Well I knew he was working out in the US for almost a month. I've been checking here and there and this is the first video I've found. Nothing much but at least he speaks some english. At the very least, it looks like he has a lot of potential.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyADXpenxzU

He would be a nice pick from the sounds of it, but he would not fill our biggest need. We need a back to the basket big man to open up the floor a bit.

Everyone thinks that is what we need but maybe what we really need is just someone at the 4/5 who can create their own shot. Our offense is already pretty good. Yi looks like he can hit the jumper, he can beat his man off the dribble and he has a decent post fade away. Not to mention those 3 areas will only improve as he plays in the NBA. That's 3 areas he is better at than what we currently have. PJ can hit the jumper but he's not much of a threat to beat his man off the dribble.

Anything is better than what we have. If Yi can consistently hit that fade away jumper, beat his man off the dribble, or hit the open jumper he's going to get a lot of attention on the floor. Much like Dirk Nowitzki. How wouldn't that be what we need?

Consider him a Super Sonic.

I like the fact that hes only 19 but have never liked the idea of drafting foreign players because you never you what your going to get. If he can play the post then Id be fine with it, if not I dont see the point since Deng is our SF.

I love Deng, but if you get Durant do you keep Deng and Durant? Can Durant play the 2 or the 4? I really don't think he can. I think he's a for sure 3. I like Durant way more than Deng as a scorer and creating his own shot.

The outside shooting is not the problem, at all, what-so-ever. The Bulls problem all year long has been they have no one who can play on the inside and get points in the paint when the jumpshots aren't falling. Adding another jumpshooter does nothing to change this, no matter how well he shoots. Detroit really exposed the Bulls for that exact weakness. Eventually someone has to score on the inside, or this will never be anything better than what we saw this year.

Durant can play the four. He just needs to put a little muscle on his bones. Not interested in Yi at all. I would rather have Horford/Hawes/Wright/Etc.

I doubt Yi will still be on the board when it comes around to our pick. Unless a miracle happens and we move up ahead of pick 9

I think he can play the four spot, he is taller than horford another big man in the draft and can shoot. If he bulks up a bit he could play down low.

Well, since the Yao comparisons are bound to start somehwere, he looks so fast compare to Ming, or most people of that height.

Good article on Chad Ford's man crush with Yi. I just wish I was there to see it all in person.

"The dude can play," Young chimed in. Then, with a wide grin, he proudly declared he had dunked on Yi in a workout. "When you see him play, you'll know how impressive that is."Different gym, same buzz. At the Home Depot Center, trainer Joe Abunassar interrupted a discussion of the players he's training to say, "Wait until you see Yi. There isn't a drill I could come up with that Yi couldn't excel at."Noah was giving love, too. "Where did that guy come from?" Noah asked when I asked him about his workouts with Yi.

He got great elevation on his picture-perfect jump shot -- high release, elbow in, nothing but net from both inside and outside the 3-point line.Nevada's Nick Fazekas, a draft prospect known for his shooting stroke, followed suit on the set shots, but started to lose ground to Yi once the players moved to shooting off the dribble. For Fazekas, the accuracy started to waver a bit. The needle didn't move for Yi. And Noah? His shaky jumper found the basket, but his form looked even worse when he was matched up in shooting drills with Yi and Fazekas. Yi handled the ballhandling drills with the same aplomb. He got low to the ground, showing impressive balance and control on spin moves to the basket. Fazekas could do some of that too, but at a pace far slower than Yi. Noah kept up the pace with Yi, but without the consistency. Noah was all over the place, for both the good and the bad.

I had to change angles to make sure it wasn't an optical illusion.As Yi finished at the rim, his elbow was often at or just below the rim. His elbow. Whether he kissed the ball high off the glass or finished with a dunk, his explosion off the floor was impressive. Not impressive like Tyrus Thomas, mind you. But for a 7-footer, he could really explode.

Purely in terms of talent and tools, I have no doubt he's the third-best prospect in the draft.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?
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...&id=5317419://http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?
...&id=5317419

I really hope we get Yi by either trading up. He's going to want to play for a big market team and Chicago is definatley that. I don't think he or China will be too happy with him landing in Memphis.

memphis is almost a lock to take horford, not Yi

Yi is a lot like pau, versatile, lanky, a ? on D, and therefore pau is better suited to go with horford, whos more beast like and a better defender

if we want yi, and we want yi, we need to trade up to 5. Atlanta is going to take brandan wright or mike conley, and memphis is going with horford

would we trade BG and $9 for Yi? I'd rather give up noc, but oh well.

I would. He isnt the prototypical post scorer, but he DOES score in the post, and talent wise he has the highest ceiling after the big two. He has enough post moves, but because he is such an athletic, versatile 7fter, he is welll suited to play in our up tempo, pick and pop offense. Much better than someone like hawes.

Just think of the versatility of a front line in a few years with yi tyrus and deng

I really want a veteran, but if we stay in the draft Yi could mean a decade of Bulls-blazers finals.

We would HAVE to move up to get him... the question I have is... will he be capable of helping this team considerably in 2007-08?

Right now, thats the only season I care about.

Id think we would have to give Boston our pick this year and someone like Thabo. And assuming Hawes will be there at 9th I dont know if id really want to part with Thabo. We will see what happens i trust Paxson 100%.

Agreed.

I just got done reading that Yi is only working out for certian teams, because he doesn't want to go to a bad team. He is trying to force his situation.

apparently the teams we wants to go to that have shown interest in him is a very short list

1-us
2-Golden state

that's what i keep reading

Yep that's what I'm hearing. For a while I was hearing Danny Ainge in Boston was keen on Yi, but now he's leaning more towards Corey Brewer, who is a safer pick. I could definitely see the Bulls trying to move up to snag Yi. He is a high risk/high reward pick, but he has that star potential nobody on the team save Tyrus Thomas has, and that is exactly what the Bulls could use. With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh poised to battle for the East crown for the next 10-12 years, the Bulls are gonna need some star power to fight with them. They most likely are not going to sneak a title out like the Pistons did versus the Lakers. That was luck most of all because their opponent was fighting with themselves more than against the other team. I don't see that happening again.

between the second round picks, the number 9 pick, and a sign and trade with nocioni... how far do you think they could move up?

I would be very surprised if it was up to more than 7, maybe 6, and the players would probably have to fall right. 2nds just don't have a whole lot of value, and Noc with an inflated salary wouldn't have a whole lot of value to most of those teams, especially coming off that foot injury. Plus that team would have to have cap space, otherwise they'd have to give up someone else of value to at least get close to Noc's total. I'm sure the teams in the top-5 would be asking for Thabo or Tyrus a lot more.

Also, I don't think they can sign Noc until after the draft (obviously meaning they couldn't trade him at a higher value, possibly at all). Am I wrong?

I think the other issue is that the talent level in this particular draft is so high that no team really wants their fans to see them backing away from it when they can get a top level player with that pick.

well if we get him we are pretty much guarenteed that he'll be in the allstar game lol

That's for sure. It also probably guarantees Deng and Gordon a spot as well b/c we'll have a 1/5 of the world voting for them. However, I'm assuming that even Chinese people are smart enough to realize Kirk doesn't belong in the all-star game.

Obsess much? Damn did Kirk kick your dog or something?

Thabo's not going anywhere. The Pistons exposed the glaring weakness of us having small guards. I think Pax considers Thabo part of his future. I think Yi would be GREAT pick if it means moving up and dealing Duhon and his expiring contract along with Noc and our pick.

I wouldn't call it a glaring weakness... most teams in the east don't have the horses to exploit it... just detroit and new jersey.

the hawks might draft Yi at 3, just read it on si thruth and rumors

God, that would be incredibly stupid. Just what they need, an athletic tweener that needs to bulk up a bit to play inside when they have glaring needs at PG and inside. I got nothing against Yi, and there's a distinct possibility that he's the 3rd best prospect, but Horford and Conley make SOOO much more sense for them...

I think they are trying to punk someone into giving them a PG to trade up to the #3 pick.

I hope so for their sake. If they were to pass on Horford/Conley and take Jianlian, that would be an awful pick. I don't even care if Yi was to turn into some badass All Star player, they don't need that type of player. They need someone to run the team from the PG spot, and Conley seems like a no brainer. Unless, of course, they believe Acie Law can do the same job and be had at 11. In that case, they should take Horford, though I really hope he ends up in Memphis.

No. Maybe they really like Yi. They have the parts to trade for most PG's in this league. Also, Bibby and Billups are free agents and Atlanta does have a lot of cash laying around. There is no reason to think they couldn't make a trade or a big free agent push to address what they really need. A PG.

However, adding Yi would make someone like Marvin Williams expendable. Their key future parts are Josh Smith & Joe Johnson. Childress and Williams are nice but Williams needs to really show something next year or else he's not really what I thought he would become. Josh Smith is a walking stat sheet. A Zaza/Yi/Smith/Johnson/Billups(or Bibby) lineup would be pretty exciting out east.

eddog is probably right, i think the hawks are serious about Yi, there are lots of FA guards to go around.

Everything on ESPN points to the hawks giong with horford...making shelden williams basically traded or a ghost

so much for hawks at 3 Yi dropping past bulls to sixers at 12



what happened?

I read that too. The 76ers went out to see Yi workout and were impressed. But their GM still doesn't think he'll drop that far, just as Yi's agent told him. It is a possibility though. The only way I see him getting past the Bulls is if Horford falls. That's it.

With the 21 and 30 THe sixers have the pieces to move up to the 6-10 range perhaps.

Wouldnt the Twolves do #7 for Korver, 12, and 21? Mchale's an idiot, right?

Doesn't work financially. You cant trade a player for picks in the NBA unless both teams are under the cap.

Id be so pissed if Yi fell to 9 and we took Noah. I could understand with Hawes even though im not a huge fan but with Noah id be downright pissed. And to make it worse I always disliked Noah so it would be a guy that would be tough to root for.

The Sixers also are a team that could trade up with their two additional first rounders. If they really like Yi (or another player that looks like they'll fall in the 4-10 range for that matter) they probably have the ability to do that.

I don't think I would though if I were them, one of the small forwards (Thornton, Wright, Green, or they could grab either Young if they want them, who should both be there) are likely to be there at #12, which would be a pretty good fit.

The Bulls, not the Sixers need to be the ones desperate to get Yi. They should consider trading the 9 and anyone not named Gordon/Deng/Hinrich/Wallace/Tyrus/Sefolosha. Duhon, Sweetney, future picks or the 2nd round picks plus the 9 should be able to move us up a couple of spots.

Just get it done Paxson! I beg of you!

hey hey

is Philly wants to move up i'd do

#9 for #12 and #21

Then maybe we take jason smith at #12 or even noah if he drops (quite possible) and then the big baby glen davis at #21. Or even just take the best available if someone slips a la danny granger.

Suns looking to move up to pick Noah, possibly with Boston at #5.

in the new espn mag, it has the bulls taking julian wright

yeah saw that too, that was really dumb. but they had the bulls trading him and someone else (cant remember) for randolph, i dont know about that either.