Sporting News Reviews The 2007 Draft

[europa]

Interesting story in this week's Sporting News looking at last summer's draft and which players would go where. The article is broken up into four sections:

Would go higher
Would go lower
Mixed reviews
Hidden Treasures

The evaluations were done by one NBA GM and one assistant GM.

Yi is listed in the "Would go lower" section with the following writeup: As advertised, he's 6-11 with agility and a nice shot, but his dedication has been questioned. "I've got to wonder about someone who says they're playing this year to prepare for the Olympics."

[trwi7]

I know the money and marketing was a factor and everything but I really wish we would've traded Simmons and the 6th pick for Marion.

[DH34Phan]

I know the money and marketing was a factor and everything but I really wish we would've traded Simmons and the 6th pick for Marion.

Really wouldn't have helped us that much, as Marion is looking for a max deal.

I would have traded the pick for the 3(?) 1sts that Philadelphia was offering.

[trwi7]

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Really wouldn't have helped us that much, as Marion is looking for a max deal.

I would have traded the pick for the 3(?) 1sts that Philadelphia was offering.

I think if we brought in Marion for the SF spot we would be much improved over Mason and Simmons. Then instead of using the MLE to sign Mason use it to sign Joe Smith for a backup PF and that team is much better than it is right now.

[Neapolitan Buck]

I still have hope in Yi. But Al Thornton is awesome.

[europa]

I still have hope in Yi. But Al Thornton is awesome.

He's a better player than I thought he'd be. Looks like I was wrong about him in a big way.

[paulpressey25]

We've already placed the bet on Yi....so he's got to bring it next year.....I still think we'll be ok here.....remember, if Kohl traded Yi for those three Philly picks, we would have screwed them up. It's easy to pencil in the top three rookies available at those positions....we wouldn't have drafted them.

[fam3381]

Of all the things to question about Yi, his dedication really isn't the thing. The Bucks would be a better team if they all had Yi's dedication. Yi obviously cares a ton about being ready for the Olympics, but I don't see that as preventing him from working hard for the Bucks.

It's fashionable right now to rip Yi, but he's not a different guy than he was in December. He's tired, and he still has holes in his game that he had in December. It all comes down to next year IMO.

[DH34Phan]

He's tired, and he still has holes in his game that he had in December. It all comes down to next year IMO.

If this were the case, he shouldn't have started this season.

His 25 game stretch after his 29 point game, where he averaged 7/4 in 26 minutes, really hurt this team.

If it's all about next year, he should have been getting 15-20 minutes off the bench from Day 1.

[Ruben Douglas]

I know the money and marketing was a factor and everything but I really wish we would've traded Simmons and the 6th pick for Marion.

Trwi, this might be the first time we've ever been in complete agreement on an opinion.

[fam3381]

His 25 game stretch after his 29 point game, where he averaged 7/4 in 26 minutes, really hurt this team.

I'm sure if LK knew how things would have played out he would have benched Yi once he stopped producing. But for a long time he was outproducing CV. So he started. Makes sense.

If it's all about next year, he should have been getting 15-20 minutes off the bench from Day 1.

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I was referring to our ability to gauge his abilities. People can wear themselves out jumping off and on the Yi bandwagon, but I've never believed that we'd get a great feel for the sort of player he'd end up being until his second season.

He's 23 so he's not a young kid, but I think you have to give him a year to adjust to the NBA. And given his schedule over the past year I can accept that he would have some dropoff at some point. Seems like many people (I'm thinking of the media mostly) don't seem to remember that he's shown the ability to be a good NBA player.

[xTitan]

who said he is 23?

[GrandAdmiralDan]

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I think if we brought in Marion for the SF spot we would be much improved over Mason and Simmons. Then instead of using the MLE to sign Mason use it to sign Joe Smith for a backup PF and that team is much better than it is right now.

We would have been using cap space to absorb the difference between the salary of Simmons and Marion. So we would not have had the MLE or BAE. We would have had a couple million left of cap space I believe (I'll have to do the math again) but not nearly as much as the MLE.

[fam3381]

who said he is 23?

Most people who aren't the Bucks or Chinese basketball officials

[GrandAdmiralDan]

Of all the things to question about Yi, his dedication really isn't the thing. The Bucks would be a better team if they all had Yi's dedication. Yi obviously cares a ton about being ready for the Olympics, but I don't see that as preventing him from working hard for the Bucks.

It's fashionable right now to rip Yi, but he's not a different guy than he was in December. He's tired, and he still has holes in his game that he had in December. It all comes down to next year IMO.

Yi apparently also has a fairly serious wrist issue, according to Larry Harris on the Pro Hoops show. Perhaps that is affecting Yi more than is publicly known. His jumpshot, probably the best thing he's brought to the table his rookie year, has been off for a while, and maybe that's why.

[trwi7]

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We would have been using cap space to absorb the difference between the salary of Simmons and Marion. So we would not have had the MLE or BAE. We would have had a couple million left of cap space I believe (I'll have to do the math again) but not nearly as much as the MLE.

Whatever we pay him as much as we can and realgm throws him a pizza party.

[xTitan]

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Most people who aren't the Bucks or Chinese basketball officials

Has that been determined or ar people still speculating?

[fam3381]

Has that been determined or ar people still speculating?

I doubt we'll ever get 100% proof either way, but from everything I've read it seems like it's safer to assume he's 23 and not 20 (or anything in between). That's a major reason why I think his second year will be important, because I don't think he's young enough that his development will be a 3-4 year thing. I don't think anybody could go from China to the NBA without plenty of growing pains however, so to me a one year buffer seems reasonable even if he is 23.

Wolfley had a thing about how the regional equivalent of the social security administration in China has him listed as being born on the same day in 1984, and I believe this was also reported by CCTV, which is the Chinese state television network. There are also pictures of him in grade school where the dates make it highly unlikely he would have been at an age that would now make him 20. And it also suggests he was only 15 when he started playing professionally. Here's a video of a game from that season:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKXM5aJE1qk

But I've also heard stories about medical testing which suggested he was probably closer to 20, and then other stories about how his mom was still playing handball for the national team in 1984, which obviously would be impossible if she was pregnant. Hopefully he becomes good and we don't have to worry about it, but for the moment it's a relevant issue IMO.