Buried in the trade news of the day (Macro going to Canada) was that the Los Angeles Lakers release swing man Sun Yue. In my opinion Yue makes for an intriguing prospect and one that I think the Warriors should explore signing. Now, it is completely fair to argue that this guy amounted to a whole lot nothing for the Lakers logging just 28 minutes in 10 games. Mind you that he missed most of the 1st half of the season he was out with mono. At 6'9" 215 lbs, Yue is a slender SF, however his ball handling skills and court vision allow him to play both SG and PG at times.

Here is the DraftExpress.com hype on Yue prior to the 2006 draft:

Strengths
Yue is a very unique player in this draft, being a very long 6-9 international who shows legitimate point guard skills. Watching him move with the ball in his hands, its hard not to be impressed by the talent he shows. Strongly favoring his left hand, Yue is a remarkable dribbler with his good hand, while improvable with his bad one.

Already an excellent passer, he takes advantage of his size to see the entire floor thanks to his impressive court vision. Displaying solid athleticism, he slashes well to the hoop with a good first step, primarily looking to dish the ball or sometimes finish with an elegant finger roll. He plays under control and appears to have an excellent feel for the game, being highly unselfish, almost to a fault at times. The game looks very easy for him, particularly playing in the minor leagues. Defensively, he is capable of getting in the passing lanes, pulling down rebounds and even blocking some shots on occasion, being a true stat-stuffer for his team.

Weaknesses
Yue looks far from becoming an adequate shooter. He doesn’t show any reliability, delivering awful jumpers from time to time, and his mechanics don’t look particularly consistent, and he has a fairly slow release. He needs to develop more of an in-between game, particularly a pull-up jumper. He has a tendency to go left almost exclusively when driving to the basket.

The biggest problem for Yue is his position on the court. He’s probably not quick enough for a point guard and he doesn’t have the shooting touch that you look for in a wing. He picks up his dribble at times and suffers from intense pressure he occasionally sees from smaller and quicker guards. He also needs to add some bulk to his skinny frame. Defensively, there are concerns about him whether he’s playing the point or small forward. He has a tendency to be a little too passive at times, passing up scoring opportunities and not being quite as dominant offensively in a league where he is always the most talented player on the floor.

Competition
Yue plays for a Chinese team that migrated to the American ABA, a semi-pro minor league that is now a shadow of what it used to be 20-30 years ago. He puts up excellent numbers in this competition. He has some experience internationally with the Chinese national team, but has been inconsistent playing with them.

And Nba Draftnet's profile of Yue says:

Strengths: Has the size that the NBA covets at the point guard position Ball handling ability is superb. He uses a number of crossovers and between the leg dribbles to get separation from his defender Unselfish player who has a pass first mentality Owns above average court vision and has improved on controlling the tempo Excels at creating scoring for his teammates off the drive and dish Possesses three point range on his jumpshot For his height, has great mobility and leaping ability Is an excellent finisher and can dunk with flair Size creates mismatches as he can shoot over most guards . Defensively he does a good job of using his long arms to disrupt passing lanes and block shots Despite a tendency to be out of position, Yue makes a solid contribution rebounding the ball Does a great job of pushing the ball up the court on the fast break

Weaknesses: Still lacks upper body strength which would benefit him greatly on both ends of the floor Must continue to improve on his lateral quickness as quicker guards can give him trouble At times he fails to protect the ball, especially when going for the spectacular play Perimeter shooting has shown improvement but still remains a work in progress, particularly his shooting mechanics Yue must improve on moving without the ball as he has a habit of standing around Lacks the post moves to take full advantage of mismatches Defers too much to his teammates and can be unselfish to a fault Mid range game remains underutilized, either he drives or shoots the three. There is no in between jumper Struggles to maintain his dribble when pressured by quick and aggressive defenders It remains unclear what position he will play in the NBA: Hes slow for the point guard position and lacks shooting ability for the two guard

In D-League he put up decent, but not great numbers playing mainly SG and SF. His pre-draft measurables were as follows:

Again, not great but not terrible either. I think that Yue would be a great gamble for the Warriors for several reason. First, after been bought out for 1.5 million by the Lakers we should be able to sign him for close to minimum. Second, it would be a nice PR move for the organization and might help drum up some interest for the causal no-nba fan in Bay Area. Third, he'd offer us something that Nellie loves a mis-match that can handle the ball on perimeter.