CHI - Yi Jianlian, moving on up

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All year long the hype has been that Greg Oden and Kevin Durant will play one year of college ball and then declare for the draft. They are expected to be picked number one and two respectively. Both players have said they love college right now and would like to come back a second year to improve their game and compete for a championship

If this is true, then the top pick could be a variety of people with this deep draft class. For me, one player has come to my mind, and draft experts say this guys stock is rising fast: I am thinking Yi Jianlian, the 7’0, 230 pound Chinese frontcourt player. He is only 19 years old with a lot of skill. He can score from the low post, he has a nice fade-away turnaround jumper. He has an excellent mid-range game, he throws down impressive dunks, he can score in transition. Yi is a good rebounder, an ok defender, he can hit a few three pointers, and is a solid free throw shooter. He is just a gifted athletic player who is only going to get better with age.

The downside to his game is he doesn’t always put full effort on defense, he lacks focus and intensity at times, and he doesn’t always box out his opponents allowing them to out rebound him. Experts don’t expect him to become the next international superstar in the NBA, but he does have the potential to be a very impacting player, who will probably play power forward.

Yi averages about 25 points and a 11 rebounds a game. Some people say Yi is not NBA ready, others say he could go anywhere from the 7th pick to the late first round. But as more college players declare to stay in college, the better chance Yi goes higher. I believe he could be in the top five, if players like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Brandan Wright, and others stay in college. Yi Jianlian has been compared to Pau Gasol as a best case scenario and Channing Frye as a worst case scenario, but if that is the case you really can’t go wrong either way. As we get closer to draft time be on the look out for Yi Jianlian, all he needs is some time to develop before he does to NBA opponents, what he is already doing to his Chinese opponents.