What the Yi is going on?
General Manager Larry Harris of the Milwaukee Bucks sent a big “screw you” to the camp of Yi Jianlian when he selected him with the sixth pick of the NBA Draft. Yi has refused to report to Milwaukee and instead is competing with the Chinese national team in summer league exhibitions this month. After losing to the Dallas Mavericks in Texas, they travel to Las Vegas where they will be competing in the Vegas summer league with the 21 NBA teams who are there.
NBADU colleague Steve Weinman wrote about how the move is backfiring on the Bucks. It is also affecting Yi’s play with China as he is being outperformed by former NBA player Wang Zhizhi. It’s a lose-lose situation. Certainly, there must be a solution for both sides.
The solution, unfortunately, might be that this never should have happened in the first place. In the week leading up to the draft, it was rumored that Danny Ainge was targeting Yi with the fifth pick. He ended up selecting Jeff Green and trading the pick to Seattle for Ray Allen. It was a move that drew much criticism of Ainge’s weakness for trading lottery picks, but was it the best choice for Seattle? After all, Jeff Green plays the same position as Kevin Durant.
Wouldn’t Yi Jianlian or Brandan Wright have been a better choice to pair with Durant? Yi would also be a major draw in the northwest with Ichiro and the famous Pike Place Fish Market. Seattle is an organization that has taken the unknown quantity of big men in recent drafts (i.e. Mohamed Sene Saer and Robert Swift).
As for Wright, he dropped all the way down to 8 and the Bobcats traded him for Jason Richardson and Jermareo Davidson. The move confirms the very reason for his slide down to eight - the consensus was that Brandan Wright was not the player that people considered for the third pick several months ago. He was considered a bust before even setting foot on an NBA court. However, I take you back to the 2002 NBA Draft in which Yao Ming was taken with the first pick. The eighth and ninth picks of that draft were Chris Wilcox and Amare Stoudemire. That’s the spectrum of talent in which to place Wright. He’s a worst case Wilcox and best case, will turn out into an Amare type talent.
While Wright would have been a better fit for the Sonics with Durant, he most certainly would have been a better option for the Bucks than Yi. The best option would have been Corey Brewer, and even Kevin McHale was smart enough to realize this. He might actually get Wright anyway if Chris Mullin trades for Kevin Garnett. Brewer was the perimeter help that Michael Redd needed and Bobby Simmons hasn’t been.
The Bucks have no such luxury of a backup plan. It was Yi or nothing, and they’re left with nothing at this point. Brokering a trade for Yi is much harder after the fact and it appears both sides are stuck.
The Sixers were trying to trade up to get him and with his recent demands and poor exhibition play, it might not be such a good idea. Rumor has it that the Sixers are still talking about making a trade. Yi’s value is coming down and he isn’t as highly regarded now as he was going in.
Therefore, we here at MVN determined that Yi needs to have a trade campaign started to send him west. The draft should’ve placed Yi either in Golden State or in Seattle. Jeff Green should have gone to Milwaukee. Brandan Wright ended up in Golden State, which gave the Warriors a great consolation prize. It’s time to play, let’s make a deal! The future of the global NBA depends upon it. If a trade can’t be made, then how about relocating the Bucks from Milwaukee to Beijing?
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 6th, 2007 at 7:18 pm and is filed under Brandan Wright, 2007 NBA Draft, China, Taking it to the Rack, Jeff Green, Steve Weinman, Seattle Supersonics, Golden State Warriors, Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian, Milwaukee Bucks.
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3 Responses to “What the Yi is going on?”
July 6th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Milwaukee took the player they had rated best on the draft board. The decision was the correct one for Milwaukee and for the NBA. I doubt that Milwaukee will trade Yi, as they have all of the leverage and frankly, they can compete in 2007 without him.
Players with talent in the NBA are allocated based upon a draft system to ensure that all teams in the league have an opportunity to remain competitive. If teams like Milwaukee, Memphis, Minnesota, etc. allow players and agents to determine where they will play, then everyone will be playing in Los Angeles and there will be no league. For Milwaukee, it wasn’t a difficult decsion…it was a decision that needed to be made for the survival of the franchise and for the league, regardless of whether Yi ever plays in the NBA.
July 7th, 2007 at 6:39 am
First, I like your analysis.
Second, I tend to favor Steve’s opinion and I suspect Mil waukee will use all its PR muscle to exact compensation. The NBA will bend to the people who pay the ticket price.
Third, this reminds me about 20 years ago in MLB. The agents/players have alot more weight and power than Steve lets on. It is a gamble but as Mr. Boras has proven time and time again the percentages of the advantage generally favor the player to force the issue. If Yi is unhappy in Milwaukee, forcing him to go there for the sense of fair play, as Steve suggests, is not going to solve anything. You can’t force a million dollars to do what you want. You have to bend towards the money.
Atlanta faced this problem in the NFL and MLB and recently in the NBA over the years. It really should be only a temporary setback
July 8th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Think that you are not on target with your story. Doubt that one poor game in the summer league(had a 23pt bounce back the next day) affects the worth of a unbelievably skilled 7′ 19 year old prospect. This has nothing to do with Asian population, it is all about the dollar. Yi’s agents will make triple the dough if he goes to a huge market. Can’t blame them for trying but sorry Yi will have to play at least his first 3-4 years in Milwaukee.
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