Well, this is about as huge as any Rockets news can get.
via Rockets looking to trade Yao – NBA – Yahoo! Sports:
After years of patience and a willingness to wait out injury upon injury with their franchise star, the Houston Rockets are engaged in trade discussions about center Yao Ming(notes) with several teams, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Updated with my thoughts:
- Surprised that there are suitors as there is no free agent bonanza this summer. But that insurance provision could be huge relief for some team.
- I’m really shocked the Rockets would do this. There was a thinking that the Chinese connections would be deemed too profitable to sacrifice Yao. My guess is that Yao consented to possibly being dealt to help the team with the expectation of then returning in the summer to the Rockets at a lower cost. This would be a win-win for all parties. Yao likely feels some sense of guilt in not being able to help the team these past few years but this would be one great way to do it.
- Who could be available? Remember that there’s no free agent bonanza this summer. The teams after Carmelo already will have close to the space they need. A potential suitor would have to desire savings over the threshold from a bad contract. Would the Lakers just give up on Bynum?
