Lakers Coach Luke Walton said that Yi wants more minutes than the Lakers have available for him. Lakers General Manager confirmed that the minutes Yi Jianlian will get were not in line with his ambitions and that the Chinese forward would be better off elsewhere, according to NBA.com.
Yi Jianlian played well in the Olympics and was seen as a good fit for the Lakers. However, since the Lakers have Julius Randle, Timofey Mozgov, and Larry Nance ahead of him in the rotation and were eyeing to develop young big men Tarik Black and Ivica Zubac, Yi decided to play in China where he is a star rather than fight for playing time in the NBA.
The 28-year-old Chinese star had a poor preseason where he saw action in just 10.7 minutes per game over six preseason games averaging 3.0 points and 2.5 rebounds and just 16.7 percent in 3-point conversions. Yi Jianlian, who was selected 6th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, signed a largely non-guaranteed deal with the Lakers in the offseason. He is hoping to continue his international career, CBS Sports reported. The Lakers did not suffer much financially since Yi Jianlian's contract was based on the number of games that he played.
Also waived was Anthony Brown, who was allotted 20.7 minutes per game as a rookie last season. Walton explained that with Nick Young playing very well and with the addition of Luol Deng and Brandon Ingram, there were not enough opportunities left for Brown, LA Times reported. The Lakers coach added that with Metta World Peace and Thomas Robinson providing them with the toughness they needed, Brown became expendable.
World Peace and Robinson were the last two who were kept on the team's 15-man regular-season roster.
