RUDY T: Rockets Would Have Taken Yao Without Clearance

Watching Fox 26 tonight and Mark Berman reported a few interesting things.

First, Rudy T at his press conference said, unequivocally, that the Rockets were taking Yao clearance or not.

"If the clearance wouldn't have come today, we're so strong on this guy we would have still been ok with it (drafting Yao). There is nothing in anything that has happened that was a red flag. I really was not worried about this."

Guess Doc Rocket was right all along! Troy? Anyone?

Also, interesting stuff on how the deal got done.

Rockets' attorney Michael Goldberg said that a key to getting the deal done was the CBA's knowledge of the Rockets as an organization. They did their homework on the Rockets and really looked into them thoroughly.

Yao's agent, Erik Zhang, said that the Rockets really helped by being so open and developing relationships with the CBA leaders. The meeting between Yao and the CBA commissioner really helped to convince him that it was ok to let Yao go.

Zhang said they could not have done this deal without Goldberg.