Li Nan, former head coach of the Chinese men's national basketball team, was officially appointed as the new boss of the CBA's Jiangsu Dragons, announced the team on Wednesday.

Li's predecessor Memi Becirovic and the team agreed to end their partnership after the two sides could not resolve their differences. But Jiangsu still expressed gratitude for his work. 

Becirovic joined the team in 2015 and led them to the CBA playoffs for two straight seasons between 2017 and 2019. This season, Jiangsu went through a lot of difficulties but failed to make the post-season competition.

Li was announced as Jiangsu's consultant in late May and, after 83 days, he became the new head coach of the team. This will be his first time coaching a CBA team and the new season is beginning in mid-October. Li has a lot to work on.

Jiangsu made it clear in the statement that the team are likely to major franchise changes in the coming future and they appointed Li to build a young squad. That meant Li's first mission should be to keep Wu Guanxi. The 25-year-old big man averaged 15.3 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game this season and is a qualified finisher.

Multiple teams have already zeroed in on Wu, including the Guangdong Southern Tigers, which just won the 10th title in franchise history. Guangdong's general manager Zhu Fangyu has already expressed his interest in introducing young qualified domestic center and Wu is definitely on his target list.

Jiangsu were reportedly willing to offer a maximum contract to convince Wu to stay.

The other major mission is this year's CBA Draft. In the past, the event did not draw much attention but it may be a different story this time. There will be many young talents from the U.S. college leagues joining the pool this year. Jiangsu got the fifth overall pick for the draft and Li should think twice before he makes the decision – the team's future may rely on that.