The Yi Era begins

Yesterday the Milwaukee Bucks were finally able to get their 2007 draft pick to sign on the dotted line. Yi Jianlian, the Bucks ill-advised first round pick, has finally agreed to suit up for the team that he had previous said he didn't want to play for. It made absolutely no sense that the Bucks would draft Yi after his proclamation and also the many statements made by the Chinese government regarding a possible hold out from their NBA prospect.

The Bucks took a huge risk taking Yi, after only being able to scout him based on his play against inferior competition in chinese leagues as well as home made video of the 6'11" power forward posting up on a chair during practice.

There's an odd sense that this isn't going to pan out perfectly for the Bucks, but at least they can say they're boasting a uniquely foreign front court with Yi and Australia's Andrew Bogut; a player who also happened to be a high draft pick with surrounded by tons of questions about how well he'll play in the bigs. Should be interesting to see how this develops.