These days, former No. 6 overall pick Yi Jianlian is 30 years old and a punchline in NBA circles, widely considered to be one of the biggest draft busts of all-time. Ever since the Milwaukee Bucks selected him in the lottery over Joakim Noah in 2007, all Yi did was bounce around four different teams in five seasons, averaging 7.9 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game for his career. Exiled from the Association after an unspectacular stint with the Dallas Mavericks in 2012, Yi returned to his native China to play for the Guangdong Southern Tigers, his NBA dreams dashed and his professional career seen as a complete and utter failure. That didn’t stop the Los Angeles Lakers from trying to sign him this offseason, however.
According to a report by pro basketball reporter David Pick, the Lakers attempt to lure Yi away from China and coax him into a return to the NBA.
Damn, they really must have been desperate to use up that cap space. The Buss family’s attempt was obviously unsuccessful, and it’s a damning reflection of how far the Lakers have fallen both as a free agent destination and a basketball team. It’s one thing to strike out with LaMarcus Aldridge. It’s quite another to turn to Yi Jianlian, of all people, in the hopes of upgrading your roster…in 2015…and have Yi say no.
The Lakers wound up bringing the likes of Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, and Lou Williams into Tinseltown this offseason, which isn’t a bad haul at all. Nonetheless, the unintentional comedy of this pursuit of Yi is off the scales. Kobe Bryant’s disgust at wasting away his prime next to the likes of Smush Parker and Chris Mihm is well-documented. Just imagine what he would think of playing out the twilight of his career alongside an over-the-hill Yi Jianlian.
In fairness, Yi was putting up Chamberlain-esque numbers for Guangdong, averaging 27.7 points per game and 10.9 rebounds per game last season. Still, those numbers should probably be taken with a massive grain of salt, seeing as the CBA can make Lester Hudson look like LeBron.
The 2015 offseason will forever go down in history as the one where everybody from LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe to Yi Jianlian and probably Air Bud spurned attempts by the Lakers to sign them. Take a bow, Jim Buss!
H/T Hoops Hype
