Carlos Delfino

And-Ones: Jersey Ads, Bibby, C. Bell, Delfino

The NBA’s jersey patch experiment has been a success for the league, generating more than $150MM in new revenue, per a report from Terry Lefton and John Lombardo of SportsBusiness Journal (hat tip to RealGM). According to Lefton and Lombardo, uniform sponsorship deals to date have ranged in value from about $5-20MM per year, but executives expect that number to increase in value when it’s time to renew agreements.

“Like most teams, we’re heading towards renewal thinking these are worth substantially more, because the impression numbers have been so good,” Bucks president Peter Feigin said.

While the NBA will look to extend the program, there’s no demand to increase the size of the patches beyond their current dimensions (2.5-by-2.5 inches), league and team officials tell Lefton and Lombardo.

Currently, 29 of the league’s 30 teams have sponsored patches on their jerseys, with the Thunder representing the lone holdout so far. The full list of sponsors by team can be found right here.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • NBA coaching hopeful – and longtime guard – Mike Bibby is under investigation after being accused of sexual abuse and harassment by a teacher at Shadow Mountain High School, according to Lily Altavena of The Arizona Republic. Bibby recently coached the school’s basketball team to its fourth consecutive state title, but has been removed from his position following these allegations, Altavena writes in a separate story.
  • The BIG3 has added another former NBA starter to its player pool, announcing this week (via Twitter) that Charlie Bell will participate in the 3-on-3 league this season. A one-time Michigan State standout, Bell appeared in 376 total regular season NBA games between 2001-11, primarily as a member of the Bucks.
  • Another former NBA player, Carlos Delfino, has a new team in Italy, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, who passes along word that the veteran forward has officially signed with Fortitudo Bologna. Delfino had a contentious exit from his former team, Fiat Torino, earlier in the season.
  • In an entertaining Insider-only article for ESPN.com, Chris Herring, Bobby Marks, and Kevin Pelton ranked the NBA’s top 25 players under the age of 25. Giannis Antetokounmpo tops the list, followed by Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Ben Simmons, and Luka Doncic.

And-Ones: UCLA Coach, Withey, Delfino, NBAGL

With Steve Alford out as the head coach at UCLA, and the program launching a search for Alford’s replacement, a pair of former NBA head coaches have already been linked to the position.

Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets that there have been “persistent rumbles in NBA coaching circles” that the Bruins would pursue Fred Hoiberg, though it’s not clear if Hoiberg would be open to returning to the NCAA. After he was let go by Chicago earlier this season, reports indicated that Hoiberg wanted to remain in the NBA.

Meanwhile, a source tells Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated (Twitter link) that former UCLA guard Earl Watson would have interest in the job. Watson, who coached in Phoenix from 2016-17, has strong AAU ties and was close with Bruins legend John Wooden, Spears notes.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Veteran NBA big man Jeff Withey had been playing in Turkey this season, but he and Tofas Bursa have parted ways, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Withey, who has logged more than 200 regular season NBA appearances, played in nine games for Dallas in 2017/18.
  • An NBA forward from 2004 to 2013, Carlos Delfino had been playing with Fiat Torino this season, but his time with the Italian club came to an abrupt end last week. According to Carchia, Delfino had a heated argument with Fransesco Forni, who is Fiat Torino’s VP and the son of the team’s owner. Forni issued a statement saying that Delfino “almost assaulted” him, and the club opened disciplinary proceedings against the veteran after cutting him. Delfino disputed the notion that there was any sort of physical confrontation and explained his side of the story to Carchia.
  • Former first-round pick Rashad Vaughn has changed NBA G League teams, with the Delaware Blue Coats acquiring him today from the Texas Legends, per a press release.
  • Speaking of the G League, Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days recently took a look at some of the challenges facing Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who is taking over as the NBAGL president.

And-Ones: Pitino, ASM, Rosters, Delfino

After being linked to a federal investigation into fraud and corruption in recruiting, the University of Louisville has placed head coach Rick Pitino on administrative leave. Pitino, who is expected to formally be fired soon, has explored the idea of a return to the NBA in recent years, but there has been little interest and that’s unlikely to change, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

That federal investigation into the NCAA also affected player agency ASM Sports, where lead agent Andy Miller had his computer taken by the FBI, tweets Darren Heitner. Darren Rovell of ESPN confirms (via Twitter) that phone lines were shut off at the agency, which represents Kyle Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Kristaps Porzingis, and many other NBA players.

Former ASM representative Christian Dawkins, who was fired from the agency for racking up more than $40,000 in Uber charges on an NBA player’s credit card, was among those accused of bribery and arrested on Tuesday. The FBI’s raid of ASM is believed to be a result of Dawkins’ former employment there.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

  • Bobby Marks of ESPN breaks down the roster situations for every NBA team and examines some of they key preseason issues that each club will have to address.
  • Several NBA insiders provided Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer with some of their thoughts on how they’d improve the league. Among the suggestions? Getting rid of two-way contracts, removing live-ball timeouts, and eliminating the age limit for the NBA draft.
  • Former NBA forward Carlos Delfino will begin the season with Baskonia in Spain, as Orazio Cauchi of Sportando details. Delfino, who appeared in more than 500 regular season games, last played in the NBA for the Rockets in 2012/13.

Carlos Delfino Signs With Team In Argentina

Last September, we heard that Carlos Delfino was still aiming to make an NBA comeback, and while the veteran forward hasn’t caught on with an NBA club this season, he has signed a new professional contract. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, Delfino will play in his native country of Argentina, signing with Boca Juniors for the rest of the season.

A first-round pick in 2003, Delfino played eight seasons in the NBA with the Pistons, Raptors, Bucks, and Rockets, averaging 8.1 PPG and shooting 36.5% from downtown in 507 career regular-season games. He also made the playoffs with all four teams, appearing in 41 total postseason contests. However, a broken foot sidelined him for the 2013/14 season and he hasn’t played in another NBA game since then.

Delfino was healthy enough last summer to participate in the 2016 Olympics for Argentina, but his showing in those games in Brazil didn’t earn him another shot in the NBA. It will be interesting to see if a stint in Argentina catches the eye of any NBA scouts.

The veteran swingman’s game would translate well to the current style of play in the NBA — in his final season with the Rockets in 2012/13, Delfino launched a career-high 6.3 three-pointers per game, making 37.5% of them. Those numbers would fit right in with the ones being posted by many current Houston players. However, being away from the NBA for four years makes a return a long shot for Delfino.

And-Ones: Parsons, CBA, Pierce, Delfino

Chandler Parsons has been lobbying the Grizzlies to give him medical clearance to play but his new team is playing things cautiously, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com reports. Parsons is rehabbing from March knee surgery and the Grizzlies don’t want him to have any setbacks when he returns to the court, MacMahon continues. Parsons received a four-year, $94MM contract despite the injury he suffered while playing for the Mavericks last season. “He’s definitely making great progress,” Grizzlies coach David Fizdale told MacMahon. “He’s doing a lot of drills with us right now where he’s not hitting, per se. It’s just very scripted, but he’s moving full speed. … I’d rather have him for 75 games than four and he’s out.”

In other developments around the league:

  • Taking care of retired players is a priority in the Collective Bargaining Agreement talks, Cavs superstar LeBron James told Jon Krawczynski and Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. The NBA and its players have agreed that the next CBA will include new league­-funded programs to help retired players with education and medical expenses, four people with knowledge of the situation told the AP. In exchange for those programs, and pending full approval from both sides, the split of basketball­-related income would remain the same “50-­50” deal as it is in the current agreement, the AP story adds. “We’ve all built this league together,” James said told the AP. “No matter how big of a guy you were or if you were the 15th guy on the bench, we all built this league into what it is today. But it’s not just my idea. I’m not taking any credit for that.”
  • Paul Pierce isn’t a fan of Kevin Durant‘s decision to join the Warriors, as he discussed on a Sirius XM Radio interview that was relayed by NBA.com. The Clippers forward believes Durant should have stayed with the Thunder, rather than join the franchise that vanquished his former team in the Western Conference playoffs. “I understand when you have great players on losing teams who are tired of losing, struggling in the playoffs every year,” Pierce said. “You’re the lone star. I’ve been in that position. I could have left Boston years ago, but I stuck it out. I just feel like when you’re that close, as a competitor, you don’t go join the team that just put you out.”
  • Fortitudo Bologna in Italy is still hopeful of signing ex-NBA swingman Carlos Delfino, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Delfino, 34, last played in the NBA in 2012/13, when he appeared in 67 games for the Rockets.

Carlos Delfino Still Hoping For NBA Comeback

Argentinian swingman Carlos Delfino hasn’t appeared in an NBA game in more than three years, but he hasn’t given up on the idea of making a comeback at some point. As relayed by HoopsHype (original story via Ole.com.ar), Delfino has expressed interest in returning to the court, and continues to work to make it happen.

“From a personal standpoint, for sure I want return with an NBA team,” Delfino said. “Is it a long shot? Very long shot, but I believe in it and have been working towards that goal for a long time. And I’m still doing it. If I have to get minutes somewhere else while waiting for that NBA option, so be it. We’ll see.”

A first-round pick in 2003, Delfino played eight seasons in the NBA with the Pistons, Raptors, Bucks, and Rockets, averaging 8.1 PPG and shooting 36.5% from downtown in 507 career regular-season games. He also made the playoffs with all four teams, appearing in 41 total postseason contests. However, a broken foot sidelined him for the 2013/14 season and he hasn’t played in another NBA game since then, though he did participate in this year’s Olympics for Argentina.

At age 34, Delfino could still have a couple more years left in him as a bench player, but it seems unlikely that an NBA team will take a flier on him anytime soon, given his lengthy absence from the game. He would likely have a more realistic chance of finding a job with a club overseas.

Spurs Worked Out Carlos Delfino

The Spurs worked out Carlos Delfino earlier this summer, but they didn’t make the nine-year veteran an offer, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link). Delfino, who turned 33 last month, is hoping to return to the NBA, though he hasn’t played since the end of the 2012/13 season, when he broke a bone in his right foot that’s been slow to heal.

The Andy Miller client is still receiving money from the Clippers, who waived him via the stretch provision last summer shortly after acquiring him from the Bucks. Delfino never played for Milwaukee, which signed him to a three-year, $9.8MM deal, with $6.5MM guaranteed, in the summer of 2013, when it appeared he would recover much more quickly from his injury. The Clippers are paying him $650K each season through 2018/19, so they’re probably rooting for Delfino to make it back to the league, since set-off rights could allow them to recoup some of what they owe him if he signs another contract.

San Antonio has deals with 18 players, two fewer than the preseason roster limit, so the Spurs have room to add Delfino if they want to revisit the idea. He averaged 10.6 points in 25.2 minutes per game and shot 37.5% for the Rockets in 2012/13, his last healthy season. All those numbers are better than his career marks.

Will Carlos Delfino ever play in the NBA again? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.

Eastern Notes: Jennings, Waiters, Patterson

The PistonsBrandon Jennings will be evaluated Sunday after leaving Saturday’s game with pain in his left leg, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter links). There are fears that it is an Achilles injury, but nothing can be certain until he undergoes some tests. Jennings said he felt like he had been kicked in the back of his lower leg. “It doesn’t look good,” said Detroit coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy, who expressed concern that Jennings will be out of action long-term. The Pistons have an open roster spot and can sign a player to a 10-day contract to replace Jennings.

There’s more from the Eastern Conference:

  • Dion Waiters may have a productive NBA career, but it was time for him to leave the Cavaliers, writes Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal. Cleveland had been listening to offers for Waiters for more than a year, according to Lloyd, but couldn’t find the right deal until the January 5th trade that sent him to Oklahoma City. LeBron James was a defender of Waiters when he returned to the Cavaliers, but gave up by the end, Lloyd writes. “I ain’t really  care what nobody say,” said Waiters, who will return to Cleveland with the Thunder on Sunday. “It ain’t affect me. I slept good every night.”
  • The Hawks and Lamar Patterson are still watching each other closely, reports KL Chouinard of Hawks.com. Patterson, a second-round pick by Atlanta last year, is spending this season in the Turkish Basketball League. He still talks to many of the Hawks players and hopes to eventually be part of Atlanta’s team. “I’m over here working, just trying to become the best player I possibly can,” Patterson said. “Hopefully I can suit up in a Hawks uniform next season.”
  • Former Buck Carlos Delfino hopes to resume his NBA career next season, tweets Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Delfino, who also played for the Pistons, Raptors and Rockets, underwent foot surgery in December of 2013. Milwaukee traded his rights to the Clippers on August 26th, 2014, but Los Angeles waived him three days later.

And-Ones: Boucek, Delfino, Lottery

Dallas doesn’t have any openings on their coaching staff, but that didn’t stopping them from welcoming WNBA coach Jenny Boucek to participate in training camp, reports Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. “With Becky Hammon’s hiring [as a Spurs assistant], [female NBA coaching candidates have] become a reality,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle. “And I believe it’s going to become even more of a reality going forward, because there are some women who are qualified and Jenny is one of them. A qualified female could bring a unique perspective and perhaps a different set of communication skills.” Here’s more from around the league:

  • Free agent Carlos Delfino will miss significant time after having foot surgery, Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype reports (on Twitter). Delfino hopes to be recovered by February, but doesn’t have a timetable for his return. Delfino missed all of last year while under contract with the Bucks due to injury, and the Clippers waived his 2014/15 salary under the stretch provision after receiving him in the Jared Dudley trade. That timeline will almost surely prevent Delfino from signing anywhere very soon, and he might become a target for 10-day contract offers if and when he recovers, although that’s just my speculation.
  • A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com predicts that one of the proposed changes to the NBA lottery system is sure to get approved, and hopes that the league makes the change speedily for the good of the sport.
  • Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders writes that many of the training camp invites around the league are playing more for a roster spot on a team’s D-League than a regular season role with their NBA club. Pincus notes that players with partial guarantees are likely to be cut and receive D-League invites from their current teams, including Bryce Cotton, JaMychal Green, Josh Davis, and John Holland on the Spurs and Peyton Siva, Seth Curry, Kadeem Batts, and Drew Crawford on the Magic.

Clippers Waive Carlos Delfino

1:10pm: The move is official, the team announced via press release, so Delfino hits waivers in time for the Clippers to stretch his salary.

12:16pm: The Clippers will indeed waive Carlos Delfino today, a source tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). USA Today’s Sam Amick reported earlier this week that the move was likely to happen. The team will use the stretch provision to spread out his remaining salary, just as the Clippers will do with Miroslav Raduljica, whom the Clippers are also reportedly set to release, Bolch adds.

Delfino has a guaranteed salary of $3.25MM for the coming season, while his salary of the same amount for 2015/16 is non-guaranteed. Using the stretch provision allows a team to evenly spread a player’s remaining salary out over two times the number of years remaining on his contract, plus one. That means Delfino’s salary will be stretched over five seasons, as Bolch points out. Since only half of Delfino’s remaining salary is guaranteed, that would reduce his cap hit to $65K for this season and each year through 2018/19. There had been confusion about whether the non-guaranteed season would count, and thus whether Delfino’s guaranteed salary would be stretched over three years instead of five. However, NBA Salary Cap FAQ author Larry Coon confirms to Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times that Delfino’s salary will indeed be stretched over five years (Twitter link).

Raduljica’s contract is similarly structured, with fully guaranteed salary for this year and non-guaranteed salary for 2015/16. He’s set to make $1.5MM for this coming season, so waiving and stretching him drops his payout to $300K each year. Put together, today’s anticipated moves would give the Clippers an extra $3.8MM in breathing room against their hard cap. The team had been only $649,228 shy of that cap after Tuesday’s trade, according to the data compiled by Pincus for Basketball Insiders, so this gives the Clippers enough ammunition to sign veterans like Chris Douglas-Roberts and Ekpe Udoh, whom they have been eyeing, as Amick reported this week.

Cutting Delfino and Raduljica would drop the team’s roster to 11 players. The Clippers can only sign free agents for the minimum salary, having exhausted their cap exceptions, but it appears as though they’ll be able to add four minimum-salary veterans to field a full 15-man regular season roster once Delfino and Raduljica are officially gone. The timing of the moves will be key, since Sunday is the last day that teams can use the stretch provision to reduce salaries for the coming season, but it appears that the team will pull the trigger today.

Delfino missed all of last season with a right foot injury, and he’s reportedly expected to miss part of this one. The former 25th overall pick, who turns 32 today, has been a double-digit scorer in three of his last four healthy seasons, so it would seem there would be strong interest if he can fully recover.