because 5-10 million becomes 10-20 million once you go into luxury tax territory. if you were the owner...would you want to spend that kind of money for a short term fix...or play it right and build a team carefully while not wasting money? ithis question is totally moot anyway.....Yao will deserve the max...and the Rockets will give it to him... as long as we have Yao and Tmac...we dont need a bunch of expensive stars....we can win with a bunch of good role players that wont knock you into LT territory. it just will take a few years to get the right pieces.
Payton and Malone were never offered the max. They were vets with over 10 years in the league that never won a championship, they signed for less than they were making for that chance. Team Yao will/should never allow him to sign for less than the max if his market worth is the max. I remember Mark "the bird" Fridrych, a Detroit Tiger pitcher that signed for less than his market worth. Everyone thought he was so noble because the kid said that money wasn't everything. He hurt his arm and was never the same, Detroit dumped the kid. This is a business and Yao should conduct himself with that in mind.
Well, if my memory serves correctly, didn't he offer to take $1 from .. was it Coca-cola in China for putting his picture on their softdrink cans? Either way, for the Rockets, Yao will bring them more money than any max could take up. He should definitely end up with the max just because of his market value.
They could take the Clippers route, not extend his contract but retain his bird rights. And also retain the right to match any offer he gets from other teams. Thus let the market set his price. The Clippers did this with Magette, Brand and Miller, they kept Magette and Brand, and at below Max contract status. DD
well if the Rox played that game (which is underhanded) I would probably not sign with anyone and want to leave the team. what would you do? everyone wants security.. J
All it means is that the contract would be for only 6 years and slightly less than the max. I would tell his agent to take the Max deal in October of next year, or the team will not extend and match any offer for Yao. Hard ball, yes, but Yao is not going anywhere. DD
This could work but he could just sign a 1 year contract and then go the unrestricted free agency route. :/ I *think* there was a post awhile back that Yao signed with Reebok because Nike had originally tried to low ball him with their initial offer.
I don't think Rox management will play hard ball with Yao. Les already said when he signed T-Mac that Yao is next.
Why should Yao suffer and take less than the max? You can pose the same question regarding taking a pay cut to Tmac or Mo, or any of the overpaid guys. Come on they are all millionaires and can afford it. Yao has made les millions.....les would have to be an idiot to offer anything less than the max just based on marketing revenue from yao alone.
I came across some article today that says Lebron James may have some kicks in his endorsement deals, which will pay millions extra as bonus if he plays in LA, NY or Chicago. Therefore he may make more even if he takes less than max to play there. Of course, his agent denied this. I am just wondering if this is common practices in those endorsements including Yao's. No wonder star players go to these big markets all the time.
