New article:
Yi agent seeks trade but NBA Bucks want Chinese star
AFP
July 1, 2007
MILWAUKEE, United States (AFP) - Yi Jianlian's agent is trying to pull together trade offers in hopes the Milwaukee Bucks will deal away the Chinese star they selected sixth in the National Basketball Association Draft.
But the Bucks vow they did not pick Yi on Thursday just to make a trade deal even as a standoff appears set with Yi's representatives.
"Our agent team had meetings to study this case immediately after the draft. We feel that the Bucks are not the best fit for Yi Jianlian," Yi's agent Zhao Gang said.
"Our team will make contact with other teams who have watched Yi's training and games to see if there is any possibility of a trade."
Milwaukee selected Yi despite not having a special workout to view Yi in part because Bucks general manager Larry Harris is the son of Del Harris, who coached Yi on China's 2004 Athens Olympics squad.
The Chinese men finished eighth at Athens, the nation's best Olympic result, with the elder Harris making Yi a starter and saying he could follow the NBA stardom path taken by Chinese center Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.
Yi averaged 24.9 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots a game last season for the Guandong Southern Tigers, who lost to Bayi in the finals this year as they sought a fourth consecutive Chinese basketball crown.
"Yi's selection at six has proved his capabilities and value," Zhao said.
Yi said after the draft he expected to play in Milwaukee this coming season and Harris clung to the comment, downplaying the idea of a holdout or negotiating nightmare.
"You saw in his own way, he's excited about playing in the NBA next year," Harris said. "He's our property. He put his name in the draft and we took him. So we certainly plan on him being here and being in uniform next year."
No matter what happens with the Bucks, Yi's agents seem to lack the ultimate power of saying Yi will stay in China rather than play in Milwaukee.
Yi, whose agents wanted him to land in an NBA city with a large Chinese-heritage population, will not be returning to the Chinese league, according to Liu HongJiang, deputy general manager of the Guandong club.
"Though the final result of the negotiations and communications are uncertain, I can guarantee that whatever the outcome is it could not be so bad that Yi will be back to play in the CBA," he said.
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