FanHouse Yao Ming

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luis Scola is a 29-year-old power forward. He has long(er) hair, and is not built like a racehorse. He doesn't jump out of the gym, his tangibles aren't off the charts, his wingspan isn't epic, and he's not a franchise player. But man, the guy can play ball.

Since Scola came into the league two seasons ago, he's quietly been a foundation of the Rockets' success. A rare miscalculation by the San Antonio Spurs, who drafted him in 2002 when he was only 22 but traded him to the Rockets, Scola has become just the kind of player you expect to find in San Antonio. Hardworking, efficient, dedicated and professional. Scola manages to play with fire and intensity, without ever losing his cool.

The biggest free agent on the market this year just got inked. Kind of. Though he wasn't going anywhere, Daryl Morey's been working without a contract since the end of last season. And today, the Houston Chronicle reports, the Rockets have finalized a deal that will keep him with the team through 2013.

So given the new timeline for Morey and his prior success, what are the odds Morey nabs an Executive of the Year award by the time his next contract is up?

Several NBA players missed significant parts of last season because of injury. Here's a quick rundown of how some of them are doing with training camps set to begin next week for most teams:

Gilbert Arenas, Washington (knee): He's had three surgeries on his knee in a year and a half, but Arenas said he'll be ready for the start of training camp. Of course, he took things a step further by saying that had he continued to rehab in Washington, instead of working with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago, he wouldn't have made it back as fast.

Opening night still seems so far away (too far away), but there are already questions as to whether Yi Jianlian will be available for New Jersey. Reports surfaced this week placing Yi in China playing for his native Guangdong in the National Games at the end of October. The Nets kick off the season October 28 ... which also happens to be the final day of the China Games.

But Nets boss Rod Thorn told the Newark Star-Ledger's Dave D'Alessandro that Yi will not be missing any Nets games. Which implies that Yi will not be participating in the China Games. Which is not going to make the Chinese Basketball Association very happy.

Bylaws have been checked. Rules have been scrutinized.

And, yes, it has been determined the West must start a center in February's All-Star Game in Dallas.

So, gentlemen, lace up your high tops. The race to be the starting center for the West is as wide open as the Yukon Territory.

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Saturday, there are 52 days remaining.

American athletes find themselves high on annual top-earning celebrity lists -- Tiger Woods is a perennial top-five finisher on Forbes's Celebrity 100 list, and Michael Jordan had seen that ink for decades. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James made the magazine's top 100 celebrity earners list last year as well.

But the top-earning NBA player last year, according to Forbes, wasn't an American-born player. It was Rockets star Yao Ming, who is said to have earned $52 million in 2008.

Iran, which placed its first player in the NBA last season, is the champion of Asian basketball after a lopsided 70-52 win over China in Tianjin Sunday. Iran had also won the title in 2007, though China fielded a 'B' team in order to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Before 2007, Iran had never so much as medaled in its previous 11 FIBA Asia appearances, while China had claimed gold in 14 of the previous 17 tournaments.

The AFP reports Chinese coach Guo Shiqiang has come under fire by Chinese fans and press for the embarrassing home loss. If I may offer Guo a defense, he might just repeat "YAO MING" over and over again. Yao, of course, is not playing with the Chinese team for the first time in nearly a decade, due to injury. He tends to matter quite a bit. (See: Grizzlies back-up singer Hamed Haddadi going for 19/17 in the championship game.)

People must really like that LeBron James fellow, because his Cleveland Cavaliers will appear on national TV more than any other team during the 2009-10 season. The Cavs will be featured on ABC, ESPN or TNT some 25 times this season.

The Lakers, Celtics and Magic will all make 24 appearances on national TV. The Nuggets (21), Spurs (20) and Suns (18) follow. Five teams -- the Kings, Bobcats, Bucks, Nets and (amazingly) Rockets -- have no national TV games scheduled.

A full accounting of the national TV schedule after the jump.

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In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?

These questions and more, answered for you below.

HOUSTON -- Houston Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming ended all speculation on his availability for the upcoming season by announcing Friday he will have the broken bone in his left foot surgically repaired, effectively shelving the 2009-10 season.

The earliest Yao will be available is the start of training camp 2010. A source with the Rockets confirmed to FanHouse the team isn't expecting Yao to be available for the upcoming season.

"After much thought and reflection, I have decided to have surgery on my left foot," Yao said Friday in a released statement. "This surgery will allow me to continue my career playing basketball and I look forward to returning to the court. I would like to thank everyone who sent me their best wishes. I am very grateful to have the support of teammates, friends and fans as I dedicate myself to making a completely successful recovery."