Yi

Jianlian

Unlike foreigners that have signed in China before him, Yi’s contract will include an out clause to return to the NBA when the lockout subsides. The special rules are specific to Yi because he is a local player. As an unrestricted free agent, it will be interesting to see what type of interest he drums up on the open market after he’s failed to make a sizable impression during his tenure in the NBA thus far.

This is potentially bad news for his new owners, who might have rolled with him for five games this week. He’d been playing pretty well, but the sprain didn’t look great, and he could miss time with the injury. Ian Mahinmi, Yi Jianlian, and Lamar Odom will pick up the slack in his place.

Yi was tearing up the D-League to the tune of 23 points and 12 boards a night through two games. Although he’ll never live up to his No. 6 overall draft status, Yi does have the skill set to be a decent bench player for the Mavs. He’ll likely start off as the third wing off the bench.

He has no fantasy value, but has resumed his NBA career.

Weijia cites his sources, and adds that the club is also looking at Delonte West as a possibility. The only American player on the team currently is James Singleton, although they do have Yi Jianlian as well. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Stuckey heading to China, as ESPN’s Marc Stein reported in late October that Guangdong was making a “hard push” for Stuckey.

Dallas has already stated that Yi will spend some time in the D-League, and he’s unlikely to come into any sort of fantasy value unless somebody gets hurt.

Williams will play on Sunday for the Texas Legends in order for him to get some sorely needed playing time. Yi Jianlian will also suit up for the Legends this weekend as well.

Yi’s still recovering from a knee injury and Williams hasn’t seen many minutes for the Mavs thus far. If Yi ever gets fully healthy and finds a spot in the rotation he could be an interesting player for Dallas. But as long as Dirk Nowitzki and Lamar Odom can walk, Yi’s not worth owning in fantasy.

While this is interesting news, Jianlian has constantly been injured throughout his career and will simply help Brandan Wright to back up Dirk Nowitzki once he’s recovered from a knee injury recently suffered in China. Unless you’re in an incredibly deep league, there’s no reason to make a move for Yi at this time.

The move would allow Yi to stay in shape and work on his game, and it doesn’t sound as though he’s likely to have a big role in Dallas unless someone gets hurt.