Lousy news, potentially, for the Cavs, too, considering the mooted deal below is all about Jersey/Brooklyn acquiring expiring pacts in order to make a run at LeBron James. The Bergen Record’s Al Iannazonne is reporting the Nets are about to trade Richard Jefferson to Milwaukee in exchange for C Yi Jianlian (above) and F Bobby Simmons.
The move would give the Nets flexibility in 2010 when the free-agent class headed by LeBron James hit the market. Simmons™ contract expires that summer whereas Jefferson is signed through the 2010-2011 season.
According to one report, the Nets were in talks with Memphis to move up to five, but Thorn said the Grizzlies were talking to many teams and that nothing was close.
At the risk of descending to PurdueMatt levels of discourse: as a Nets fan, I fucking hate this deal. For the reason above (clearing cap space for a pie-in-the-sky free agent ALWAYS works), as well as because it’s the umpteenth Ratner-authored fuck-you to people dumb enough to cheer for the team he owns.
Still, I could hip Yi a couple of decent szechuan joints in North Jersey. All told, though, I’d rather not have to.
I always imagined Yi’s cultural experience of Wisconsin being somewhat akin to Bruno S’s in Herzog’s “Stroszek.”
And David, maybe Yi will convert to Judaism. Just think of the demographics.
Then he could eat Chinese food on the same night as my parents! Yes, it’s almost too perfect. There’s a thin line between Yi-pronounced-ee and Yi-pronounced-Mandelbaum.