[WaPo] Injured Rockets center Yao Ming says he has no desire to leave Houston

Guessing you missed last nights Blazers vs. Mavs game then, huh?

 

Yao can come back and we still rebuild.

The difference, we are not building a team around Yao now. Anything out of Yao is a bonus. Instead of everything we don't get out of him being a punishment.

 

We pretty much do. He is well worth the risk to teams that will already be over the cap for the foreseeable future. Also, he will make an immediate economic impact for whoever gets him. For example, GSW would recoup their investment very quickly and I'm not sure their ownership would care about tying up money in a lame duck player.

 

Yao is for the financial support of the painful rebuilding phase.
Yao will only lose games for the Rockets.
Yao will not cost much, we can cut him loose anytime we want to.
Yao will generate Rockets related news on paper: his signing, injury, recover, every trip back to China, every of his phone call, ....

In summary, Yao is the magnet for China business. Les is stupid on basketball but not on business.

 

For what it is worth, the Rockets front office is still using the "Yao's shoe" gimmick to sell season tickets. I just got an email from soimeone over there offering to bring one over. The closer is that they give you the other shoe, autographed, when you buy season tix.

 

These statements next to each other really make you look silly.

Yao not being ready would be EXACTLY the scenario in which he might (not probably, but at least POSSIBLY) re-sign for the minimum.

The fact is, unless every doctor on the planet comes out with a report that Yao is incapable of playing ever again, as long as he is continuing his rehab, there will be several teams willing to sign him for more than "nothing". They would gladly offer him the vet minimum.

The key difference for the Rockets is that (assuming that the relevant current cap rules carry over to the new CBA) they would still have his Bird rights and could re-sign him for any amount after only one year without the need for cap room.

 

This makes sense, given the thought process Alexander apparently has. I can easily see him waving bye bye to a Hall of Fame coach who was doing an amazing job, and then signing Yao yet again in hopes that he'll finally get reasonably healthy, with the promise of a big payday if that hope comes true. In other words, he'll give Yao a roll of the dice, but not Adelman. Makes perfect sense. (not!)

 

Really??? THIS is your response?

The fact is, if (again, IF) Yao were willing to re-sign for the vet minimum, he could be easily "cast aside" if things don't work out. On the other hand, if you bring back a head coach who you KNOW isn't on board with your long-term plan for the franchise and who will require being paid among the highest paid coaches in the league on a multi-year deal, it would be HIGHLY disruptive to the franchise to then actually fire him, either mid-season or after next year.

How you can equate these two specific situations is very unlike you, Deckard.

 

Thats ur opinion, so why not bring mcgrady back for the minimum also. He's healthier and has a bigger impact on the game? Time to move forward and let yao do the same. He would fit better in a place like Sa where they're close enough to contention and wouldnt rely on him as much. I guess alot of people dont understan moving forward.

 

Yao won't come for cheap because the Chinese drive a hard bargain.

 

Good point. I think NEITHER the Rockets nor T-Mac had any interest in continuing their relationship due to how it ended (Tracy "quitting" on the team and then sabotaging their plans to possibly trade him in 2009).

Had Tracy simply fallen victim to injuries and continued to have a positive relationship with the organization (including the willingness on his part to play a more limited role to best help the team), I think that Les and Morey ABSOLUTELY would have looked to re-sign him for the vet minimum.

Plus, don't forget that the Rockets still hold Yao's Bird rights, whereas they would not have had Tracy's after trading him in 2010. (And yes, the team still moves him for Martin and draft picks 100 times out of 100.)

 

Before everyone starts going off about Les' Chinese business endevours with Yao, I would like one person to give me factual information on that.

Everyone seems to think that Yao being a Rocket puts billions of dollars in his pocket through some on the side "business ventures." Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but before people start claiming it to be true, there needs to be some factual information.

Multiple Rockets front office members have gone record to state the actual revenue that comes from China, and its completely overblown. Now the NBA in general makes tons of money off of the Chinese market when after that it is then shared between the owners, but there is no evidence out there that Yao is somehow a cash cow for Les Alexander alone.

Les Alexander and Morey are interested in Yao being a Rocket because if he could come somehow come back healthy he would automatically could make this current team a contender, he would put Butts back in the seats at the Toyota Center, and get the team on ESPN every once in a while. Thats the main reason.

However, this current season, Morey has considerably changed his tone when referring to Yao Ming and his future with the Rockets, which has led me to believe that they want him back, are not going to break the bank to get him back, and would like him to take a smaller role with the team going into the future.

If a team like Golden State wants him that bad for exposure, and is willing to give him more than the MLE, I do not see the Rockets countering. The MLE should be the breaking point if there is a MLE within the new CBA. Its really just up to the teams that are desperate enough to overspend for his name, even though it might not pay back anything at all if he doesnt see time on the court.

 

I'm not in a good mood. Come up with anything involving Alexander and I'm probably going to spin it in an Anti-Alexander way right now. Honestly, I should probably not even post for a week to calm down. I believe firing Adelman was an act of brute stupidity and after all the misery we've suffered through with Yao, a player I'm a big fan of, reading about Alexander possibly going down that well traveled road again, after what it did to the start of this season (chaos is not too strong a word for what Adelman had to deal with regarding Yao at the beginning of the season), simply pisses me off.

 

Fair enough. Thanks for being honest with your motivation. I, too, am very disappointed that Adelman's contract was not renewed.

But you have to admit, Yao for the vet minimum is a helluva lot different situation than Yao for $17.6M, and Yao next year would have different expectations by the organization than last year. Morey's not so dumb as to not realize this. If he was that dumb, he'd most likely bring Adelman back (for the wrong reasons) to try to coach a Yao-led team to a championship.

 

I think he will come back hard..since he know he had health issues and come back hard...but whoever beg to differ..and gonna regret it he blows up with the next team...I say keep him...with a fair price..

 

I thought Les said Yao was still a part of Rocket's future plan when Yao went down last year. Why did he say that given nobody knew if Yao was able to come back at the time?
This has been debated over and over again. Les has joint ventures in China, like Peak and real estate projects. Yao opens a lot of doors for him in China. It's pretty clear through what Les said that Yao is more than a basketball player he hires to play.

 

I've posted this before. Les Alexander had exactly NOTHING in terms of real active investments in China before Yao was drafted. These were easy articles to find...I didn't spend much time on it. Posted this back in December 2010.

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=5794881&postcount=25

i'm just gonna say it:

i think other NBA owners...wealthy men...might bring him on so they can see if some of his magic works on them...something like the opportunities below.

but these opportunities are exactly why Les isn't going to trade Yao...at least I don't think he will. HIs business interests in China are considerable and diverse at this point...all of this happened since we drafted Yao. He literally started Rocket Capital Investment to take advantage of this.

http://www.nba.com/rockets/communit...307773-822.html

After six years of cultivation, Alexander launched Leslie Wine in 2008, which is currently selling four exceptional 2007 vintage wines exclusively in China.


http://www.mlive.com/business/ambiz...40805182170.xml

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=146352

In the latest venture through his Rocket Capital Investment company, Alexander has teamed up with San Antonio billionaire Billy Joe "Red" McCombs. The joint venture has invested in Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., one of the country's largest automakers.

Alexander's other holdings in China range from railways to mining, but the automotive deal represents his largest direct investment in a publicly traded Chinese company.

Kenneth Huang is the key executive behind the scenes at Alexander's company. The managing director and senior partner of Rocket Capital was the first college graduate from China to work at the New York Stock Exchange in the 1980s.

Huang now focuses on partnering deals for investments in major Chinese state-owned and private enterprises. He met Alexander through SportsCorp China, formed by Huang to promote closer sports and sponsorship ties with the United States. SportsCorp China players include the Houston Rockets, the National Basketball Association and the New York Yankees.

http://chinalegal.blogspot.com/2008...-hong-kong.html

. Rocket Capital Investment

The firm was established by the mainland basketball star Yao Ming's finder of Leslie Alexander, to cash in on his new mainland business connections. Mr. Alexander is its sole investor, and Forbes magazine estimates his worth at US$1.5 billion.

In 2007, the firm poured US$200 million into some of Hong Kong's biggest IPOs. In 2008, the firm is planning to invest another US$200 million to focus instead on buying listed shares and making other types of investments, but will be more careful this year, according to its managing director of Kenneth Huang...

 

This is the truth right here. $$$ is the ultimate factor when it comes to Yao. Les will pay, simply because at this point, Rockets are a money making venture with Yao associated with them. The fans are suffering for it, starting with Adelman being fired.

 

It just wouldn't feel right seeing Yao on any other team. I want him back just for the sake of reliving the good old days. I know that guy will bust his ass to play at an elite level again.

The only thing able to stop that man is, dare I say it, INJURIES!

for everything else,
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you know what will bring in the $$$$$ the nba trophy