if the NBA did grant this exception to the rockets, that means they convninced the NBA that Yao will probably miss the whole season or was it granted that he will miss most of the season?...if Yao does return this season, does the NBA have any recourse against the rockets...why doesn't every team do this in the offseason if they lose a player.... do you think the Rockets have told the NBA there is no WAY Yao is coming back or did they leave the door open when discussing with the NBA....I'm sure the NBA would not mind one of their biggest global NBA stars return for the playoffs for ratings purposes but at the same time, it makes it seem like the Rockets "played" them for fools...either way, the longer the rockets and yao wait on this surgery, seems to suggest maybe they are not set on having the surgery... little confused...if somebody has more info, I would appreciate it....
The Rockets won't be penalized if Yao returns. It's just considered so unlikely by the league, that they granted the exception anyway.
durvasa, thank you for making this thread. I was hoping NikeStrad, bima or m_cable or someone would. NikeStrad had specifically talked about injury exceptions regarding both TMac and Yao in a recent historical context and I've been wondering what his gut feeling is about how and why this injury exception was granted so quickly and why. Especially with the Rockets management sort of saying "Yao will play when he can and we hope it's next season". I just think this is worthy of opinion/speculation as my desire to understand why and how it actually happened.
The fact that the NBA gave it to us so quickly with seemingly no questions asked is kind of damning. The Rockets probably already knew/know Yao will get the surgery. The NBA has been stingy with the injury exception lately. Another notion is that the NBA took into account that Yao has already missed so many games and decided even if he does return his history of injury warrants aid.
Sorry dreammvp, but again my thanks. Thank you durvasa for correcting me. I've been waiting for this thread and I was overly eager.
Feigen says yes, but I don't know if that's because the Rockets may have no intention of leaving Yao off the roster. http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2009/07/rockets_have_a_gday_land_their.html (in the comments section)
Yao will be on the 15-man roster, as will McGrady. The NBA grants these exceptions after an NBA-approved doctor examines the situation and determines the player will miss the entire season. The player could improve quicker than this NBA-approved doctor expects and make a return that year, so the NBA is awarding this exception on the belief of their approved doctor. If the doctor is wrong, he's wrong, it's no fault of the team.
Yes I was thinking that surgery is not an absolute and the Rockets may just let Yao have the greatest rehab on his foot ever so as to assure his successful return. You could hear that in Moreys voice when he said that he is optimistic and they have not ruled out Yao's return and then retracted that when directly asked if Yao might return and said he is not talking about returning next year but just optimistic about Yao's future. Clearly he doesn't want to piss off the NBA gods but very likely in the back of his mind he is very excited about Yao returning next season. It is also obvious in how they are not making moves that would lend to competing in the 2010 free agency wars. But rather signing talent for the immediate future. I suspect they will bring Tmac back first and see if he will come back with the right attitude and can contribute to a winning team (I think he can). And also will they have a winning record after the first couple of months to warrant the effort of bringing Yao back. If they are too far in the whole I suspect they may choose to let Yao rehab even more. But if they are in reach of the playoffs I suspect they will bring yao back and make a run at it. I think they will be in reach. Never underestimate your leaders. Scola and Battier are ours and the rest of the team will follow into battle with them.
A couple points here: 1. The NBA gave the Rockets the Injury Exception and the Rockets already used it. There's no taking it back and no penalty to the Rox if Yao comes back. Like Ziggy said, they probably had the NBA doctors take a look at Yao's chart, considered his injury history and felt that Yao was not likely to come back this year. Nobody truly knows if Yao can come back this year or not but I don't think there's anybody that expects it to happen (not Feigan, not the league, not the front office, and deep down, maybe not even Yao). 2. Yao will be on the 15 man roster. He'll just be on the inactive list until he returns (12 players suit up, up to 3 will be inactive for each game). It is possible to have an additional player on the inactive list but this is only temporary for hardship cases, such as in the middle of the season if you have a ton of people injured. Right now, the rockets only have 2 injured guys. That's not a hardship since the league allows for 3 inactives anyway.
So if Yao does return, say a couple weeks after the All Stars (hopeful thinking) the Rockets don't lose that injury exception for Ariza?
No. I mean, I don't even know how that would be possible. Ariza's contract would be voided? That possibility wouldn't even make sense.
its been several weeks now and no news...its so "up in the air" for us fans...i'm sure the organization knows what they are going to do but they are not announcing anything..but who knows what...you would think that if surgery was inevitable, they would just do it by now and start the rehab process...perhaps there is a difference in opinion among Team Yao and the Rockets organization on what to do...that is my only guess... that is why Morey mentioned that they will meet with yao's people and then decide what is best... like several people have mentioned before on different threads I do not see why they just don't go the conservative route and let him rest for another 2 months and then see...if it has not gotten better, then go ahead with the surgery and miss the season.. why have the surgery now and miss the season anyways...the surgery could be career threatening so i do not see the point in rushing into it without exhausting other possibilities....major surgery should be the last alternative..unless they are considering a less invasive surgery.. i just wish they would come out with some sort of annoujncement and stop the rumors out there...either way, my season tickets are already paid for
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=4630514&postcount=11 I thought it was likely, and as I mentioned in the original post in that thread, the quick timeline isn't too surprising either -- it's 3 days for appeals, so it's hard to imagine the original prognosis takes much longer in normal situations. The fact is, major foot injuries for a guy his size are legitimately serious, and the historic parallels (Smits, Ilgauskas) show that they legitimately do take players out for long periods of time. That is different than the McGrady situation -- you would need to expect TMac to miss all of this year to earn an injury exception. Given that he went into surgery last February, and most NBA players have returned to the court in 12 months or less, it would take some sort of additional complication to have made McGrady eligible. That is why I had said it was doubtful we could get an exception for McGrady. Also in the thread above, I gave examples of players who returned after their team received injury exceptions for the year (Sean Elliott, Mo Taylor). It happens, and there's no recourse by the league. As others have already mentioned, Yao (and McGrady) both take up spaces on the roster. If we happen to be hit by multiple other injuries at some point this year, we could probably make a case for an extra roster spot due to "injury hardship", but we're not at that point yet.
well i read now on a different thread that Yao will have surgery next week and be ready in 8 months....that means there is a good chance Yao will play next season....i have a feeling that he will be ready sooner..closer to 7 months...maybe i'm wrong...but that would be great....I think everyboyd would be happy: Yao, rockets, nba (having Yao back for the playoffs), and of course all the fans here.. maybe the only disgruntled parties would be other playoff teams having to face teh rockets and also China since they would want to save Yao for summer China Bball instead of risking him at the end of the season and rushing back..... at least we have some hope now....some good news finally....
