Yi Jianlian will "definitely not" play for the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper cited a Chinese press report quoting Guangdong Tigers owner Chen Haitao as saying Yi, the sixth overall selection in the June 28 NBA draft, is not a good fit for Milwaukee.

However, the owner insisted that the decision was made not because of Milwaukee's relatively small Asian-American population but due to concerns about playing time and development.

"This is not - as media reports have said - because Milwaukee, as a city with very few Chinese people, is not good for Yi's commercial development," Chen said. "Rather we want to find a team suitable for Yi's growth. That's the root of the problem."

But Milwaukee general manager Larry Harris and coach Larry Krystkowiak, who met with Yi earlier this month in Las Vegas, have said that he should not worry about his minutes - saying that he would share time with Charlie Villanueva at power forward.

Chen, for his part, seems more worried about how shared playing time will affect Yi's performance in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

"The national team and the Olympic Games are now our key considerations," Chen said. "If Yi goes to a team where he can't compete, that would be being irresponsible to the national team."

But the Bucks have not given up on the possibility of bringing the sharp-shooting big man to Milwaukee. The team has invited Yi, his family and Chen to tour the city and its facilities.

But it seems to be a lost cause for the Bucks, who drafted Yi despite the forward's representatives not allowing him to work out for the team at NBA pre-draft camps. At the time, Milwaukee insisted on selecting the Chinese star, calling him a "big piece of the puzzle."

(Agencies via CRI.cn July 18, 2007)