One day after Chinese center Yi Jianlian signed contract with
the Milwaukee Bucks, the attention of Chinese fans was attracted
back by the domestic league.
The Chinese Basketball Association league (CBA) will announce a
list of short-term transfers for the upcoming 2007-08 season on
Thursday, with a couple of uncertainties supposed to be settled
down in a week.
Mengk Bateer, former San Antonio Spurs center, was reported to
sign a 4.2-million-yuan (about US$555,556), one-year contract with
Xinjiang Guanghui.
The Beijing Ducks, which Bateer served in 2005-06 season,
claimed having the reserved right of the center though he didn't
play for the Ducks last season.
Two sides are negotiating over the issue with Xinjiang having
the advantage of the transferring rules.
The Zhejiang Cyclones announced its squad for the new season,
only finding that the head coach Jiang Xingquan was also on the
list of Xinjiang's squad.
Jiang, former national team head coach, joined the Cyclones last
season and had one year remained on the contract. Rumors said he
signed another two-year contract during the offseason with
Xinjiang.
Beijing Aoshen is planning a comeback to the CBA after a
two-year ban for refusing to release its players to play for the
national team.
The team wanted to move the home court to Macao of China, which
could be turned down by the CBA. The move could hinder its comeback
as some CBA teams criticized the league for welcoming Aoshen
back.
Former Miami Heat forward Wang Zhizhi received an invitation of
Italy's Benetton team to play in the European league next season
after his eye-catching performance in the national team this
summer.
The Bayi Rockets is unlikely to let him go as it won the title
last season, the first time in the past four seasons.
Bayi's assitant coach Liu Yudong could return to the league as
his home team Fujian SBS invited him for a one-year spell.
The Rockets is also involved in a law suit on its new comer,
Wang Lei.
Wang was transferred to the Rockets during the offseason by
Henan team, but Shanxi Zhongyu, whom Wang played for last season,
claimed the right of the forward and suited Henan for the illegal
transfer.
The league halted the registration of Shannxi Dongsheng's squad
as rumors said the club sold the team to the Venetian
Macao-Resort-Hotel, which has the biggest casino in Asia.
The 2007-08 season will be the shortest one in the CBA history
as it will end in February.
The Chinese national team will start the training camp earlier
than before preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which is
to start on August 8.
"We are working on all these issues and hopefully we could solve
the problems at the end of next week," said Hao Guohua, director of
the CBA league office.
(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2007)