Los Angeles Lakers trade rumors 2016: Chinese basketball star Yi Jianlian signs

Hoping to finally flourish in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Yi Jianlian is back in the league after reports revealed that he signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.

According to the BBC, the Lakers reportedly signed Jianlian to a veteran minimum of $1.1 million for the coming year.

However, he could get as much as $8 million after bonuses, likely to be production based.

The Lakers are desperately trying to strengthen their team to be back at the elite status in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, they are with a young core that is still developing, but it seems that the Lakers are content with getting players that could help them be better in the long run.

And with Jianlian, the Lakers are banking on his excellent Rio Olympics campaign to translate to the NBA.

Despite the whole Chinese national team underperforming in Rio, Jianlian was one of the brightest stars the team had as he averaged 20.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in five matches for China.

Jianlian also played for five years in the NBA from 2007–2012, last appearing with the Dallas Mavericks where he played 30 games and averaged 2.6 points per game while playing under seven minutes every night.

Picked sixth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2007 draft, Jianlian spent his time out of the NBA in his homeland with the Chinese Basketball Association and is enjoying much success with many considering him as the next Yao Ming.

With the signing, the Lakers expressed their excitement, with team general manager Mitch Kupchak saying in a statement: "We're excited to have a player of his worldwide accomplishments. We look forward to bringing him to training camp and hopefully having him make an impact on our team."

The arrival of Jianlian to the team will not only give more hope to the team that the 28-year-old will make the squad better, but it is also seen as a move that will help further expand the Lakers' reach in the market.