This was posted on NBAdraft.net Rockets may be rocked away from Yao Knicks may nix the Rockets' Yao deal (translated from Shanghai Morning News, China, May 21): When interviewed by a reporter in Shanghai, the GM Li Yao Ming of Shanghai Sharks said from his point of view, it is not good news that Rockets win the lottery. Among all the 29 NBA teams, Rockets were among the few that did not scout Yao extensively in China. They knew very litter about Rockets. When Li discussed with Yao about potential teams for Yao to join, Rockets were never mentioned by either. As far as Yao's cousin's claim that Houston is not a problem, Li said Shanghai Sharks owns Yao Ming's rights and Shanghai Sharks have the final say to which team Yao joins. Shanghai OTV (the owner of Shanghai Sharks) executive Bai Li said that we support Yao to join NBA. Our demands are the same, i.e., we would like to see Yao to join a team that will advance to playoff in 2 seasons and the receiving club to collaborate with us (setting up a training camp in US for Shanghai Sharks and send 1 NBA player to Shanghai to replace Yao, etc). He also indicated that it is not clear whether Rockets will meet these demands. "We need to communicate with them on these demands." reported the newspaper. It should be pointed out that Yao Ming himself has never expressed interest/disinterest in any team. All along, he has said that it is the NBA club which selects him not the other way around. The paper then indicated that Chinese national sports authority and CBA do not care where Yao plays. They only want to make sure that Yao will continue his national team obligation during his NBA tenure. It the the Shanghai Sharks that are really interested in Knicks (and vice versa) and perhap the Bulls. It is widely believed among sports business circles here and the US that only the Knicks and the Cablevision (the cable operator that owns the Knicks) can offer the best financial deal to Shanghai OTV/Shanghai Sharks. Shanghai Sharks and New York Knicks are really natural partners.
" Rockets were among the few that did not scout Yao extensively in China." I'm not sure how true that is. I heard Carroll Dawson on the radio yesterday talking about how many trips Rockets scout Joe Ash made over to China this past year. Maybe he didn't make his presence known. os
quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- send 1 NBA player to Shanghai to replace Yao, etc -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey Shanghai we have two really good NBA veteran seven footers for you to choose from Jason Collier or Dan Langhi!
I say ship them Langhi. Not true. The team who drafts him has final say whether *any* other team gets him. It is against the Collective Bargaining Agreement for teams to give compensation directly to an international player's current team in excess of $350,000. It is against the Uniform Player Contracts to trade a member of the Player's Union to another league. This article is wrong on so many counts. Currently, Pau Gasol is paying his team off out-of-pocket, isn't he???? The reason these are in place is so bidding wars don't begin with foreign players. The NBA is not about to create a huge loophole over one player, by letting the Knicks outbid the league. The best financial deal can be offered by Stern and the owner's committee. They merely promise a percentage of revenue proportional to the increase profit to the league, which many say is over $1 Billion. They would also probably be fine with setting up a training camp in the states for me Chinese. Since the league profits as a whole on Marketing, my bet is they will compensate China as a whole, otherwise you unravel the Collective Bargaining Agreemet. DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE!!!!
If this is the kind of crap we will see in the future from China then we should look elsewhere in the draft.
Just thought I'd point out that this has always been the Sharks position. "Posturing", to me, means setting up excessively high demands for better leverage in negotiating. The Sharks have said all along they want player, financial, and development compensation. And compensation means its a permanent agreement that transfers Yao Ming's rights to the Rockets. I believe everything will work out by June. And if the terms still aren't clear, I wouldnt' blame the Rockets at all for looking elsewhere.
This is all a load of BS. The Chinese govt and Shanghai Sharks clearly want Yao to play in the NBA for the obvious exposure and financial payoffs. If CD selects Ming #1, neither the Chinese govt nor the Sharks has any leverage whatsoever on Les to demand anything. Les could simply hold out if no agreement were made and still have Yao's rights (a very valuable asset) to trade. Meanwhile Ming does not get any airtime and Chinese govt/Sharks get no $$$$, not to mention they will look like asses to the international press and the Olympic Committee.
I agree entirely...contract negotiations mean vastly different things from culture to culture. I don't think this guy is necessarily worth what it make take. I'm sorry...you want US to give up a player to allow your boy the chance to play in the world's greatest basketball league. Ummmmm...how about no??? Does that answer work for you??? Trade the freaking pick
This is where David Stern needs to step in and call up the Chionese gov't or powers that be... "Listen, this is my league and here are the rules. There are no exceptions to the rules. We don't make exceptions for the Michael Jordans, Magic Johnsons and Wilt Chamberlains of the world and we certainly won't be making exceptions for Yao Ming. If you don't like the rules, let us know now and we will never consider any Chinese National player as long as we are under my watch. Let me know your decision by June 26th." Click.
The Rockets don't want to go too far in playing that game. Just think Stu Jackson and Steve Francis. Should the Rockets draft Ming #1 and end up in such a standoff, the value the Rockets could get in trading Ming's rights would drop overtime. Vancouver couldn't command as much as the should have, because Francis had them behind the eight-ball with his public dissatisfaction. Likewise, if a Rocket deal to attain Ming's rights is dead, then there is no reason for a team to pay dearly for Ming unless there is a bidding war. The Rockets should play this thing out up until the last minute on the clock. If something can't be worked out for Ming, I'll be happy with whoever the Rockets draft. I see no point in having the #1 pick and not get anything out of it except a political standoff.
Here's a good article that explains the business side of the CBA. In summary, the league is run by the government who insists it become profitable and distribute revenue amongst the teams, somewhat like the NBA. The Article specifically refers to this GM Li Yoemin as a novice business man, ex-journalist. http://www.time.com/time/asia/biz/daily/0,9754,203602,00.html Some teams are 100% privately-held, but most have some govt. ownership. The owners all want the govt out of the league, because they think they can be more profitable without them. The govt seems to be trying to steer it clumsily. The Communist Party head of the CBA seems to be a novice party man, who would rather be painting, but he does it because it is his job. The owners are regarding as novices, too. Good article. Don't really know what to make of it, other than it seems that the CBA is trying to be profitable and trying to learn from the NBA. The Shainghai GM Li Yoamin seems like he doesn't really know much about how the NBA works. They will learn soon enough that we can't give them a player or money, directly. Why don't these wannabe capitalist dorks just work out a revenue-sharing arrangement between leagues? sheesh.
This is a boatload of crap. Screw the Chinese government and the Shanghai Sharks. Yao is NOT Tim Duncan, Shaq, MJ, etc. He has yet to prove he is even worth of being considered for the #1 pick. I don't care if he is 7'5". He plays in a league with inferior players, so I think his skills are overblown. Let him go play in the East where it might be possible for him to succeed because I simply do not see him being anything other than another 7 foot stiff in the West. Let him slide all the way down to the Knicks so that he can't make anywhere near the money a real #1 would command. Let some other sucker fall for the games these clowns are trying to play. We don't need ultimatums and we don't need Ming or the baggage that he will obviously be carrying throughout at least the early stages of his career.
RocketsPimp, that vice-GM just doesn't seem to know our rules. No where in that article is any mention of what the Chinese govt officials think. The vice-GM Li Yoamin has no business experience and seems like a stupid comment coming from an underling. The league owners appear to come from the media. They'll understand TV revenue arguments, and they will negotiate. Whether we settle something, I don't know, but they will negotiate for profit it appears. I'm sure would like to see the link The Real Shady. I can't seem to find it anywhere at NBADraft.net. Here's an example of the CBA trying to be profitable and not politically run--their acceptance of a Taiwanese team for this past season. The is a privately owned team by a wealthy business man:
HP, you keep on saying don't believe the hype, but some of these quotes just show how completely clueless the Chinese are. Who is even going to be able to communicate with them when they are apparently so far away from understanding how the NBA functions? I think it will eventually be resolved, but my goodness, David Stern and the Rockets are going to have their work cut out for them. I mean how long do they have to come to an understanding before the draft? A month? Seeing as how offbase some of these Chinese reps are, it looks to me like it's going to take a lot longer than that. <i>"Li said Shanghai Sharks owns Yao Ming's rights and Shanghai Sharks have the final say to which team Yao joins."</i> If this is what this guy actually believes, what do you think his reaction will be when David Stern comes up to him and says, "ummm...you couldn't be any more wrong." "<i>send 1 NBA player to Shanghai to replace Yao</i>" This one just cracks me up. Hey Dan, I hope you don't mind spending the rest of your career in Communist China. Inter-league trading...unbelievable. Hell, why don't we try to work out a trade for Kenny Lofton? Kenny is one hell of a basketball player. And you can't tell me that the NY Press is making up these quotes from Chinese Representatives? The opinions and articles of US journalists on the situation holds no water with me, but I can't deny the absurdity of quotes from Chinese reps and the news coming from Dallas with Zhi-Zhi.
I'm starting to wonder if this is all karma working against us as a payback for Steve's ditching the Grizz.
