Yi Jianlian Traded to New Jersey

[Liang]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2008/news/story?id=3462210

Personally, I am quite happy and excited for Yi. He gets to go to a place that: a) Has a huge Asian population (NJ/NY metro area) and b) Does not suck ass. Even though he fell off at the end of last season, he showed lots of promise in November and December. If he continues to improve on his shot and toughness, he should be a solid starter at the very least.


But from a strict basketball perspective, I do not think NJ got enough for a player of Jefferson's calber. They could have at least added some picks in there.

[minorTruths]

Imagine in 2010 when Lebron James signs a deal with the Nets. We all know Jay Z is good friends with Lebron.

The bucks in this year's draft picked up Joe Alexander, a forward out of West Virginia. He's their white Chinese version of Yi. Talk bout fetishes. Ha!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Alexander_%28basketball%29

[nightshade]

Article on Yi in NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/sports/basketball/09nets.html?_r=1&oref=slogin):

Counting on a 7-Footer to Reach New Fans

By JONATHAN ABRAMS
Published: October 8, 2008

Amid a bustling Chinatown in Flushing, Queens, Ken Niu is among the many only-when-it-is-convenient basketball fans. He catches a game when he can, but is not necessarily disappointed when he cannot.

A Nets promotional poster featuring Yi, who is in his first season with the team and his second in the N.B.A.

Niu is a target for the Nets, the type of observer who just may be lured to East Rutherford, N.J., for the first time by the presence of Yi Jianlian, a 7-foot forward from Guangdong Province in southern China entering his second N.B.A. season.

“It’s like having another neighbor,” Niu, 26, said through an interpreter, between bites of spicy beef tripe. “There’s one Yao Ming. Now there’s a Yi.”

Yi’s name recognition runs high, and people in Chinatown said they would go watch him, if time and funds allow it, but would not necessarily go out of their way to cross the Hudson River.

“In China, along with Yao, he is very famous,” Lei Li Henan, 43, said through an interpreter. “If I’m visiting New Jersey and have the opportunity to see him, I would because we are both Chinese.”

The Nets are hopeful that Yi connects with the nearly 650,000 Chinese-Americans in the New York area and beyond, reeling in a coveted new fan base. And like Yao, the Houston Rockets center, Yi carries global appeal in hailing from the world’s most populous nation.

Of course, Yao entered the league with a refined game, already a bankable star and a top overall draft pick. Yi, a 20-year-old lanky forward who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks, has not played a single game as a Net.

“He has to build a relationship with the community,” said Sunny Moy, president of the Asian American Youth Center. “Right now, everybody is more into Yao because Yi is still nearly a rookie. Yi is a good player, I’ve seen him play, but he has to donate tickets, connect with the kids in order to have an effect.”

Still, the Nets are carefully researching how best to reach their new audience in the most meaningful and lucrative way.

The Nets’ Web site can now be viewed in simplified and traditional Chinese, with nearly 30 percent of its traffic originating in Southeast Asia. Round-trip buses are being scheduled for games from Manhattan’s Chinatown to the Izod Center. And about 50 games are scheduled to be televised on China Central Television.

That approach is a bit venturesome. The lasting connection will be bridged only if Yi’s potential turns into productivity.

David Carter, the executive director of the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute, said marketing international players could be harder than branding American-born athletes.

“You can’t simply go in and market him to an ethnic audience just because he looks like they do,” Carter said. “The only way he has credibility is if he performs and carries himself well.”

The Nets acquired Yi along with forward Bobby Simmons in a draft-day deal that offered a special marketing opportunity and salary relief.

What it did not return was the productivity of Richard Jefferson, the Nets’ leading scorer, who was dealt in the trade. Brett Yormark, the president and chief executive of Nets Sports and Entertainment, said the deal was made to put the best team on the court, a place where Yi’s first priority should remain.

“We think we have a story to tell to the Chinese-American community, which we didn’t have before, but it’s not one that we want to go out there and exploit,” Yormark said. “We don’t think that’s the appropriate way. We’ve got to earn it.”

That is a concept Yi, who has been quickly assimilated into his new team, agrees with. There is no interpretation needed for his disarming smile.

Yi flashed one after Coach Lawrence Frank playfully offered to serve as Yi’s interpreter during an interview.

“He hates the coach,” Frank deadpanned once he assumed the role. “He doesn’t get enough shots.”

Don’t tell Frank, but Yi needs an interpreter only occasionally. Yi studied English in school and again before last year’s draft. His English is still somewhat limited, but like his game, it is rapidly developing.

“It’s a new opportunity,” said Yi, who takes his time to ponder each question before delivering his response. “A new start. New team. A young team with a lot of new players, and I really feel that we are ready for the season.”

It will largely be up to Yormark to walk that tightrope between expansion and exploitation. In an approach the Nets are looking to mimic, the Bucks tapped Yi’s global appeal among Chinese businesses with rotating signs courtside, with images televised to Asia.

Yormark recently returned from Shanghai and Beijing, holding 28 meetings in a five-day span with Chinese businessmen and witnessing firsthand basketball’s popularity in China.

The Nets are offering a four-game package aimed at the Chinese-American community for games against the Rockets, the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Rockets and the Lakers feature the league’s two other Chinese players in Yao and the rookie Sun Yue.

The Nets hired a multicultural marketing agency and are planning game-night promotions that include a night serving as Yi’s interpreter and a celebration of the Chinese New Year.
“It’s something I didn’t count on,” said Yormark, who added that he had talked with officials from the Bucks and the Rockets on how they had marketed Yi and Yao. “But something that has tremendous upside if done right. And that’s my biggest issue is just making sure we do it the right way.”

Entering the draft, reports surfaced that Yi yearned to land in just this type of large market. The Bucks selected him sixth over all and, after a lengthy negotiating period that included the Bucks’ owner, Herb Kohl, leading a contingent of team officials to Hong Kong, Yi finally signed. “He was a great talking point for all of our fans; people were certainly intrigued,” said John Steinmiller, the Bucks’ vice president for business operations. “With the Chinese community, we were able to get them excited and hopefully gain some as N.B.A. fans. Obviously the opportunity to do things different and possibly better are vast in New Jersey.”

On the court, Yi flashed some talent. Since entering the league, he has bounced from national team commitments to the N.B.A. Last year, he hit a wall of injuries and fatigue. He averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds a game.

Here, the players are bigger and stronger. The games are faster and come more frequently.

“China,” Yi said, “has never been like that.”

Yi said he was surprised by the trade that landed him here and denied saying he hoped to play in a larger market.

Through training camp, although Yi was hindered by a sprained ankle, Frank credited him as a quick learner. “I think Yi can be a very special player in this league,” Frank said. “He plays a position at the four spot and has the ability to stretch the defense with his shooting range, he runs the floor extremely well and I think he’s going to take that next step up.”

It is a next step that Yi and the Nets are both eagerly and gingerly looking forward to taking together.

[dage]

I look forward to watching him play :) He's shown flashes of brilliance during the preseason but he needs to get much stronger because he still relies too much on the outside shot. Also his rebounding is...eh... needs work :)

Still, I have to say that Yao renewed my interest in basketball after Jordan left the Bulls (it was too painful watching him as a Wizard).

And Yi and Sun are both making me more interested in it again.