Ira Winderman of the South Florida South Central writes that now is the time for Houston to trade the first overall pick and avoid the huge risk which comes with 7-5 center Yao Ming.  

Not only do any of us not know exactly what Ming can do, bar of course the recent workout for all NBA teams, the private workouts for the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks, and the time Ming spent at the Sydney Olympics, Ming not only remains the great unknown but also the great unknown that a team must jump through hoops to have on their roster.

"The negotiations are not easy," Li Yao Ming, an assistant to the general manager of Yao's Shanghai Sharks, said. "There must be nine signatures on his NBA contract. The signatures will belong to Yao Ming, his parents, the Shanghai Sharks, his Chinese agent, his NBA agent, the city of Shanghai, the Chinese National General Management, the Chinese Basketball Association, and his NBA team. These are our rules."

There also is the request for joint training sessions between the Shanghai Sharks and Yao's NBA team, an exhibition game by Yao's NBA team in China and a reciprocal player agreement between the teams. Further, there is the matter of recalling Yao at any time for duty with the national team.  And Houston should be overjoyed?

Winderman believes the Rockets should salvage what they can from landing the first overall pick and auction the rights to either Ming or Jay Williams to the team willing to pay the highest price.. and take some of their bad contracts.

?Already, word is the Rockets' player of choice is UConn small forward Caron Butler,? writes Winderman.  ?By moving from the No. 5 lottery seed to the No. 1 pick, the Rockets got lucky. Now it is up to them to make the most of that good fortune.?