China

Bucks: Yi's group warned of taking him in draft

(The Salt Lake Tribune )
Updated: 2007-07-01 15:08

General manager Larry Harris insisted that he gave fair warning to the Yi Jianlian camp before the Milwaukee Bucks made the Chinese power forward the sixth overall pick in the NBA draft Thursday night.

Yi Jianlian of China speaks at a news conference as he wears a Milwaukee Bucks cap after being selected by the Bucks as the sixth overall pick at the 2007 NBA Draft at Madison Square Garden in New York June 28, 2007. [Reuters]

And Harris expects the 7-foot Yi to be in a Bucks uniform next season, although no confirmation came from Yi's representatives Friday. Yi's agent, Dan Fegan, did not return calls seeking comment.

"There were teams that didn't get in there, for whatever reason," Harris said of being denied the chance to conduct a private workout for the Chinese star in Los Angeles. "But his people knew that we could take him. We've been telling [Fegan] we were going to take the best player.

"They knew that. It's not a shock to them. It may be a shock to Yi himself."

The New York Times reported that Chinese basketball officials wanted Yi to play in a city with a large Chinese population.

But the Bucks think Yi wants to play in the league and eventually will be happy.

"I can go back to Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson and Joe Smith, and I keep listing off player after player that when they came to Milwaukee weren't really sure," Harris said. "They all wanted to come back; they all like it here."