Yi Jianlian Discussion: Waive Goodbye

If it's just at $1.1M then I don't think this indicates any trades. It's just a stretch big off the bench with NBA experience. At that original $8M amount that could be true, or he may just be an expiring throw-in contract for the something that manifests towards the deadline.

 

Can you still do that? Wasn't that banned under the Aaron McKie rule?

 

Russell / Calderon / Huertas
Clarkson / Williams / Young
Deng / Ingram / Brown
Randle / Nance / Black
Mozgov / Jianlian / Zubac

I don't see why it would indicate we're making a trade. It fills the last roster spot for additional depth. It's not like there was another hole in the roster that now still needs to be filled.

His role is back up center against certain line-ups if he proves his worth. I think that more so than this being a Jeannie move to attract the Chinese market, I think this is a Luke move because he wants the versatility to occasionally use a true stretch 5.

Mozgov is currently hurt, injury prone, and even when healthy will play no more than 25 minutes a game. There's enough minutes to go around for everyone when you account for the fact that we'll likely have some injuries. I think throughout the season, Yi, Zubac, and Black will all get the opportunity to see who deserves the most minutes at back-up C, and they all provide something a bit different.

 

I don't think anyone thinks Black will play PF. He's an undersized center. So when they come out and say Yi is going to be a small ball five, it has me wonder who the odd man out is.

 

I don't want to go too overboard in defense of this signing, but I've always found issue with this type of argument.

I don't think we can make assumptions about Yi's mental makeup seeing as how he's been a nobody in this league who none of us have really paid attention to.

Like the one thing we know about him is that we were interested in signing him last season. It's quite a leap in logic to go from "He didn't sign with us last season" to "That must mean he's greedy/entitled and not mentally invested in working hard and contributing to a winning basketball environment".

We just don't know enough. Maybe we didn't offer guaranteed money. In which case it would obviously make more sense to stay in his home country to provide for his family as opposed to risking a lot on an NBA try out. And then it worked out because another season of good play in China ended up leveraging him into a guaranteed deal now.

 

trust me, I like Zubac a lot..... but I don't think he has the strength yet to warrant major playing time this year. The kid has something to him and is going to be a steal when it's all said and done but he does still need some time to develop IMO.

 

Black will figure in there too ....... just don't think Zubac will so much this year based on his age and strength........ Zubac is going to be a player and a steal at some point but I think this is a signing that gives them some insurance at the centre position.

 

Wrote a piece last night on the Yi signing, hoping we get clarification on the contract soon:http://www.lakersnation.com/making-sense-of-the-lakers-signing-yi-jianlian/2016/08/17/

For Walton this is a good thing since it gives him more arrows in his quiver. Yi at cemter is completely different from what Black and Mozgov offer.

I do feel for Black here, because he now has one more person to compete with for the backup center minutes.

I had also hoped that the Lakers could use their cap space to extract more assets via trade, as they did by absorbing Calderon, but those deals may simply not be out there right now.

Going to be interesting to see what happens with Nick Young, Zach Auguste, and any training camps additions now.

 

Xavier Henry....

 

Something tells me Jim pulled out his MS Powerpoint 2003 presentation filled with figures showing why having a Chinese player increases the Lakers' team revenue. Yes, the same presentation he pitched to draft Sun Yue and trade for Jeremy Lin

 

Maybe the FO signed him because they just think he's a good player. Not everything is because of impending trades,marketing, or position based needs.

Like I really don't think they're that smart and are thinking 10 steps ahead like the rest of you guys.

 

Hm...Stretch 4 with a decent mid range and some 3 ball who can't play D. The guy is like 35 years old...here in China he's still a star, but....I dunno...Better the Sacre and Kelly? Yeah...)

 

This is the kind of move that's going to help me keep my job!

 

Perhaps, but I will say people in China aren't going to buy his jerseys just because he's Chinese and got on to an NBA team. They loved Kobe because he was awesome and was the best in the league for so long. He's going to need a lot of playing time and exposure to generate revenue.

 

He is the most popular player in China according to several sources reporting this. He was carrying the flag for China during the opening ceremony. I think some jerseys will be sold. Get over it dude, there is a marketing aspect to this signing.