The Big Baby Talk!

[crownsy]

danny chasing another one of his white whales

What does "white" have to do with anything. He's not even white, and if he was what does that matter?

think he ment ahab's white whale.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

danny chasing another one of his white whales

What does "white" have to do with anything. He's not even white, and if he was what does that matter?

think he ment ahab's white whale.

Moby Dick, not actual race.

[Chris]

Reminder that as of today, Yi Jianlian is 21 years old. 

Allegedly. 

[Fafnir]

Reminder that as of today, Yi Jianlian is 21 years old. 

Allegedly. 

My guess is that he's really 23 or 24.

[Change]

Reminder that as of today, Yi Jianlian is 21 years old. 

Allegedly. 

lol, he will allegedly turn 25 in October. At 25 he's not "project". He is who he is...A bust! Sean Williams is the better prospect. At least Sean will protect the rim from intruders.

[Fafnir]

Reminder that as of today, Yi Jianlian is 21 years old. 

Allegedly. 

lol, he will allegedly turn 25 in October. At 25 he's not "project". He is who he is...A bust! Sean Williams is the better prospect. At least Sean will protect the rim from intruders.

Sean Williams is a local knucklehead who unless he develops a lot of maturity very quickly will be out of the league quickly.

Is Yi much better? Who knows, I think I'd rather just keep BBD.

[ToppersBsktball10]

The only people I'd take from New Jersey would be Lee,Harris, or Williams pretty much and we're probably not getting Harris or Lee

[billysan]

Reminder that as of today, Yi Jianlian is 21 years old. 

He is a 7-footer who averaged 20+minutes in both years of his NBA career in a league where most 19/20/21 year old players don't see the court.  His averages are a respectable 8.6 points and 5 rebounds.  Stats don't tell the whole story, but I don't see how anyone could state definitively (as some of you have) that he is/isn't a future effective starter in the NBA.  How often have any of you seem him play?  He is a kid and we know that kids, especially big ones, take time to grow into solid NBA contributors.   I can't believe that anyone has already made their mind up about him.  My guess is that NJ wants no part of BBD for Yi trade.  I agree that I'd rather have BBD for next year, but beyond the immediate future I would guess Yi would have the edge on upside.

Thank you NG, I am thinking along the same lines.(TP4U)

Also TP to BudweiserCeltic for the reminder about Richard Jefferson as the key trade piece on the other side of the Bucks/Nets deal. This is a good clarifier for me of his perceived value.

I would like to add that 'if' we end up with Yi there are two factors which have not been discussed. (I personally doubt we will get him)

1) He is on a rookie contract that has a team option for next year. If he doesnt work out, he is just as good as an expiring at the deadline. If he does, we can pick up the option and gain the asset. That's a win-win for me.

2) He has the opportunity to come here and learn from Clifford Ray which is huge for any big man. He also has the opportunity to learn from two very similar yet highly advanced bigs in Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace. Any young bigman in the league that cant take advantage of that scenario is expendable anyway.

So he ends up as the 4th big off the bench playing 10-12 mpg as long as everyone is healthy. He is a nice shooter and passer to boot and expectations are not so high.

[celticinorlando]

NJ seems to me to have nothing remotely good that could help boston..Yi has length has ZERO post game and is yet to live up to half the hype. i much would rather have baby and his SIZE off the bench...like having length in sheed and girth in baby off the bench..yi to me brings a whole lot of nothing...

williams brings a whole lot of crazy with him

[Casperian]

I guess we should ignore the first couple of years of Perkins, Bynum, CJ Miles, Al Harrington, and Martell Webster for example?

Exceptions to the rule. Most of these guys were still held in high regards by their coaching staff. Yi has already convinced two GMs that it would be better for their franchise to trade him, even though he´s basically a license to print money.

Fool´s Gold.

Which two teams have been convinced to trade him? The Bucks? Which else? He's still with the Nets. And don't forget that the Chinese were pressuring the Bucks to get him to a bigger market that's more accessible to the Chinese community.

And Yi was traded for Richard Jefferson, not for some garbage.

My bad, what I meant is that if he indeed joins us, then it would be two GMs.

Richard Jefferson was traded for Oberto after one season, that doesn`t look it was a hard decision for the Bucks..

[BudweiserCeltic]

I guess we should ignore the first couple of years of Perkins, Bynum, CJ Miles, Al Harrington, and Martell Webster for example?

Exceptions to the rule. Most of these guys were still held in high regards by their coaching staff. Yi has already convinced two GMs that it would be better for their franchise to trade him, even though he´s basically a license to print money.

Fool´s Gold.

Which two teams have been convinced to trade him? The Bucks? Which else? He's still with the Nets. And don't forget that the Chinese were pressuring the Bucks to get him to a bigger market that's more accessible to the Chinese community.

And Yi was traded for Richard Jefferson, not for some garbage.

My bad, what I meant is that if he indeed joins us, then it would be two GMs.

Richard Jefferson was traded for Oberto after one season, that doesn`t look it was a hard decision for the Bucks..

Pure salary dump. But that the Bucks traded Yi for someone like Jefferson shouldn't be looked as a negative against him. Should we hold trading for Garnett against Jefferson?

[zerophase]

I feel like at 25 you can still get better with proper training... Moon is serviceable at his age even though not being in the league that long. Yi can also help expand Celtics popularity.

[billysan]

I feel like at 25 you can still get better with proper training... Yi can also help expand Celtics popularity.

And culinary diversity.

[SCBirdman]

The bottom line is that if we do trade BBD, then we need to get back equal value or better. That does not include crazy people, Projects, or malcontents.

BBD is a solid NBA player. He proved his value in the NBA playoffs, the biggest stage in basketball. The guy can play. Sure, he has flaws in his game, but almost all players do. BBD is a great compliment to Rasheed Wallace with the second unit. Would I like it better if he was more athletic and a better rebounder? Sure, but if he has lost significant weight, then maybe he will be a better rebounder and team defender.

WOuld I like Yi? Yes. Is he as ready as BBD to contribute? Who knows, but he does have skills. Maybe we get Yi and Dooling, who is an accomplished NBA player.

[Neurotic Guy]

I feel like at 25 you can still get better with proper training... Moon is serviceable at his age even though not being in the league that long. Yi can also help expand Celtics popularity.

Not picking on you zerophase as others have alluded to his false age, but I'd like to see some measure of proof that his reported age (21) is not accurate.  Imagine -- if he's actually 25 they (parents, neighbors, coaches, teachers) would have had to have adjusted his age well prior to him being recognized as a professional prospect.  Since he was noticed at a young age (documented) -- his parent were both known athletes in China(handballers), when exactly did someone start shaving years off him?  Did he enter grade school claiming he was 2 when he was actually 6 (would they allow a 2 year old in school)?   He most assuredly was always big for his age -- did he claim to be a 6'8" 8 year old when he was actually 12?  It doesn't make sense to me that there could be much of a discrepancy between his real age and stated age -- he didn't grow up in obscurity.  I'd accept the possibility of a year, maybe 2 -- but not 4 years as has been suggested on this thread. He is still a very young player.