NEW YORK - The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks has written to first-round draft pick Yi Jianlian requesting a meeting with the Chinese power forward, according to a newspaper report.

China's Yi Jianlian (11) during the men's gold medal basketball match at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, December 15, 2006. The owner of the Milwaukee Bucks has written to first-round draft pick Yi Jianlian requesting a meeting with the Chinese power forward, according to a newspaper report. [AP]

Yi, taken by Milwaukee with the sixth selection last Thursday despite indications he preferred playing in a city with a larger Asian population, has not met team officials since being picked.

"We're going to try to establish personal contact with him and his family," Bucks owner Herb Kohl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Web site (www.jsonline.com).

"I wrote him a letter (on Friday). I requested a meeting with him and his family. Our basketball people, our general manager and coach, we're all in the process of reaching out to try to establish a constructive dialogue with him."

Rather than meet Bucks officials after the draft in New York, the 7-foot (2.13-metre) Yi traveled to Dallas where he joined the Chinese national team for an exhibition game on Sunday.

Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said he would do whatever he could to make Yi feel more comfortable in Milwaukee.

Yi could return to the Guangdong Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association if he decides to shun Milwaukee although the Bucks would retain his NBA rights.