China’s Yao Ming is returning to the Houston Rockets — a giant selling point for general manager Daryl Morey as he begins courting big-name free agents this week.
The 2.29m All-Star center said on Tuesday that he has picked up his player option for next season, the last year of his five-year contract. Yao sat out last season following reconstructive foot surgery and said he wanted to see how the injury healed before making his decision.
Yao said he’s resumed basketball activities and should be 100 percent when training camp begins.
“To miss one year is a long time,” Yao said. “I’ve never been in this situation before, and I’m getting as much information as I can about my foot, to see what’s the best for me and best for the Rockets. I decided a couple of days ago, and there’s no one better than the Rockets now.”
If he had turned down the player option, Yao would’ve become an unrestricted free agent today. He is due to make US$17.7 million next season, but wouldn’t reveal how close he came to joining the star-studded class of free agents who will hit the market this week.
“Not considering it anymore,” he said. “That’s most important.”
Yao and Morey would not say if the two sides are working on an extension beyond next season. The Rockets selected Yao with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 draft, and signed him to a five-year extension in September 2005.
“He’s the centerpiece of the Rockets, the foundation of our franchise,” Morey said. “We’re looking forward to great things from him next season.”
Morey said Yao will play an “active” role in helping the Rockets land a top free agent. While the Rockets don’t have enough salary cap space to offer a maximum contract to guys like LeBron James, Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, Morey thinks Yao’s commitment will sway free agents on the team’s championship potential in the next year.
“Obviously, Yao Ming is an unbelievable piece to have on our roster,” Morey said. “We feel like we’re a great destination. We don’t really feel like the underdog. Any free agent, when they take the time to look through their options — they all will — they are going to see us as a very interesting option. Obviously, a great roster that’s ready to win.”
With Yao back, the Rockets also offer a unique marketing opportunity for any free agent to consider. Regular-season games draw enormous television ratings in China and several of Yao’s teammates have landed lucrative endorsement deals with Chinese companies.
“If free agents want to be a global presence,” Morey said, “we have more people tuning in to our regular-season games than the Super Bowl.”
Morey wants Yao to talk to potential additions, and Yao already has talking points in mind for his recruiting pitch.
“We have a very good team here, we have very good fans and a very good coaching staff. Why not come here?” he said. “I would love to play with any of those guys out there. Hopefully, they come here all together.”
The Rockets have already come up with a creative way to lure them, sending a caravan of fans on the road to rendezvous with Morey at his initial meeting with a top free agent. The plan is for the caravan to deliver Morey to the meeting with “presentation materials” for the free agent to peruse. Morey wouldn’t specify what the materials included.
“It’s top secret,” Morey said. “We don’t want to give up what he’s going to unwrap on Christmas morning.”
Morey said he’s not discouraged by reports that the most coveted free agents of this year’s class have already decided where they’re headed. Free agents can’t sign contracts until July 8.
“Until July 8, no one can make up their minds 100 percent, no one can sign their name to the dotted line,” Morey said. “So there’s an opening there. My sense from the chatter is that no one has really made up their minds. But the only people who really know that are the free agents.”
“All we can do is put our best foot forward and make the free agent understand why Houston is a great destination, and hopefully, it works out,” he said.
Once free agency begins, the Rockets will also have to decide whether to re-sign restricted free agents Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
PREDICTION: Last week, when Yu’s father made a wrong turn to the former champions’ parking lot, he said that his son could park there after this year With back-to-back birdies on the 18th hole, Kevin Yu fulfilled his driving range-owning dad’s prediction that he would win the Sanderson Farms Championship and become Taiwan’s third golfer to claim a US PGA Tour title. The Taoyuan-born 26-year-old, who represented Taiwan in the Olympic golf at Paris, saw off Californian Beau Hossler in a playoff at the Country Club of Jackson, Mississippi, on Sunday. Having drained a 15-foot putt to claw his way into the playoff, Yu rolled in from five feet on the first extra hole, ensuring he joined Chen Tze-chung (LA Open in 1987) and Pan Cheng-tsung (RBC
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
RSS