Yi signs with Milwaukee Bucks

WASHINGTON — Chinese forward Yi Jianlian (EE jee-AHN-lee-AHN), has signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, the team reported on Wednesday.

“We were thrilled to be able to draft Yi Jianlian in June and are equally excited to sign him to a NBA contract as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks,” said general manager Larry Harris according to a statement on the team website.

Yi signed the contract in Hong Kong following negotiations with Chen Haitao, owner of the Guangdong Tigers, his former team. He is expected to join the Bucks for training camp in Wisconsin on October 1.

The terms of the contract were not immediately disclosed.

The Bucks drafted the 7-foot (2.13-meter) Asian star with the sixth pick in June’s National Basketball Association Draft but had until now been unable to strike a deal similar to the one that brought 7-foot-6 (2.29 meter) star Yao Ming to the Houston Rockets.

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