Is Yao Ming worth the risk?

He's tall. He's got a passport. He's got everyone's attention.

When Yao Ming arrives in Chicago today, will all the preoccupation about his status in the draft obscure the bigger question -- can this guy play basketball?

Replying by reciting his height, 7-foot-5, over and over may do for now -- you can't teach height right? But sooner than later, try Wednesday, Yao will have to begin convincing NBA officials he can actually play in the post with Shaquille O'Neal or even Michael Olowokandi.

By now you know the skinny on Yao.

He's a national treasure to China, but Shawn Bradley once held a similar status in Utah.

He can score like Wilt Chamberlain, dribble like Allen Iverson, shoot the three like Ray Allen and block shots like Dikembe Mutombo. Of course, so could Kwame Brown when he was matched up against a bunch of skinny, frightened 6-foot-3 teenagers in high school.

He doesn't have a posse, unless you call those 300 or so Chinese officials who follow him into the bathroom his homies.

He doesn't play for the money -- he'd make more behind the counter of a 7-11 than he'll get from the NBA once the entire billion or so people of China take their cut.

And he's already been immortalized by none other than Bill Walton. Yao, apparently, left Walton "dizzy with possibilities," as he "felt the energy surge when he'd whip an outlet to launch a fast break and noted his decision making and great court demeanor, I knew I was peering into the future."

On Tuesday, the league will administer a physical exam. Then, we'll all get a peek at the future on Wednesday, when Yao's much-hyped 45-minute workout goes down in Chicago at 4:15 ET. The celebrities will be out in force. Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy will run the workout, ESPN Insider has learned.

Ralph Sampson, who at 7-foot-4 was also once "the next great thing," couldn't attend. He has a previous commitment on Hollywood Squares with Gary Coleman and Vanilla Ice.

After Yao's 45-minute workout, he'll be back on the road to China to prepare for the World Championships. NBA commissioner David Stern hopes that Yao will show up in New York for the NBA Draft. Whoever drafts him hopes he shows up at all once training camps get underway in October.

While skeptics in the press want to see in Yao in person, no one in the NBA seems too concerned with his talent.

"He's for real," one league executive who recently returned from China told Insider. "Whether he's a superstar or not remains in question, but he's not a stiff. He's very athletic. He's not awkward at all. His skill set is far more advanced than most college players his age. He can really play. Once he puts on some muscle, he'll be a beast down low."

The muscle thing seems to be the one issue that keeps coming out. Yao doesn't like to hit the weights.

"He asked me if he'd be able to play against Shaq," David Benoit, Yao's teammate, told the New York Post. "He seems reserved about it. He knows he has to get stronger to match up with the power guys. I told him a weight-lifting program would be beneficial. That would be the only thing I see he'd have to work on. China is more into the skill of the game than the physical part. But he's no Shawn Bradley."

Of course, it was an issue with Bradley too -- which is why there's been a serious outbreak of "Great White Nope" deja vu running rampant through the NBA.

Yao would prefer not to play against Shaq at all. "It's not football," he told the Chicago Sun Times. "He should go to the WWF. He's too strong."

The bigger concern is Yao's availability. With his team, the Shaghai Sharks, and his country sending mixed signals, teams are wary.

One argument is that Yao's team and his country are just trying to cash in. A nice contribution from the league, Sprite and Nike ought to take care of that.

The other argument is more dire.

If Yao isn't allowed to hire a U.S. agent, who are teams supposed to negotiate with? The NBA's worst nightmare is a flock of team executives winning and dining the Chinese trying to work out a side deal with Yao.

If the Sharks don't like the team with the No. 1 pick, will they try to cut a deal with a more desirable team and threaten to keep Yao in China if someone else drafts him? Stern can talk all he wants about the "draft process" but right now China still holds the leverage -- it doesn't have to let him play.

If Yao does come to America, will he be at the beckon call of his country? Wang Zhi-Zhi has already missed time for the Mavs and the pressure will be on Yao to help China at all international competitions -- regardless of when they are played.

If China tries to take most of Yao's income as part of its new laws concerning Chinese players who play overseas, will the NBA Players Association try to step in and shake things up? Allowing a team or a country to "own" a player indefinitely would set an uneasy precedent that plenty of other foreign players in the NBA don't want to set.

If the NBAPA does step in, could China, through FIBA rules, invalidate Yao's NBA contract? The Chinese have already threatened as much, but league sources question whether FIBA would ever actually take that step.

That's a lot of "ifs" for a guy who's projected to be, perhaps, the No. 1 pick in the draft. Is Yao worth the risk?

Chicago Sun Times columnist Jay Mariotti is already urging the Bulls to pass on Yao come draft day.

"The last thing anybody wants the Jerrys doing is squabbling with Chinese officials over Yao's availability. But I must forewarn them: A whole lot of red tape and headaches await if they draft the Great Wall of China with their latest high-lottery choice. Just because Yao arrives in town today for a Wednesday workout in front of several NBA executives, including Jerry Krause, doesn't mean he has been cleared by his country to make the move. If anything, my fortune cookie tells me the sucker who drafts Yao will have no idea when he's coming, if he's coming or, once he does come, how long he's staying."

If China overplays its hand, and keeps NBA teams in the dark for the next two months, Yao's stock will fall in the draft, costing the government millions in lost revenue for Yao.

There are already a lot of "ifs" surrounding the 7-foot-5 giant from China. World class professional Chinese soccer players such as Yan Chen and Sun Jihai don't face the same restrictions that Yao now faces. Whether his government will allow him the same privileges of every other international athlete could make the difference between Yao going as the No. 1 pick in the draft and being a draft day disaster.

Thanks for the article, Martin.