Don’t Set Your NBA-to-Euro Defection Alerts to Code Orange Just Yet

The world really, really doesn’t need another Euro crisis post. However, this passage in YNetNews opened up a lot of doors in my mind, at least with regard to international players returning to basketball’s Second World:↵↵⇥“[Carlos] Delfino will make more than Manu Ginobili”, says his agent, Alessandro Barbalich. “Carlos, like others, was a little frustrated from time to time. He is a versatile player who can do a lot on the court, but in many cases he was given defensive missions and played 15 minutes. In Europe, you get the chance to play more for the same amount of money, or even more”.↵↵It’s pretty simple here: If a foreign player fits into the NBA, which is usually a matter of finding a sympathetic team, he’ll like it here. Ginobili may make less money than Delfino will in Europe, but does anyone think for a second he’d defect? Delfino, the other extreme, is talented but consistently lost or marginalized by teams here. So there’s precious little incentive for him to not follow the money; in short, the NBA dream has failed him.↵
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↵Then you’ve got Andris Biedrins finally signing a contract with the Warriors, despite a brief flirtation with a Russian team. Deal looks to be around 6 years, $63 million, which isn’t too shabby for a rebounding machine who fills a major need on Golden State and lead the league in FG%, despite attempts by the Sun News of Myrtle Beach to suppress that (h/t BDL).↵
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↵So while the Americans-in-Lativa drama remains a mystery—just how much of a ploy is it?—we’re starting to see some order emerge when it comes to international players tempted by the dough and familiar environs of the non-NBA world.↵