LAS VEGAS – Now we see why the 76ers tried so hard to trade for 6-foot-11 Chinese power forward Yi Jianlian on draft night. And why the Sixers are still keeping Yi on their radar just in case things don’t work out with Milwaukee, where he didn’t want to get drafted.
The Bucks have met with him and nobody knows for sure what will happen, but it’s safe to say that if Yi goes on the market, there will be plenty of shoppers.
Again, never make a full-fledged judgment on one summer league game, but it doesn’t take a life-long NBA scout to see that he can play.
“He’s pretty good,” said a 76ers official in the understatement of the day. Competing for the Chinese National Team, Yi scored 23 points and had four rebounds in an 86-77 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies during Friday’s opening of the Las Vegas summer league.
Now one could also point out that the had seven personal fouls (there is a no foul-out rule) and seven turnovers. All that proves is that he has plenty of work to do on his game, especially defensively.
And a bigger cynic would suggest that his team couldn’t even beat the Grizzlies rookies, so how much impact could he have?
Say what you want, but Yi has the offensive game already that wouldn’t have him out of place in many NBA starting lineups – including the Sixers.
And remember, he is only 19 (so he says), can run the floor, post up and shoot near three-point range.
No wonder some NBA teams had him rated as the third player in the draft behind Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.
No, we’re not ready to put him in the Hall of Fame with one summer league game, but it’s obvious he has the skill to prosper in the NBA. Whether he has the fire to compete for 82 games a year remains to be seen, but there are plenty of teams that would give almost anything to find out first-hand.
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Yi Would Cause Glee In Sixerland
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Marc Narducci is in his 23rd year as a sports reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 2007-2008 season will be his first as the 76ers beat writer. For the past two seasons, Marc had been the backup writer for the Eagles. Over the past few years Marc covered the NBA, NHL and Major League baseball as well as writing on sports media. Prior to covering professional sports, Marc was a long-time high school sportswriter for The Inquirer's South Jersey section.
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