[Bryant24Participant]

Yi Jianlian traded to wizards for Quinton Ross.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/06/wizards-set-to-acquire-yi-jian.html
http://dimemag.com/2010/06/breaking-news-yi-jianlian-traded-to-the-wizards/

the trade saves the nets $ 3million dollars and $30 million under the salary cap in hope of getting Lebron

[KU PRIDE14Participant]

I wonder how many times Quinton Ross has been traded in the last 2 years

[WizardofOzParticipant]

Well that’s an upgrade for the Wizards. They needed a big man another big man too.

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

Thank you, Nets organization, for getting Yi’s baby-soft big ass out of town.

[TRC1991Participant]

not only does this save money but it frees up derrick favors to get immediate playing time…i think this was awesome for new jersey Yi is a HUGE pus-sy

[juves4783Participant]

it’s funny to see how the free agents are affecting every team’s offseason. washington is really getting some helpful pieces. hinrich and yi, although not top players, are nba proven and really fill holes that washington had. both provide a lot of versatility off the bench. yi is pretty soft, but the guy fits wall’s game with his ability to shoot and slash.

i also think this is a fail proof plan for the nets to entice a power forward like bosh stoudamire to join if they are unable to sign lebron. or maybe they go after joe johnson or rudy gay and boozer or david lee.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Washington has made the interesting decision of using the desire of other teams to amass cap space to buy up the talent they want to dump. I think it could work out reasonably well for them. Wall, Arenas, and Hinrich can probably work in a three guard rotation in the way the Bulls worked Rose/Hinrich/Gordon or the Pistons did Billups/Hamilton/Stuckey. It won’t be a long term thing, but can work for a year before they dump Arenas or Hinrich (probably Arenas). Yi will never be as good as the hype from when he arrived, but can be a piece of a rotation. For the life of me, I don’t know why they didn’t chase down Miami and do whatever was necessary to give them more cap space to get Michael Beasley. Maybe they still will.

[Mr.Knick 32Participant]

The Wizards could go from a bad team to a potential playoff team.

I wonder if the Wizards made the 17th pick now. If they knew they could get someone like Yi for a scab, I wonder if they would have taken a shooter like James Anderson or even Damion James.

[ronniemiller1kParticipant]

as a nets fan, ill admit yi always seemed like he’d come around…i mean hes still young so things could change, but he never was consistent and he was way too soft rebounding and finishing…his boards came from just being longer than guys…definitely good for favors development, i guess this means hes sticking around and no chris paul

[NashyMingParticipant]

I am not sure seeing so many negative on this Yi trade from the Wizards fans.

Yi may not be a super star, but he’s a solid player. He had quite some good games and unfortunately, whenever it seemed he would put it together, he got injured and stayed out for a while.

In this deal, the Wizards got 3 million and a young player in Yi (even if he’s 26 already, he’s still young). This year would be the last year of his rookie contract, so it won’t hurt the Wizards in terms of cap space (@ 4mil, he’s actually worth the money).

They only gave up a scrub like Ross who won’t play a minute anyway. The Wizards are not going to make a run at any free agents or making big trade to acquire star players. They should be in rebuilding mode and keep collecting young players and picks.

Yi in Washington would also help market John Wall in the Asia. The Wizards can make a lot of money if they can turn Yi into a serviceable starter (which he is close to be already).

The Wizards frontcourt consists of Blatche and McGee who are both not franchise players anyway. Blatche is very talent, but he’s also a headcase. You just needed to see what Flip has to say about him last season, you can tell he isn’t exactly a chemistry guy. McGee is still raw and his character is also in question, but he can develop into a solid starter with some character adjustment.

If Blatche can’t get his act together, he might go into Flip’s doghouse, then Yi would be the primary big man on the team on offense. He can have a big season. I don’t understand why so many negative comments from the Wizards fans. Yi will likely start with Blatche and I expect him to average 15+ pt and 8+ rb.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

There is still a possibility that the Wizards will go after Michael Beasley because the Nets are also giving the Wizards $3 million dollars with this trade so the Wizards are making money and they still only have 11 players on their roster, so they need more players. Ted Leonsis has also said that the team will not make any marquee free agent signings so they are probably going to acquire all the young talent they want through trades.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

I agree with you realgmbakax. You can never go wrong with adding more big men and the Wizards needed more big men anyway. And Yi is still a solid player. He’s probably never going to live up to the hype that was given to him when he got drafted, but he can still contribute. He gives the Wizards some much needed depth in the frontcourt. The Verizon Center is also located in China-Town and Yi might help market the Wizards in Asia and China-Town and more people might come to their games which means more $$$.

[llperez]

yi is not tough or anything special, but lets not act like he cant contribute. He had a up and down year but showed great promise. He is a legit 7 footer with range. Great pickup for the wizards.

[arc1212Participant]

for favors possibly not starting…that job was just given to him with that move
probably the right choice as well…i still think yi could be good but it just wasn’t happening

[TRC1991Participant]

@realgmbakax

yi is 22 not 26…

[bvalliereParticipant]

kinda a big difference….

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

Yi’s age has always been questioned. IMO, if he’s listed at 22, then he’s 22. I don’t really care that much.

http://www.chinasportsreview.com/2008/12/20/yi-jianlian-proved-to-be-3-years-older/

[NashyMingParticipant]

I am just trying to point out that even if Yi is indeed 25/26. He is still a young player and he’s solid for what he’s paid (4mil).

From the NBA, he’s officially 22/23, but I think it has been pretty much widely accepted that he should be born in 1984 instead of the 1987 listed.

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