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"He was shocked," Harris said. "I told him several weeks ago that we're going to take the best player. ... We think he's one of the best players and if he turns out to be the best one at six, we're going to take him."
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Fegan did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Yi said the Bucks never watched him workout in China, either, but Harris said that wasn't accurate.
"We felt comfortable from our standpoint, we did not need to go out there to confirm or deny our own feelings about Yi as a player," Harris said of the Los Angeles workout. "We spent a week in Qatar to see him play. ... We saw him in Japan for the World Championships. We saw him in the Olympics two years ago. We've been to China. We've estimated we've seen him over 20 times in the last four years. Rest assured, we know him."
Fan reaction at the Bradley Center, where the Bucks play, was mixed - with about half the crowd standing and cheering.
His English is basic, but better than Yao Ming's when he was picked five years ago. Yi has been in the United States for several weeks adjusting, and unlike the three Chinese who played before him -- Yao, Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer, he was on hand to witness his selection.
"I played for a national team for a couple of years, I think I'm ready," Yi said immediately after the pick.
Yi has a deft shooting touch from the wing, soft hands and an athletic body in the mold of Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies. But some teams shied away from him because of the influence to put him in a large Asian market.
"I was really surprised they took Yi, mostly because I was getting the same faxes they were getting," said Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Chinese Basketball Association lists Yi's birthday as Oct. 27, 1987 -- which would make him 19 at draft time. But he has long been rumored older.
"There's a lot of speculation, 19 or 22," Harris said. "I think it's the nature of the beast when you're dealing with international players. I know he's not 39."
Yi played on China's 2004 Olympic team and 2006 world championship team. In the Chinese league this season, he averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds with the Guangdong Tigers.
In 2004, Harris' father, Del Harris, coached the National Team of China and watched Yi develop.
"When my father was coaching him on the Chinese national team, they thought he was going to be a small forward," the younger Harris said. "Now his body has grown. He's 238 pounds, he's a legitimate power forward that not only can score, but can really shoot the ball outside."
Yi appears to fit in well with the Bucks, who stumbled to the third-worst record in the league last season after injuries to four of five starters. If Milwaukee is able to keep free agent point guard Mo Williams, Yi would join a rotation that includes sharpshooter Michael Redd, forwards Bobby Simmons and Charlie Villanueva and center Andrew Bogut, the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft.
The team also could make a run at signing free agent Chauncey Billups, a veteran who expressed interest last year in signing with Milwaukee.
One4Favre 
