed could be as neatly dismissed if they got together with officials in Shanghai. Their answer to the first of many questions came at 1:30 a.m. Friday. They received their requested invitation to travel to Shanghai today to begin discussions Monday with Shanghai Sharks president Bai Li and general manager Li Yaomin. "This is what we anticipated, but we're very pleased with the development," Rockets chief operating officer George Postolos said. "We need to go forward one step at a time. We obviously have added reason for optimism. It's a great day." The Rockets hope to receive a similar invitation to meet with China Basketball Association officials in Beijing. But they considered the invitation to Shanghai a key to adding Yao to their roster. "It's the first step," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "The thing I've been saying all along is we understand they have concerns. We have concerns. The time is right to meet. It was a gracious invitation. We were very happy to get it. We'll meet, and we'll see how it goes. "There are a lot of concerns on both sides. You hear all of the stuff all of the time, so it's time to meet face to face and see what happens. The basketball issues we decided a long time ago. This is a great player. There's not any question about what he can do. Michael Goldberg, our lead counsel, is going to be in charge of the concerns that are on both sides. We're going to go over, sit down, and start the process. We feel very confident about this. It's been working real well from the start, and we're very excited about this because it's the first step in a process that we've been wanting to happen." Dawson, Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, Goldberg and director of media relations Nelson Luis will represent the team. There had been speculation the Sharks would require that the Rockets pledge not to trade Yao. The NBA collective bargaining agreement would not allow a no-trade provision in Yao's initial contract. But, the Rockets could assure the Sharks' representatives how much they want Yao, 21, to play for them. Asked if answers to his "concerns" would assure Yao is taken first, Dawson said: "Yes, basketball-wise that's what I've said all along. We've seen this young man play since he was 17 years old. We've seen him a number of times. Rudy coached against him in the Olympics. We think he's tremendous. He's got a great upside. I could go on forever about his talent. He's a very blessed young man. We like him very much. "This is not a basketball meeting as far as his talent. It's the other things that are going to be addressed, the concerns on both sides, and that's why we're very excited about getting the invitation." Although Dawson, Tomjanovich, director of personnel Dennis Lindsey and Rockets scout Joe Ash have scouted Yao, only Ash has met him. There are no immediate plans to scout or meet Yao, but Dawson said that could be arranged after the group arrives in Shanghai. "They are playing somewhere," Dawson said. "The basketball is not the issue. It's the concerns we were talking about. It would be nice to see him. That would be great. We hope we'd get to." Negotiations could be complicated by the absence of Wang Zhizhi from Chinese national team workouts. But Dawson said the cases are unrelated. "This is about Yao Ming and, as far as we know, it has nothing to do with that. It's not about him," Dawson said. NBA commissioner David Stern also was optimistic about the Rockets' ability to reach agreements in Shanghai. "I think much is being made about this entire Chinese situation that maybe it is not as big a deal as it seems," Stern said. "From a league perspective, either we will sign him or we won't. If we don't, it will be like (Russian player) Arvydas Sabonis. He will be here eventually."
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