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Bucks insist they won't give in to Yi's desire for trade
Yi Jianlian has had little to say about his NBA future since the Bucks drafted him No. 6.
This year he's getting his karmic payback.
Harris thought he was doing a great thing for his team last week when he selected Chinese prospect Yi Jianlian with the No. 6 pick in the draft.
Yi is a considered a potential NBA star. The 6-foot-11 forward can score, rebound, pass and play facing the basket. Some have compared him to Dirk Nowitzki.
Unfortunately for Harris, what should have been a happy occasion in Milwaukee has turned into a nightmare.
Yi apparently doesn't want to play in Brew Town. Or at least his handlers --including notoriously tough agent Dan Fegan - don't want him there. They want Yi in a big market, one with a large Asian population.
"[We] won't sit here and do nothing just because he was picked by Milwaukee," Zhao Gang, one of Yi's representatives, told the official China Daily newspaper Tuesday. "We are considering Yi's future at the Bucks and are looking at trade possibilities."
Harris has no plans to comply.
"We're not trading him," Harris told SI.com. "We like him and we think this is a great opportunity for him. He'll get a chance to play a lot of minutes right away for a good team. What more could [he] want?"
Harris hoped to make that case in person Thursday afternoon when he was to meet with Yi at the Las Vegas Summer League. Yi is scheduled to play with his Chinese national team, while the Bucks are also fielding a team there.
So far the Bucks haven't heard from Yi at all. They have tried to reach out to him, but his handlers have declined the invitation. Not even a personal letter from Bucks owner Herb Kohl -- who happens to be a U.S. senator -- has been enough to persuade Yi.
Attempts to reach Fegan have not been successful, but it's safe to say he isn't budging.
It has been widely reported that Golden State was at the top of Yi's list of potential trade partners. The Bay Area boasts a large Asian population, and the Warriors were said to have serious interest in the skilled big man. Golden State also has an attractive trade piece of its own in No. 8 pick Brandan Wright, a North Carolina freshman forward whom Milwaukee was said to be high on in the days leading up to the draft.
But Golden State has yet to call Milwaukee, according to a source, and it is unclear now whether the Warriors' interest in Yi was real or overhyped.
One telling indicator in the coming days will be if Golden State signs Wright to a contract. Once a player signs, he can't be traded for 60 days. That would seem to eliminate them from any deal.
Meanwhile, Harris is getting a lot of empathy from his colleagues. Not since Steve Francis forced his way out of Vancouver in 1999 has a high draft pick pulled such a stunt. Before that one might have to go back to Danny Ferry, who refused to play for the Clippers when they took him with the second pick in 1989.
"It just doesn't happen in our league very often," Magic president and former longtime GM Pat Williams said.
"I remember back in '92, Shaq didn't want to come here. From the time we won the lottery, his agent [Leonard Armato] made it clear he wanted to be in L.A. But we had to draft him. What else were we going to do?"
Fortunately for Williams, Shaq eventually came around. Of course, he didn't have much choice. The way the NBA system is set up, a player who gets drafted must sit out an entire year and not play professionally anywhere else before he can reenter the draft pool.
That's why Williams and most other NBA types believe Yi will probably be in a Bucks uniform next season. Or at least he'll be in some NBA team's uniform, depending on whether Milwaukee can get fair value back in a trade.
No matter how much Yi's handlers might want him in a bigger market -- and one with a larger Asian population -- they really don't have any leverage.
Some around the league, in fact, are applauding Harris for not being cowed by the demands of an agent, while acknowledging that he might have taken a bit of a risk.
"I thought it was pretty bold," said former Magic GM John Gabriel, now a scout with the Blazers. "They must have really, really liked him."
"They did the right thing," Williams added. "If he was really the guy they wanted, they should be applauded. They went with their gut and said, 'He's the guy and we'll teach him to like German food and bratwurst and 10-degree weather in January.' Yes, I would definitely respect them for what they did."
For Harris, of course, it's not about garnering the respect of his colleagues. It's about doing what he felt was best for his team. And though he probably wouldn't say it publicly, he no doubt feels it would be bad for the NBA to have a player refuse to play for a small market.
After all, what is the point of having a draft if players don't have to report to their new teams?
What if Greg Oden refused to play in Portland? Or Kevin Durant in Seattle?
"NBA marketing is not about [the size of the city]," Harris said. "It's a national sport. It's international. If you're a good player, that's the key. You will get [noticed]."
Harris no doubt has support in that thinking from David Stern and many if not all of his colleagues. Now he just has to convince Yi and his handlers.
Source: SI.com