Bucks meet with Yi in Las Vegas, begin lobbying

[Warhawk]

I don't think I've seen this posted yet.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2928521


LAS VEGAS -- The Milwaukee Bucks met with draft pick Yi Jianlian for the first time in Las Vegas at the NBA's Summer League starting there this week.


Yi, Bucks general manager Larry Harris and Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak met for about an hour at a hotel Thursday to get to know the 6-foot-11 power forward and begin lobbying him to sign with the team.


Yi scored 23 points and grabbed four rebounds in 28 minutes of an 86-77 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night. He had a stretch in the second half where he hit seven straight field goals. The 7-foot, 242-pound Yi had a two-handed dunk over Rudy Gay early in the second quarter, a powerful move to the basket that brought several fans at the Cox Pavillion to their feet.


"I felt better about today's game," Yi said through an interpreter. "It was a matter of becoming more familiar."


Yi finished with seven fouls -- summer league games allow 10 fouls before disqualification -- and seven turnovers. Still, it was an improvement from earlier in the week when he struggled against the Dallas Mavericks, only scoring 11 points in a loss on Tuesday.


"After a slow start [earlier this week], he is finally starting to show he is a player with great potential," China coach Jonas Kauslaukas said through an interpreter. "I don't want to say that this was his best game, but he played better and stronger."


Yi has not visited Milwaukee. In Dallas, where the Chinese National Team played a series of exhibitions earlier this week, he declined to talk about the draft or even the prospect of playing for the Bucks.


Agent Dan Fegan did not return messages left Friday at his office or cell phone.


Fegan had pushed for the 19-year-old Yi to go to a city with a heavy Asian influence, and Yi's handlers did not allow the Bucks to watch him participate in a predraft workout in Los Angeles.


But Harris said he planned to take the best player available and told Fegan he would not shy away from Yi, even though Milwaukee has only about 1,200 Chinese residents.


In the meantime, Bucks owner and Sen. Herb Kohl has written a letter to Yi, which was delivered by Harris on Thursday, to establish a dialogue with the star.

"We'll see what happens," Kohl said. "We're all in the process of reaching out to try and establish a constructive dialogue with him and his family and representatives."

 

[Warhawk]

Stern may get involved in Bucks' ongoing talks with Yi

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/basketball/nba/07/08/yi.stern/index.html

LAS VEGAS -- On a day when this city was overrun with weddings, the NBA apparently was trying to arrange one of its own.
The buzz around the Las Vegas Summer League on Saturday was that Bucks and top draft pick Yi Jianlian appeared to be inching closer to a marriage -- thanks in part to the possible intervention of David Stern.
"I've heard he wants to get this resolved," said one Eastern Conference GM who wished to remain anonymous. "I'm not sure what he can do exactly, but I do know he has ways of getting what he wants."
Attempts to reach the NBA were unsuccessful. Bucks GM Larry Harris, who was in the stands to watch Yi and his Chinese national team play the Kings in Saturday night's late game, declined to comment on the speculation.
Harris did say, however, that he was optimistic Yi would be in a Bucks uniform. He and coach Larry Krystkowiak met with the 7-foot prospect on Thursday at a Las Vegas hotel in hopes of convincing him that Milwaukee would be a good fit. They presented Yi with a Bucks jersey and other team gear.
"It went well. Now we just have to wait and see," Harris said.
Yi, the No. 6 overall pick in last month's draft, has not said yet whether he will play in Milwaukee. His representatives have said they would prefer their client play in a bigger market, one with a large Asian population. They reportedly have asked for a trade.
The consensus among GMs seemed to be that Yi would end up in Milwaukee since both sides had too much at stake for any other outcome. The NBA has an obvious interest in protecting smaller-market teams from being shunned by draft picks. The Chinese government needs their young star in the NBA so that he's more ready to help his national team compete at the '08 Beijing Olympics.
If Stern were to get involved, he could wield considerable muscle. He could help assuage Yi's representatives that their client will get fair exposure in terms of marketing, for example. He also could talk to the Chinese government, since the NBA is heavily involved in promoting basketball in China and is planning to start a pro league there after the Olympics.
Meanwhile, unlike all those superstitious couples who tied the knot on 7-7-07, Yi didn't find much luck on the court Saturday night.
Perhaps worn out from a busy week, he missed his first seven shots and finished just 2-of-14 from the floor as his Chinese squad got rocked 73-47 by the Kings. Yi finished with nine points and seven rebounds, while Sacramento rookie center Spencer Hawes (19 and seven) stole the spotlight in his pro debut.

 

[hiero]

The bucks are just a horrible situation for Yi. They should have just taken Wright who can provide similar qualities if not just as good. Milwaukee has like zero chinese/asian population and its in the middle of nowhere. Plus they dont really support the team that much compared to Kings etc.

 

[VF21]

The bucks are just a horrible situation for Yi. They should have just taken Wright who can provide similar qualities if not just as good. Milwaukee has like zero chinese/asian population and its in the middle of nowhere. Plus they dont really support the team that much compared to Kings etc.

Milwaukee had the right to choose whichever player they wanted. They picked Yi.

It's not about the player. It's about the TEAM. There have been tons of players who were drafted by teams they didn't really want to play for (for a variety of reasons) but they made the best of it. If Yi (or his handlers, since people keep saying he's not the one making the decisions) really wants to be in the NBA, he should just suck it up and play.

 

[Double-K]

Every article I've read points the finger to his "handler", I really hope that is the case and not Yi's decision.
If you have skill, people will notice, TV will broadcast your matches, your teammates will respect you and help you adjust to the situation(and as an immigrant I can tell you first hand how important your environment helps you in terms of getting used to new situations), fans will fly over just to see you. It doesn't really matter if it's Milwaukee or San Francisco.

It might be a steep learning curve at first, but in the long run (assuming he doesn't get traded) it'll help him get used to NBA quicker than in any other places where he'll be "overprotected".

Just my 2 cents. Although as a fellow Chinese and a Kings fan I wouldn't mind seeing him getting traded to the Kings.

 

[Padrino]

Every article I've read points the finger to his "handler", I really hope that is the case and not Yi's decision.
If you have skill, people will notice, TV will broadcast your matches, your teammates will respect you and help you adjust to the situation(and as an immigrant I can tell you first hand how important your environment helps you in terms of getting used to new situations), fans will fly over just to see you. It doesn't really matter if it's Milwaukee or San Francisco.

It might be a steep learning curve at first, but in the long run (assuming he doesn't get traded) it'll help him get used to NBA quicker than in any other places where he'll be "overprotected".

Just my 2 cents. Although as a fellow Chinese and a Kings fan I wouldn't mind seeing him getting traded to the Kings.

i'd love just the possibility of yi being traded to the kings. however, that requires milwaukee to yield to his trade demands, and with david stern stepping in, i'm sure the kings aren't even going to have the opportunity to bid for yi's services.

this is my prediction for the rest of the summer:

yi jianlian stays in milwaukee
kobe bryant stays in los angeles
kevin garnett stays in minnesotta
gerald wallace stays in charlotte

the gravity of these situations almost always exists on the side of the team in possession of the contract of the player in question. nobody's going to be able to put a package together that satisfies LA and leaves kobe with enough talent on the team he's traded to. minnesota's asking price for KG has always been too high, and nobody is going to want to mortgage their future for an aging KG. charlotte has the capspace to re-sign wallace, and considering how positive his impact has been for the young, promising team, they'll certainly fork over the dollars to get it done now that their franchise is starting to come together. david stern doesn't want to see smaller market teams suffer by not being able to draft the players they want due to the inflated egos of those players, so he'll certainly do his damndest to keep yi in milwaukee.

gravity...keeps offseasons boring...

 

[Warhawk]

Chinese fans put full-court press on Yi to be a Buck

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2931813


Chinese fans are urging Yi Jianlian to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Drafted two weeks ago by the Bucks, Yi has declined to talk about the prospect of signing in Milwaukee. His agent, Dan Fegan, has pushed for a trade and wants Yi in a city with a large Asian influence; Yi's handlers did not allow the Bucks to watch him participate in a predraft workout in Los Angeles. But Bucks general manager Larry Harris said before the draft that he planned to take the best player available and told Fegan he would not shy away from Yi, even though Milwaukee has only about 1,200 Chinese residents.

"Fegan will hamper Yi's future," former national team coach Qian Chenghai was quoted as saying in Tuesday's edition of the state-run China Daily newspaper. "I don't think Yi refused to join the Bucks, it is Fegan who doesn't want him to join.

"We don't want to see Yi destroy his reputation in the NBA and return to the Chinese Basketball Association. That's horrible," the coach said.

Results of an online poll published in China Daily showed 68 percent of 9,000 respondents want Yi to play for the Bucks.

"Yi, stand up and speak for yourself," China Daily said, citing an article in the Beijing Evening Post. "Don't hesitate anymore and don't let anybody control your life."

Yi, the sixth player picked overall in the draft, Harris and Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak met for about an hour at a hotel in Las Vegas, where Yi is playing in the NBA's Summer League, last Thursday to get to know the 6-foot-11 power forward and begin lobbying him to sign with the team.

Yi has not visited Milwaukee. In Dallas, where the Chinese National Team played a series of exhibitions last week, he declined to talk about the draft or even the prospect of playing for the Bucks.

In the meantime, Bucks owner and Sen. Herb Kohl has written a letter to Yi, which was delivered by Harris on Thursday, to establish a dialogue with the star.

"We'll see what happens," Kohl said last week. "We're all in the process of reaching out to try and establish a constructive dialogue with him and his family and representatives."

 

[VF21]

And once again it appears as though an agent is overstepping his bounds. Or is he? It could easily be he's being tagged as the fall-guy for all of this. The Chinese can encourage Yi now to actually sign with the Bucks and everyone comes out winners.

 

[hiero]

And once again it appears as though an agent is overstepping his bounds. Or is he? It could easily be he's being tagged as the fall-guy for all of this. The Chinese can encourage Yi now to actually sign with the Bucks and everyone comes out winners.

I have to assume Yi probably told his agent he wants to be in a place with a decent chinese and asian population. Whether or not he told his agent, he refuses to play in a place like milwaukee is a different story. Personally I hope he goes to the Kings, and I really do not blame the guy for not wanting to play in milwaukee. I doubt he will hold out much longer though.

 

[VF21]

...and I really do not blame the guy for not wanting to play in Milwaukee.

So you think players should be able to pick and choose what team they want to go to? You do realize if that happened the teams who are currently low man on the totem pole might as well just close their doors, right?

I do blame him and any other player who wants to become an employee of the NBA but only under their own conditions. There are only 420 players a year (if you use 14 players per team as your base) that have the privilege of playing in the NBA. There are a lot more who might be successful but just won't ever get the chance. If Yi or any other player doesn't want to be treated the same as the other 419, then he can IMHO give his spot to someone who will appreciate it a little more.

 

[hiero]

never said what he was doing is the right thing, but I dont blame him for being hesitant to make such a huge change in culture for a young kid. you have to remember the guy is not a 30 year old man, he is 19(or 22 depending on who you believe). Anyways I dont think its right he holds the team hostage, but he wouldnt be the first foreign player to do so.

 

[vytzka]

Wow, what a crybaby.

I know it doesn't make financial sense, but I'd be tempted to either sign him and let him rot on the bench Milicic-style or just send him home and not allow to sign with anybody else either.

Such starlets really tick me off. You'd think he's some kind of HoF lock or something and not an unproved rookie.

Then again, serves MIL right for having a higher pick than us

 

[Kingster]

So you think players should be able to pick and choose what team they want to go to? You do realize if that happened the teams who are currently low man on the totem pole might as well just close their doors, right?

I do blame him and any other player who wants to become an employee of the NBA but only under their own conditions. There are only 420 players a year (if you use 14 players per team as your base) that have the privilege of playing in the NBA. There are a lot more who might be successful but just won't ever get the chance. If Yi or any other player doesn't want to be treated the same as the other 419, then he can IMHO give his spot to someone who will appreciate it a little more.

Players can pick and choose if they aren't under contract. Yi can choose not to play in the NBA if he wants. It's up to him. It's also up to the Bucks to either stand firm, or trade him. So now it's, "Who is going to blink first?" Being the selfish Kings fan, I hope the Bucks blink and trade him to the Kings.

 

[vytzka]

Players can pick and choose if they aren't under contract. Yi can choose not to play in the NBA if he wants. It's up to him. It's also up to the Bucks to either stand firm, or trade him. So now it's, "Who is going to blink first?" Being the selfish Kings fan, I hope the Bucks blink and trade him to the Kings.

I really don't think he'll be much happier in Sacto.

Yi evidently wants to play in a large market. It'd be quite interesting (and karmic) to see how his song changed if he got to LA to replace Bynum as Kobes favourite punchbag...

 

[Big Cuz 15]

So you think players should be able to pick and choose what team they want to go to? You do realize if that happened the teams who are currently low man on the totem pole might as well just close their doors, right?

I do blame him and any other player who wants to become an employee of the NBA but only under their own conditions. There are only 420 players a year (if you use 14 players per team as your base) that have the privilege of playing in the NBA. There are a lot more who might be successful but just won't ever get the chance. If Yi or any other player doesn't want to be treated the same as the other 419, then he can IMHO give his spot to someone who will appreciate it a little more.

it wasn't like this draft didnt' have other great prospects to choose from. there were plenty of other teams willing to come to milwaukee. yi isn't the first player to pull this crap. one of the greatest players in the nba currently did that. his name is kobe bryant. it appears that ppl are making a big fuss out of this as if this was the first time it happened. the guy made it clear he didn't want to play there.

 

[vytzka]

When it comes to professionalism and your image among the GMs in the league it might be wise to find other role model than Kobe Bryant. Just saying.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

the point is, yi isn't the first to demand a trade. if yi isn't the one that is actually making the decision to play where he wants.. how is he to be "professional" about it?

 

[vytzka]

Even though you edited out your question, I'll still reply that I'd rather see Carmelo Anthony with the ball in the clutch as he's proven to be far more effective statistically

And as for not playing where you want, well duh. He participated in the lottery right? He did read the rules? Prolly even signed some papers? That it's, you know, teams selecting players based on need and availability and stuff? And that there's no guarantee where you're going? So, like, why the surprise and b****ing? Being professional would be shutting his piehole (or not really opening it in the first place) and going out to play for the team that wanted him and gave him a chance.

 

[Bricklayer]

Even though you edited out your question, I'll still reply that I'd rather see Carmelo Anthony with the ball in the clutch as he's proven to be far more effective statistically

And as for not playing where you want, well duh. He participated in the lottery right? He did read the rules? Prolly even signed some papers? That it's, you know, teams selecting players based on need and availability and stuff? And that there's no guarantee where you're going? So, like, why the surprise and b****ing? Being professional would be shutting his piehole (or not really opening it in the first place) and going out to play for the team that wanted him and gave him a chance.

Oh , they participated inthe lottery, but its not liek this was a spur of the emoment thing. They intentionally, and I thought rather rudely stonewalled Milwaulkee even before the draft. Put up a giant "don't draft us" sign. As bad as that was, it was really the Bucks who kind of acted arrogantly and stupidly here. Not even checking apparently. Never going over to watch him in China, nor schmooze, and apparently just sitting back on a recliner somewhere and syaing, we're drafting him! Never stopping to consider that maybe they were serious. All jsut smacks of lack of due diligence on their part. Young GM mayeb showing his inexperience and lack of caution. Aapparently his whole thing was that his dad had coached Yi at some point, so that was all that was needed. Er...guess not.

 

[Spike]

Players picked after Yi -

Corey Brewer
Brandan Wright
Joakim Noah

Are you telling me Milwaukee wouldn't have been interested in any of these three? I'm agreeing with Brick on this one, due diligence was not done by the front office. This is different from a player all of a sudden deciding "ew, ick, I didn't think the Bucks would pick me." This is the entire continent of Asia telling Milwaukee, "hey, you should look in another direction" PRIOR to the draft.

However, I think he should suck it up and play. The 3.0% (2005) Asian population would appreciate it...unless they're Korean.

FWIW, some Sacto stats as it pertains to the discussion of Yi:

Asian population 15.7% (2007)

The cities with the top five Asian population growth rates are Las Vegas (58 percent), Atlanta (46 percent), Phoenix-Mesa (46 percent), Sacramento-Yolo (41 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth (37 percent).


You can see why it wouldn't be bad for Yi to play in Sac. The Kings, although small market, seem to have international appeal. It would also be the best situation considering a youth movement...now to unload KT.

 

[vj9999]

I never had Chinese food in Milwaukee, but I just ate at a very cool Thai place in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

What's the population of Serbs in Sac? I think Peja should have held out and refused to play when he was drafted. Serbian government should only allow Serbian players to play in Chicago and Toronto.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

Even though you edited out your question, I'll still reply that I'd rather see Carmelo Anthony with the ball in the clutch as he's proven to be far more effective statistically

And as for not playing where you want, well duh. He participated in the lottery right? He did read the rules? Prolly even signed some papers? That it's, you know, teams selecting players based on need and availability and stuff? And that there's no guarantee where you're going? So, like, why the surprise and b****ing? Being professional would be shutting his piehole (or not really opening it in the first place) and going out to play for the team that wanted him and gave him a chance.

stats.. eric musselman was all about stats also it's something about being in big games and being able to produce. so far, i haven't seen mellow in any of those. i'd still take kobe over mellow anyday of the week.

milwaukee should not have picked him. this isn't an american player they were selecting. american players don't usually say, hey i dont like the team i'm being drafted so i'll go play in europe or asia. they already seen complications with what yao had to go through to come to the nba. yi did read the rules and it said, if you don't like who you are drafted by- sit out the season and re enter the following year. he knew there wasn't a guarantee where he was going but there were a few destinations (lotto teams) that were suitable according to him. i'm not for what yi is doing but milwaukee shouldn't have picked him. it was plain and stupid with all the red flags yi's representatives put up. if they get screwed out of the pick thats too bad.

 

[Big Cuz 15]

I never had Chinese food in Milwaukee, but I just ate at a very cool Thai place in Milwaukee on Wednesday.

What's the population of Serbs in Sac? I think Peja should have held out and refused to play when he was drafted. Serbian government should only allow Serbian players to play in Chicago and Toronto.

kings had vlade to help him adjust. he just happened to be serbian also

 

[vytzka]

FWIW, some Sacto stats as it pertains to the discussion of Yi:

Asian population 15.7% (2007)

The cities with the top five Asian population growth rates are Las Vegas (58 percent), Atlanta (46 percent), Phoenix-Mesa (46 percent), Sacramento-Yolo (41 percent), and Dallas-Fort Worth (37 percent).

You can see why it wouldn't be bad for Yi to play in Sac. The Kings, although small market, seem to have international appeal. It would also be the best situation considering a youth movement...now to unload KT.

I didn't know this, thanks for the info. I guess that changes the picture somewhat and would make him coming to Sacramento somewhat more likely.

 

[kennadog]

Vytzka: This site gives information more specifically about Chinese populations in US cities. Asian can be misleading. I live in a smallish city and county with a substantial "Asian" population. Its almost entirely due to the continuing influx of immigrants from India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._cities_with_large_Chinese_American_populations

The big "regions" with the largest Chinese population are New York, Los Angeles/Orange County area; and the San Francisco/San Jose area. Sacramento is just 90 miles from San Francisco.

 

[Spike]

True on the India part - I was trying to find specific Chinese demographics, but couldn't. But I figured 15% combined with the growth rate is still better than 3%.

On an aside, it's also tough to tell as I had to mark "other" until 10 yrs. ago, so you never know.