Yi to the Wizards for Ross

[Ed Wood]

Gogoplata and I believe it's used by the Undertaker.

Somebody has never had the pleasure of watching Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi. And the Undertaker's version is called "Hell's Gate" (I don't watch professional wrestling, I swear).

Ok, **** it, I'm bumping the thread.

[DCZards]

A big, strong body with a decent midrange shooting touch on a one-year year rental. I'll take that over Ross. And I'm not about to sweat not getting a second round pick down the road who probably wouldn' t even make the team. Good trade.

Before he was drafted, Yi's people said he needed to be in city with a large Chinese population. He ended up in Milw. Now, he's playing in Chinatown. Maybe Yi will finally get off.

[BanndNDC]

Now, he's playing in Chinatown. Maybe Yi will finally get off.

Now that it's gentrified he'll have to go out to Virginia for that.

[LyricalRico]

One more thing: this notion that Ernie didn't ask for picks. Just because you don't GET picks doesn't mean you didn't TRY for picks. What makes everyone so sure he didn't?

One function of boards like this is that people come on and make compelling arguments for things that are based on mere projection and speculation, and other people back them up and take those arguments to be gospel, and after a while a kind of group think prevails whereby that argument based on mere projection and speculation becomes truth. That's what's happened with all this BOYD talk. People have convinced themselves of what the market is.

Same thing happened with the draft. Folks convinced themselves that Booker was a reach, because the mocks all had Booker as a second-rounder -- and subsequently bashed Grunfeld for "overpaying." I heard this over and over again; it became the cliche of the post-mortems of draft day: "I like Booker, I just don't like what we paid for him." But the mocks are not reality. The reality is the reality. Mocks are projections made by outside observers. They're semi-educated guesses.

[Bickerstaff]

One more thing: this notion that Ernie didn't ask for picks. Just because you don't GET picks doesn't mean you didn't TRY for picks. What makes everyone so sure he didn't?

One function of boards like this is that people come on and make compelling arguments for things that are based on mere projection and speculation, and other people back them up and take those arguments to be gospel, and after a while a kind of group think prevails whereby that argument based on mere projection and speculation becomes truth. That's what's happened with all this BOYD talk. People have convinced themselves of what the market is.

Same thing happened with the draft. Folks convinced themselves that Booker was a reach, because the mocks all had Booker as a second-rounder -- and subsequently bashed Grunfeld for "overpaying." I heard this over and over again; it became the cliche of the post-mortems of draft day: "I like Booker, I just don't like what we paid for him." But the mocks are not reality. The reality is the reality. Mocks are projections made by outside observers. They're semi-educated guesses.

+1,000,000

I'd also add that there's a prevalent belief around every sports site I visit that every trade is a fleecing, i.e., since the Wizards haven't made any killings in their recent trades, it only goes to reason that they were taken advantage of. But the reality is that most trades in most sports are either one unexceptional player straight up for another, or one overpaid, aging prospect in exchange for cash, future considerations, a player to be named later, etc. This trade was by no means an exceptional one for the Wizards, but it doesn't seem fair for us to judge it based on fantasy of what NJ would have been willing to give up if Ernie had played hardball. We have no idea if other teams would have been willing to make a similar--or even worse--trade. If NJ or Chicago had become desperate enough, they would have found ways to sweeten the deals, but there's certainly no guarantee that the Wizards would have been the beneficiary. The best hope is you get something like Kwame for Caron, where the deal proves to be lopsided after the fact. I have no expectations for the Yi trade to work out like that, but at least the potential exists, however slightly.

That said, I understand everyone who dislikes the move because they don't see Yi as having any value. Statistically and anecdotally, he comes off as pure garbage. And as for establishing an international presence, I somewhat share the skepticism of those who don't see Yi as particularly useful in that regard. For now, though, I'm content in the belief that Leonsis signed off on this deal and at least saw it as something that cannot hurt the team (I mean, the guy's putting post-it notes on all the broken toilet paper dispensers at the VC. I'm pretty sure he has the time and the inclination to be informed of all trades). I trust Ted.

[montestewart]

EG always gets ripped off.

And I can prove it.

So there.

Booyah.

If there's no other significant additions up front, at least a second front of Booker/Yi/Seraphin might have the speed and muscle to allow Yi space to get a lot of shots off and cover for his weak rebounding.

EDIT: The more I think about it, a second line of Hinrich/Young/Booker/Yi/Seraphin sounds like it could possibly eventually be pretty good.

[montestewart]

I mean, the guy's putting post-it notes on all the broken toilet paper dispensers at the VC. I'm pretty sure he has the time and the inclination to be informed of all trades

It's great that he's signing off on deals, since he's the one with superior basketball knowledge and experience running an NBA team. Still, I'm a little worried if he's spending so much time on the TP front. He needs to be putting a post-it note on EG's head.

[Kanyewest]

Is Yi's rebounding that weak? I mean his rebounds per 36 minutes are almost identical to Blatche (8.1). But yeah, he is a bad defender and as bad is gets offensively. I wonder if Flip plays him some at small forward and maybe he serves as a long defender in zone scheme.

Still, there is some positive in trading Quinton Ross. There really wasn't any room for him on this roster and it wouldn't make sense for Flip to play Ross over Nick Young; which would be something Flip would be inclined to do even though the Wizards are rebuilding. But Yi certainly hasn't shown much in his first few years in the league and I would be surprised if he even shows value at an 8th man in the rotation.

[NOODLESTYLE]

I would say Yi's rebounding is weak because he is a weak player, strength wise. He's always had trouble against bigger and stronger players, even in China. Don't let those big games in rebounds fool ya, because a lot of those rebounds he got basically fell into his hands.

He absolutely can not play the 3, because he has terrible hands. Whenever he tries to drive in the post, he'll most likely get stripped. Now if he's improved that part of the game, then he would be a much more effective scorer. Also the way he scores is almost like out of a book, he's not very creative when trying to break down other team's defenses.

However, like people have said he's a scorer but he mainly takes jumpshots. He has shown improvement from his rookie season, but not to the point that he'll be getting 20 and 8 every game. He has a tendency to have 20 and 8 one game, and then 6 and 4 the next and in foul trouble.

The one thing that might be a plus for Yi that he has an experienced coach in Flip Saunders, then add a veteran PG in Hinrich and a upcoming John Wall.

Yi has been training over the summer in New Jersey and will be eventually playing for China in the World Championships.

[montestewart]

Is Yi's rebounding that weak? I mean his rebounds per 36 minutes are almost identical to Blatche (8.1).

Good point, though I haven't always loved Blatche's rebounding.

[sfam]

Well damn. Here I thought we were a surefire contender, but now that our #8 player is Yi instead of Ross, the season's done for...

Seriously, love it or hate it, this move really doesn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things. I'm willing to see a little bit of cap space taken up in order to take a flyer on someone who still has a very outside shot of getting better, over someone like a Ross, who really has no upside.

Sure, the most likely scenario is that Yi goes back to waiting tables next year, but I hardly think the "we could have had Beasely, dammit!" line of reasoning makes sense. We have no idea if we could have had Beasely. Sure, Yi will probably suck for us next year, but so would have Ross. And maybe, just maybe a lightbulb turns on in Yi's head, similar to Blatche last season. Again though, I'm having a hard time finding any real emotion to care one way or another regarding this trade.

[NOODLESTYLE]

Another problem with Yi might be because he's a introvert. Also unlike Yao, he doesn't have the mindset to work harder after a loss or a bad game, instead he'll just be down on himself. I don't think Yi really enjoys playing basketball to the point where his pride is on the line. He sort of reminds me of Elden Campbell, sometimes just depressing.

[doclinkin]

One thing I love is that all the moves of the offseason, good, bad or questionable have brought the absolute best out of our fellow boardmates. Caustic, sardonic, witty, well-reasoned, passionate, verbose, exacting... If this is what the addition of John Wall brings out of the fans, well shoo, it's gonna be a great career.

[20MexicanosIn1Van]

How do some of you figure we've used up all of our cap space? According to my calculations we have about 6 million in space after this trade.


Gilbert Arenas 17,730,694
Yi Jianlin 4,050,500
Andray Blatche 3,260,331
Al Thorton 2,814,196
Nick Young 2,630,503
Javale McGee 1,601,040
Kirk Hinrich 9,000,000
John Wall* 5,147,880
Trevor Booker* 1,204,560
Kevin Seraphin* 1,563,120
Hamady N'Diaye** 800,000

*Based on 120% of the rookie scale.
**Speculation

Sums up to 49.8 million. With the salary cap projected at 56 million, it seems to me that we have 6 million in cap space still.

[Benjammin]

^^^

I don't think N'diaye will get 800k, but otherwise your numbers look pretty good to me. The Wizards could sign two minimum type guys at 500k and still sign Childress (not that I am recommending that) for 5 million and then they'd be up against the cap.

[GhostsOfGil]

the ONLY thing i dont like about this trade is im afraid yi will be taking minutes away from blatche. if that dosent happen this really isnt that bad in my eyes

[Yi Jian Lian]

Screw Blatche, YJL is going to get a triple double with pride.

[dobrojim]

I'm largely indifferent.

Yi could work out OK now that expectations are lowered for him.
OTOH, he could suck worse if he gets selfish trying to play for a contract.

The aspect that most intrigues me though is that EG is enabling his
counterparts to overbid for this FA class. I like that.

OTOH, if the overbidding leads them to trade Gil for garbage like
VC or Curry because some team with huge cap room got closed
out of any big FAs they thought they had a chance for, then I hate it.

I think I need more information on what this leads to before
having developing an opinion.

I the more I had time to digest what they did on draft night,
the more I was willing to buy into it again with the proviso
that it doesn't lead to them unloading guys I like ie Gil and N1
unless they actually get something of real value, not some
overpaid guy who expires soon.

Yi is probably better than his stats say simply because they
say he's really really bad. If the stats do turn out to be
accurate, then he's still only an 8th man, or lower.

All that said, I was hoping they re-sign Singleton. To me
he was an ideal 4th big. Their picks at the 4/5, Sera/Hammy,
will surely have growing pains that Singleton has already gone
through.

If we keep Gil, I'm not convinced we can't be a 5-8 seed but
that will depend a lot on McGee and how good Wall is this year.
I may be completely off base. That said, I was far from the most
optimistic last year in the W-L prediction. I had good company.

[dangermouse]

Yi is useless.

Unless Blatche's injury keeps him off the court longer than expected, and Seraphin doesnt come over this season, then where is he going to get minutes?

We should have at least got a second rounder and some scrilla in this deal for helping a team in the same confrence possibly sign a max player. A first rounder was the standard set in the Hinrich deal. Hinrich > A Broom with a paper plate pinned on it and a smiley face drawn on the plate > Yi Jianlian.

I warmed to the Hinrich deal. I dont know how the hell i'm supposed to warm to this one. You dropped the ball EG. After the Hiney deal and the move to get Booker, I thought he was all about getting tough, defensive workers? Did we need a soft seven footer as a yin to their yang?

The only positive i see is that it gives Blatche, Booker and Sera a 7ft tall punching bag to go at in training, give them a confidence boost.

[hands11]

The Wizards were not going to be players in free agency this season and should they choose to move Hiney and let Thornton and Yi exprire - they'd have max cap space again next year. They still have cap space for smaller BOYD deals but now will have 2 expirings to use. The Wizards still need talent and are 3 years away from even considering the playoffs.

You are the second person to make this argument. It doesn't make any sense. Expiring contracts are less valuable than raw cap space. If we want to make a move in the future, we'd put together a better package if we could offer to absorb bad salary outright, rather than to give back another expiring contract.

There is no silver lining. This is an utter waste of cap space. I'll cede that it's possible that EG shopped around elsewhere and could find nobody willing to give us picks for cap space, so he defaulted to this. But in that scenario, the prudent move would have been to do nothing and wait until the Trade Deadline to see what teams became desperate to dump salary.

Doesn't the fact that we used our exemption change that ?