I thought I'd post this in the other Yi thread but I figured the story deserves its own. http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2008/06/08/going-after-yi/ <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I talked to a member of the Warriors organization. According to this person, ESPN.com’s report that the Warriors were in hot pursuit of Yi on draft night a year ago provoked “great laughter” throughout the office. Not that they don’t like Yi as a player, but they weren’t manuevering that day to get Yi. Here’s what I was told: No, they weren’t trying to get Yi when they traded Jason Richardson during last year’s draft. No, they aren’t looking to trade Brandan Wright for Yi now either. No, they aren’t looking to move Brandan Wright. Period. It must be noted that Yi’s camp, according to league insiders, does not want him in Milwaukee and would love for him to land in the Bay Area, which would be a perfect fit because of its Asian population. It also must be noted that if the Warriors really are desperate for Yi, according to my first-hand expertience with them, they would probably say they ARE NOT trying to trade for him. The reality is, you just never know what Chris Mullin’s thinking.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>It must be noted that Yi’s camp, according to league insiders, does not want him in Milwaukee and would love for him to land in the Bay Area, which would be a perfect fit because of its Asian population.</div> You think maybe they've put out a lot of these rumours?
Yeah I was scratching my head when I read that ESPN report that the Warriors mostly desired to trade Jason Richardson for Yi, but then decided Wright was some type of consolation prize.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (XSV @ Jun 9 2008, 12:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ill take Wright over that whiny b*tch any day.</div> They said his camp...not him let's be nice. (nothing against you, just I have an urge to defend my countrymen)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this definitely sounds all political. It sounds like Yi doesn't have the freedom that Yao has in telling certain people to shut up and let me play. I mean you don't hear "Chinese officials" complain about Yao being in Houston. Like that area has a huge Chinese population... Ah, but I don't know the facts, so I can't really go on conjecturing any further here. Something just sounds shady. It shouldn't matter where you play because most of the time you're on the freakin' road and then in the summer you're on the national team back in China! I'm sure Yi ain't the guy to blame here, but his idiot managers and the people that stand to profit from his name are probably the ones at fault. Plus, Dan Fegan is his agent. That's another red flag for me. I mean I love Sjax and Jrich, but generally I don't trust the dollar amount that Fegan proposes that his players are worth. Out of all his clients, I only appreciate the prices for Sjax, Jrich, Croshere, Rafer Alston, and Varajao. But that's only because those players had issues in terms of selling leverage (Remember Sjax's Indiana brawl, Alston's falling out in Toronto, nobody wanting Varajao's initial high price tag, Jrich was slightly overpaid because of lack of shooting guard skill but since he put up CONSISTENT star-quality numbers he justified his deal). http://hoopshype.com/agents/dan_fegan.htm
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Jun 9 2008, 12:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I thought I'd post this in the other Yi thread but I figured the story deserves its own. http://www.ibabuzz.com/warriors/2008/06/08/going-after-yi/ <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I talked to a member of the Warriors organization. According to this person, ESPN.com?€™s report that the Warriors were in hot pursuit of Yi on draft night a year ago provoked ?€œgreat laughter?€? throughout the office. Not that they don?€™t like Yi as a player, but they weren?€™t manuevering that day to get Yi. Here?€™s what I was told: No, they weren?€™t trying to get Yi when they traded Jason Richardson during last year?€™s draft. No, they aren?€™t looking to trade Brandan Wright for Yi now either. No, they aren?€™t looking to move Brandan Wright. Period. It must be noted that Yi?€™s camp, according to league insiders, does not want him in Milwaukee and would love for him to land in the Bay Area, which would be a perfect fit because of its Asian population. It also must be noted that if the Warriors really are desperate for Yi, according to my first-hand expertience with them, they would probably say they ARE NOT trying to trade for him. The reality is, you just never know what Chris Mullin?€™s thinking.</div> </div> That's what I heard on draft day as well. The Warriors weren't taking Yi, they were looking at Wright all along. I'm sure the Warriors had some insider information regarding who the other teams were picking and they were anticipating Wright slipping. If Wright was already chosen, they would try to trade Jrich for him. The next available big would be Spencer Hawes, Joakim Noah, and Jason Smith. At the time many people thought we were using our Marco Belinelli pick on Jason Smith since it was the logical choice for an athletic, tall power forward that could score. When we drafted Belinelli, I pretty much thought something was going down because it was like wTF? Why draft him because we got Jrich/Jackson/Pietrus/Ellis that can play shooting guard?
