Are you attacking perhaps hawes physique? If you are i hope you realize that both hawes and yi have identical heights and weights. Really the big difference comes down to playing type and charachter.

From what i have read hawes is also very coachable, a coaches son. He was also trained by his uncle Steve Hawes, who played in the nba (the name doesnt ring a bell so  you could imagine the guy was nothing special, but being in the nba you would have to assume he knew how the game worked and had some skill) and Robert Swift (that name should ring a bell).

As for playing type, again ill say this, yi will never excel at post game if doesnt show he has one by his first season or so. He is much like luol deng, a jump shooter and slasher. I think hawes just needs to bulk up, which i think is alot easier than actually learning to play in the post. After all there is no big man (and yes this goes for oden too) who has the bulk needed for the nba level.

Like i said, i do see yi being great, but if his comparison is really gonna be dirk, then we dont need him. Dirk never was able to even post up on anyone from golden state.

I am sure everyone wants the bulls to win now and later and i think having that low post scorer is what we need to accomplish that. Hawes already has the moves, he just needs to be conditioned to use them against the big guys. Yi lacks the moves and the conditioning to be an effective post player. Having him will eventually bring back the argument, "what the bulls really need is that big post player to ease some of the pressure off the gaurds". Keep in mind Yi is also a jump shooter, and no matter how good he is, at some point jump shooting really doesnt cut it.

As for coaching wise, i gave you what i feel about hawes, but i wonder if yi would have problems due to language barriers. And since he really wants to be a star, would he be willing to pass the rock around, or would he want to try to attack the basket full speed? Would he pass out of the double team and hit the open guy, or be hell bent on dunking the ball that he would commit an offensive foul. How tough are those chinese b-ball players, i would like to think the nba players are ten folds stronger. Look at yao, he still has troubles with the bigs in the nba, and he is bigger and stronger than yi by a mile.

I do understand the positives of yi, i assure you. I think with pj brown gone, it would be nice to have a big guy who can shoot mid range shots. But i dont think even a more athletic pj brown would have made a huge factor in the playoffs. I also see how having yi could make other players more expendable like tyrus and deng, but i dont think anyone wants to see those two leave (as for sweetney and allen...i dont think sweetney will be on the team really, and malik allen can also hit that mid range jumper from time to time and help out the bulls).

As for the rest of the bigs, comparably, none are really as tall as hawes or as talented. They are pretty much bigger and maybe have more range to thier shot. Hawes can finish with both hands in the paint, and (as its been said many times before) has the most developed post game of any of the prospects in the draft. He isnt just your typical "try hard with no talent" he is a definite post game specialist who is ready to try hard.

If possible i would like you to make me understand why yi is so much better than hawes, or more so, why he would truly help the bulls more than hawes. I see him as a risk, and though his reward may be great in the near future, i can see hawes helping us now and then.