MILWAUKEE (AP) _ Yi Jianlian is finally going to play for the
Milwaukee Bucks.
Yi, the sixth overall selection in the NBA draft in June, signed
a standard rookie scale contract with the Bucks in Hong Kong on
Wednesday.
A contingent of Bucks officials that included owner and Sen. Herb
Kohl met with Yi's family and Chen Haitao, owner of Yi's Chinese
professional team, over the last day to finalize the deal.
``We had a very successful trip here,'' Kohl said from Hong Kong.
``We came with the hope, but not the certainty that we would, in
fact, be able to sign a contract with Yi.''
The Bucks could not say when the six-foot-11 power forward would
be in the United States or meet with American media, but Kohl
expects him to be in Milwaukee at the start of training camp on Oct.
1, or shortly afterward.
On draft night, Yi Jianlian (pronounced EE JEE-ahn-LEE-an) said
he was surprised he was picked by the Bucks, but thought he'd play
for them. After the interview, he said nothing more while he was in
the U.S., leading to speculation that he would never show up.
``Certainly Mr. Yi and his representatives want him in Milwaukee
as soon as possible,'' general manager Larry Harris said.
His agent, Dan Fegan, had pushed for Yi to be drafted or traded
to a city with a large Asian influence _ or at least a larger city.
According to Census data, there are only about 27,500 people of
Asian descent living in the city more famous for beers and bratwurst
than cultural diversity, but the Bucks continued to say that it had
little to do with Yi's situation.
With the Olympics in Beijing next summer, Chinese officials
wanted assurances that Yi, who played on China's 2004 Olympic team
and 2006 world championship team, would get significant playing time
against the NBA's best players in an effort to sharpen his skills
for those games.
``Certainly from our standpoint, we're very committed to making
him the best player that he's going to be, we made that very
clear,'' Harris said. ``You're talking about a young man that
obviously has a lot on his shoulders, not only for himself, but for
his country and with the Olympics being in Beijing, we understand
those situations.''
Kohl said that they came to Hong Kong at the request of Chen and
Yi's handlers, but the Bucks maintained the deal was not done when
they got on a plane on Tuesday.
``I'll say they were very appreciative, all of them, of the
effort that we made in coming here,'' Kohl said. ``That to them was
an indication of our commitment to Yi. When you get on a plane and
go halfway around the world at the invitation of the team owner, Mr.
Chen, you're not doing that for any other reason except your
commitment to the individual. In this case, Yi and his career.''
The team didn't discuss the terms of buying out Yi's contract
with the Guangdong Tigers, but said it was routine.
There's no guarantee Yi will make the same impact as Yao Ming,
his national teammate selected by the Houston Rockets with the first
pick in 2002.
Last season, Yi posted career-high averages with 24.9 points,
11.5 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 30.7 minutes for the Tigers of the
Chinese Basketball Association.
But there are questions about his defence, strength and age, and
while he flashed some skills with Team China in the Summer League in
Las Vegas, he also showed he had a lot to learn, being pushed around
by first and second-year players instead of the NBA's elite.
The Chinese Basketball Association lists Yi's birthday as Oct.
27, 1987, but he has long been rumoured older. Kohl said Yi told
them he was 19, and the Bucks liked his determination when
discussing what type of impact he'd like to have on the court.
``Talking with him over the last 24 hours, there's no doubt in my
mind that he's going to become the player he thinks he wants to
become,'' Harris said. ``There's no doubt in our mind this kid is
going to be a special person, a special player and we're going to do
everything we can and we're committed to making sure that he becomes
the player he wants to be.''
