Any hope the Milwaukee Bucks may have had at signing Yi Jianlian may now be eliminated. The Chinese National Team has said no Yi for you. I understand any concern over Yi's marketability in Milwaukee, but to suggest it's a bad situation because of playing is simply false. Getting drafted by Milwaukee may have been one of the best situations possible. Andrew Bogut and Yi play entirely different styles and positions. Jianlian has a better chance of winning the number 4 spot on the Bucks roster than the other teams he wanted to play for. As usual, this is strictly about Yi bringing the Chinese more money."This is not -- as media reports have said -- because Milwaukee, as a city with very few Chinese people, is not good for Yi's commercial development," Chen said.
"Rather we want to find a team suitable for Yi's growth. That's the root of the problem," he added.
Earlier in July, Yi's Chinese agent said the unsigned player was looking to be traded to another club, despite pledges by Milwaukee officials to do whatever they could to make him feel at home. Chen expressed concern that Yi would have trouble getting playing time with the Bucks, whose squad boasts Australian 7-footer Andrew Bogut and a number of other tall young players. "The national team and the Olympic Games are now our key considerations ... If [Yi] goes to a team where he can't compete, that would be being irresponsible to the national team," Chen said.
Despite the unreasonableness of Yi and the Chinese Team, the Bucks brass should have understood this would happen.
Source: (ESPN)










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