Delfino Says He Wants Out

Delfino says: "I don't want to stay in Detroit because I want to develop as a player. I want a team where I can play."

He says this in an article published by El Litoral. We need to get a translation. Saw it here, about 40 items down:

http://www.hoopshype.com/rumors.htm

Joe should trade him then. If he doesn't want to be in Detroit. I feel bad for the guy but I think he should have played more, but if he doesn't want to be here, send him out.

we won't be able to get equivalent trade value from delfino. his salary is a bargain in the league. this will be another trade where we dont' get equivalent talent back. joe needs to do some serious work to show the rest of the nba players that there is an oppurtunity to play in detroit. nobody wants to play for us except for old vets that don't want more than 8 minutes anyway.

there is a reason he doesn't want to be here. joe needs to fix that first or we will continue the cycle of losing our young talent.

I used Google to do some translation. This ain't perfect by any means.



Headline: “I am not satisfied with another year seated on the bench”


Some excerpts:


"I had hoped with the change of coach, there would have been some variation in my minutes. But, also, where there is a change of coach, each coach instills confidence in the players he is acquainted with."


"When I had a small opportunity to play, I felt I took advantage of it."

"After two years and many promises they made to me, I did not get the minutes I was promised. I want to see what is out there. I want to see which teams are interested in me. I want to see what can be done this summer."

Delfino also talked about possibly returning to Europe. "As far as Europe, the doors are always open for NBA players. I am a known entity over there."

There is some other stuff about the Argentine national team. He mentions a bunch of times about not getting minutes. He also said he felt he improved his defense. He adapted to the NBA from FIBA.

I agree with you Jay.

I'm sorry, but Fino should consider that Joe D even traded a player away to give him his minutes! What more can one do to show him he's appreciating his talent?
It would suck extremely if we'd lose him and he'd become a decent player somewhere else. It already sucked when that happened with Mike James, Mehmet Okur or Darko Milicic.
What direction is this team going to???

En cuanto a mí, no me quisiera quedar en Detroit porque quiero desarrollarme como jugador, un equipo donde pueda jugar y, después de dos años, de tener muchas promesas, de que me quieran, no tuve los minutos que me prometieron.

Here's the part that hoopshype quoted. Someone with better Spanish than me could please correct me if I'm wrong but Delfino speaks in the conditional here when he says "no me quisiera quedar" which translates to something more like "I would not want to stay" and then talks about wanting to develop as a player as well as the promised minutes he didn't receive that ggazzoo mentions above.

To say as Hoopshype has him saying, "I don't want to stay in Detroit," would be to use the verb tense that is probably far more familiar to you: "No quiero." As in "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Make sense?

Then he follows with this:
Yo me siento cómodo, estoy contento, pero no tengo los minutos;

Which says, "I feel comfortable, I am happy, but I don't have the minutes."

He does say the stuff about the wanting to see what teams would want him, but I understand it to mean, in the case that I have to sit on the bench for another year, I'd rather go to a team that will give me the minutes.

Doesn't really matter if he wants to go or not, I guess. I think this is one where Joe D says "too bad. You're under contract and you will play here. You'll get your minutes. Now, shaddup."

I just know it's Joe's policy to trade people who want out. Crastinator could be right, maybe Delf is just posturing to get more minutes next season. Can't blame him.

Hee hee - - I forgot we have a Prof of Argentine Literature on the forum. So many assests here....

We'll see how far off I am... but my amateur impression is that Delfino is having his "I just vant to play" moment.

I believe he did the same thing last offseason.

Please tell me this is not true.

how long ago is the article? it's probably more along the lines of what crastinator said - that if he doesn't get an opportunity in this 3rd year then he wouldn't want to stay

Link says July 12th on the article. I'll be interested to see what the Professor says. I think there is something in there that says he would be interested to see what other teams think of him.

The problem with articles such as this one is we don't know what context or direction they are spinning. Delfino is no different from any other NBA player that just wants playing time.

The Pistons did make a strong point in trading Evans in favor of Delfino. that trade could have gone either way, but believe me Joe like Delfino's game and they do want to give him more playing. Even if the Pistons sign either Flip Murrray, Aktins, or whatever Delfino will get the time if he steps up his game to another level.

Delfino is going nowhere and this season that is coming up, I believe the Pistons will deliver on their promise to give him the time needed to develop and play, its up to Delfino to deliever and earn more time.

Can't blame Delfino.
Do we really need players happy to not be playing and collecting a paycheck? Does Joe want to turn us into a retirement home for aging vets?

Delfino also makes a good point, he played well when given the chance, yet still didn't get the PT. At some point, we have to start playing our best players, not the coaches pet. If Flip insists on not using Delfino next season, we're doomed. And not because Delfino improves by that much, but because the mindset of the team will not have changed, and no young talent will ever want to play for us. And as far as Acker, Johnson, and JMax are concerned, they may develop one day, but right now, they are not ready for primetime.

Question.

How does Acker, Johnson & JMax get ready for prime time???

Easy
You do what the Lakers did with Luke Walton, and San Antonio did with Beno Udrih, you find minutes for them, 5-6 mpg, every game, even if their not ready. LB and Flip refuse to find minutes for anyone, LB believed in earning them, Flip was afraid to take out his starters.

Flip has to find a core (starters plus 3-4 bench guys), include Delfino in the core, give them all solid minutes. And find a few mpg to give to Acker, AJ, and JMax.

Otherwise, especially if Billups doesnt resign, we could be looking at a lineup, a year from now, of Cleeves, Rip, Tay, old Sheed, and Nazr with old dice, JMax, Acker, AJ, Flip Murray (name your own cheap aging vet) coming off the bench. Can we say lottery.