Yi would be an awful, awful pick...

[DavidSomerset]

Let's first look at the competition he is playing against...

Brandon Crump, a 24 year old PF from the University of Tennessee, who had absolutely NO NBA future coming out of college is almost leading the league in scoring and is leading the league in rebounding!!!

27.4 ppg and 14.4 rpg!!!

Link

THIS is the type of competition Yi has been getting "pushed around in the post" against??!?!?!

A league where someone with no NBA potential (who is only a few years older than Yi btw) almost leads the league in scoring and DOES in rebounds???

And people want to try Yi at CENTER????!?!!?

Give up the pipe dream, if Yi gets pushed around in a league where Brandon Crump is the best player, there is ZERO possibility of him playing C in the NBA....Also, if yall want, I can post multiple scouting reports that say they have doubts he even has enough strength to play PF in the NBA...THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT A GUY WHO IS 7'1, 240 LBS...THAT IS PATHETIC!!!

Now that we've established he can't play C, let's look at how he does not fit into our team at all.

Yi is a SF/PF...Let's look at what we already have at those positions:

Small Forward:

Marvin Williams- #2 pick in '05 draft...Only 21 years old and already has 2 valuable years of experience in the NBA...

Josh Childress- #6 pick in '04 draft...Good "glue" player that comes off the bench...Plays very valuable minutes for us...We need his versatility and aggressiveness.

No room and/or need for Yi here.

Power Forward:

Josh Smith- 21 year old that just averaged 16.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, and 3.0 bpg...Sky is the limit with him...Enough said.

Shelden Williams- #5 pick in '06 draft...Had a bad rookie year, but was injured most of it...When healthy, showed the ability to get double digits in points and rebounds...Also showed he can play D when healthy.

No room and/or need for Yi here...Taking minutes away from Smoove is beyong stupid...

So, where would Yi play?? If he played at SF, he'd be put in front of a young player that has much more valuable experience and has near as much potential...If he played at PF, he'd be put in front of one of the rising stars of the league with almost UNLIMITED potential.

Putting him at either position would be taking steps BACKWARDS.

He could turn out to be a nice player, but I don't want to take a chance on a player that has played against such awful, awful competition and has no place on this team.

Our only real options at 3 are:

1)Trade the pick in a package to acquire a legit Center!

2)Take Conley, then use #11 and players for a C.

Yi is a jerkoff pick that solves absolutely nothing and makes none of our weaknesses any better.

If we take Yi at 3, trade HIM for a C, and not one of our own players that actually has experience and similar potential.

Conley or trade at 3, and I would prefer a trade.

[gutz]

It could very well come down to us taking Yi at #3 and then trading it to another team that can pick Conley for us. On Chad Ford's latest blog today he says rumors are swirling right now about teams wanting to trade up to take Yi. Were in a great position to make something happen here. Does anyone have Espn Insider that could post this latest article from Chad Ford?

[Johnnybravo4]

Who are these mystery centers that you are going to trade for? For the #3 pick you have to get a star caliber center in return. Teams don't give them away. Even if we packaged a couple of our wings we still couldn't get one. Since there are no centers available in the draft worth taking at 3 then you need to take the BPA. IMO that is Yi. This is especially true since the pointguard available are largely seen as interchangable. Even the agreed upon #1 pg Conley may be still there at 11.

So the only argument for not getting Yi is that we would have too many young promising forwards. That would be true, but it is a much better dillema than havin too many stiff centers if we pick up say a Pryzbilla in exchange for draft picks.

[DavidSomerset]

Hopefully BK's infatuation with him is just fluff to raise his value so other teams will give up more to trade for him.

BK needs to pump up the #3 pick to maximum value.

[Yeti]

Quote:

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It could very well come down to us taking Yi at #3 and then trading it to another team that can pick Conley for us. On Chad Ford's latest blog today he says rumors are swirling right now about teams wanting to trade up to take Yi.

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Based on the fact that every other team seems to draft better than us, maybe we should pay attention. If Yi is going to be that good (??), why should we accept more role players for this pick? (You know that is the BEST we'll get, no-one will part with a star player.) At least with a pick we have SOME chance of getting a future star.

[bumpyphish1]

you are wrong. So wrong.

[Diesel]

Aside from your occasional Boxscore peek, have you watched Yi??

This guy has skills that translates well to the NBA.

For instance: Height, Speed, hand eye coordination, balance, good footwork...

With these things as being his foundation, it doesn't matter who the competition he played against was... it translates into the NBA.

[Rexhawk]

Additionally, YI played with a bunch of scrubs in China. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith would take YI to the next level with their passing abilities.

[DavidSomerset]

Quote:

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Aside from your occasional Boxscore peek, have you watched Yi??

This guy has skills that translates well to the NBA.

For instance: Height, Speed, hand eye coordination, balance, good footwork...

With these things as being his foundation, it doesn't matter who the competition he played against was... it translates into the NBA.

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Yea, you can make just about anyone look like a superstar by watching their youtube highlight clips.

He could be a great player, but one thing I'm sure of is that you haven't seen him enough to make a judgement on that.

And it doesn't really matter if his skills translate, because if they do, it will be at SF or PF, and we don't need more young talent at either of those positions.

[Diesel]

One question Jdu...

Back a few years ago... When Lebron James was labeled the King by Nike... Would you have passed over him because all you ever saw him play were much smaller HS players? IF not, why not?

I think that should take care of that!

[DavidSomerset]

Quote:

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One question Jdu...

Back a few years ago... When Lebron James was labeled the King by Nike... Would you have passed over him because all you ever saw him play were much smaller HS players? IF not, why not?

I think that should take care of that!

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Let me put it this way...If I was just about any team EXCEPT the Hawks, and I had the #3 pick, I would ABSOLUTELY consider taking Yi, and depending on what my team looks like, probably would take him at 3.

However, we are the Hawks, we don't need a SF or a PF, it would solve nothing about this team.

[Sothron]

You can't be scared of drafting foreign players. This isn't the original Dream Team era where the best foreign competition was a guy called Oscar Schmidt. If Yi really does translate into a Gasol type player with possibly better speed then he's worth a #3 pick. Its no secret that teams are trying to move up in the draft to nab him.

[DavidSomerset]

His value to OUR team should go way down considering the personnel we already have.

[BusBoyIsBack]

You're punishing Yi because of his competition?

In that case, would you not have taken Dwight Howard or Lebron James out of high school?

What about Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett?

Would you not take Derrick Rose or Eric Gordon right now?

It's not about competition, it's about that individual player's abilities and it's pretty clear Yi has some pretty rare abilities for a player his size.

It would be a bigger mistake passing up on Yi than taking him.

The pros easily outweight the cons in taking Yi.

The three foreign players taken in the top 5 who actually got playing time overseas have produced. The two who have flopped have been guys who barely saw any minutes.

Yi's situation is with the former. I wouldn't bet against him.

[gsuteke]

Quote:

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One question Jdu...

Back a few years ago... When Lebron James was labeled the King by Nike... Would you have passed over him because all you ever saw him play were much smaller HS players? IF not, why not?

I think that should take care of that!

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LBJ was a 6'8" manchild playing the Guard position. if compared to anybody he's a Magic Johnson type player.

he's the epitomy of power blended with skill at his position. Yi has no power whatsoever. LBJ is the entire package. Yi is flawed, and unfortunately the flaw in his game is what the Hawks need the most. that's a misleading analogy.

[Gray Mule]

Almost every player on the Hawks roster has at least one

poster who "Hates" him. Whether it's how he plays, how

much money he makes or where he was drafted, someone

doesn't like him.

Same with any deal suggested here. Someone will "Hate"

the deal and what it would mean.

Draft picks, while still in the future this year, fall

into this same catigory. Mention any player available

at either #3 or @ #11 - - Someone here will "Hate" that

pick.

We can now "Officially" mark the Chinese Yi as having

obtained his!!

(Wouldn't want to alter things here and have someone feel

left out - not to worry - Yi is in!)