MILWAUKEE (AFP) - Talks continue between Chinese forward Yi Jianlian's agent and the Milwaukee Bucks, but general manager Larry Harris has no plans to visit China and meet with China's basketball leaders.
The Bucks drafted the 7-foot Asian star with the sixth pick in June's National Basketball Association Draft but have been unable to strike a deal similar to the one that brought 7-foot-6 star Yao Ming to the Houston Rockets.
Chinese officials have talked of traveling across the Pacific to meet with Bucks officials but Harris has no plans to visit China.
"It remains a possibility, but it's nothing imminent," Harris told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on Tuesday.
"We're keeping communications open, and that has not changed. There's an open dialogue with (Yi's agent) Dan Fegan that continues."
If the Bucks make good their pledge not to trade Yi's rights, Yi's only path to another NBA city would be to sit out a year, a prospect that would diminish his development ahead of next year's Beijing Olympics, an unlikely move.
"We're here to make it as comfortable and easy a transition from the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) to the NBA as possible," Harris said.
"We have an open invitation for Yi to come to Milwaukee to see what we have to offer."
That invitation includes Yi's family, his former Guangdong Tigers club owner Chen Haitao and Li Yuanwei, the CBA's chief. The Bucks must negotiate with the Tigers and the league to obtain Yi's release.
"We certainly invite him as well," Harris said. "We would love for him to come."
Yi averaged 24.9 points and 11.5 rebounds for Guangdong last season.