LAL’s Chinese connection

At 20 years old, he was picked by the Milwaukee Bucks at number six in the 2007 Draft Class that included Kevin Durant, Mike Conley, Al Horford and was selected before notable big men Joakim Noah and Marc Gasol.  Yi Jian Lian, together with Sun Yue (LAL), were the first Chinese pair to be drafted together by the NBA.   It was not until this year’s rookie draft that another pair from China were picked – centers Zhuo Qi (HOU, 7-2, 20 years old) at #43 and Wang Zhelin (MEM, 7-0, 22 years old) at #57.

Yi, as stated on his contract, was a starter for the Bucks and had demonstrated that he can play but a shoulder and a knee injury ended his rookie season, missing 16 games with averages of 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.  The following year, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets where he submitted season averages of 12 points and 7.2 rebounds.  Again, injuries hounded Yi, forcing him to miss 30 games.His tenure with new Jersey was his most productive during his five years with the league.

He was traded to the Wizards in 2010 but his contract was not renewed after one year.  Yi went back to China in 2011 and played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in the Chinese Basketball League.  He returned to the NBA in January 2012 and signed with the Dallas Mavericks and played full-time in practices, sparingly, if ever, during scheduled games.  Yi flew back to Guangdong and played there dominating the CBA, averaging almost 28 points and 11 rebounds with the Tigers this season until he was inked to a contract by the Lakers.

Yi has since bulked up and improved and obviously, Laker management were impressed with his performance during the pre-Rio exhibitions with Team USA and during the Olympic basketball tournament where he averaged 20 points and almost 7 rebounds in five losing efforts, leading all forwards in the Rio Games. 

He is an agile seven-footer with a soft touch from the perimeter and is a decent long range shooter with a 37.4% 3-point shooting clip.  Yi’s agility allows him to slash to the basket for lay-ups, dunks and tip-ins and is an ideal stretch four.  He could be a defensive liability when ranged against bigger and stronger players but with his length, he will be an asset on defending smaller guys.

He’s 28, at his prime and has some productive years left, barring injuries.  The Lakers offered Yi a one-year, bonus-packed deal with a base pay of $1.1 million, the league minimum for a player with a five-year NBA experience.  Depending on his performance this season, he will be receiving incentives of up to $6.9 million.  LA’s frontline is loaded and he will be competing for minutes with Julius Randle, Larry Nance, Jr., Tarik Black and rookies Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac.  Yi will flourish if the Lakers play small ball.  He could either be at the 5 or 4 spot, sharing duties with Loul Deng and Anthony Brown.  With the way Coach Luke Walton does things, Yi could be a revelation in a Laker uniform.

Only $250,000 of  Yi’s salary is guaranteed.  The rest are incentive-based as to the number of games played.  If Yi gets to play 20 games, he gets a $2.3 million bonus.  Granting that he becomes a regular part of the rotation and plays every game, he gets to 20 games on November 30 at Chicago versus the Bulls.  Then he gets a guaranteed salary of $2.6M by December 15.

Yi receives another $2.3M when he gets to play 40 games, the earliest will be on January 6 against Miami.  By then, his base salary would be nearing $500,000 and $4.6M in bonuses, totalling to $5.1 million.  He will be receiving another $2.3M when he reaches 59 games, and the earliest that he can enjoy his third bonus will be on February 24 when they visit Oklahoma. 

He was offered this much as several teams were also interested in his services.  It was reported that the Lakers were interested in Yi prior to the 2015-2016 season but he declined opting to stay and play in China.  The signing is low risk for the Lakers as the figures are based on Yi’s performance but management is banking on the positive side of things. 

Yi has made the Lakers a more global team.  He is the sixth foreign-born player to join internationals Deng (Sudan), Marcelo Huertas (Brazil), Jose Calderon (Spain), Timofey Mozgov (Russia) and Ivica Zubac (Croatia).  If we include Jordan Clarkson who’s half-Filipino, there are seven internationals in purple and gold.  I highly doubt if I will be seeing in my lifetime a full-blooded, natural born, bago-ong, galunggong and durian-eating Pinoy playing in the NBA.

This season’s Laker team will be coming out of the Kobe Bryant shadow and the myopic style of Byron Scott.  Coach Walton is having at his disposal young talents and a mix of veterans with slightly questionable contracts.  He brings with him to the Lakers good inter-personal skills and his positive impact during his stint at Golden State.  According to reports, the players and the team as a whole is responding well.  Yi in LA will boost some more the league’s Asian market, particularly the millions of Chinese fans who had been avid supporters of Kobe.

If  Yi plays like he’d been playing in the CBL, the deal is good for the Lakers.  He will provide veteran leadership in the development of Ingram, Zubac, Nance and Randle.  If things don’t go as projected, Yi can always go back to China and roar with the Tigers until he gets hoarse.