This interview is a week or so old, but Raúl Ruscitti did us a great favour in translating this interview…
In an interview with a basketball radio show in Argentina, Carlos Delfino talked about the possibility of returning to the NBA, his right shoulder injury that limited his participation last season, and his decision of leaving Toronto for the Russian powerhouse Khimky.
About his contract situation and the possibility of playing in the NBA next year:
“This year I watched very little NBA action in general, I tried to focus in some teams that play the style of basketball I like, the Knicks, the Raptors, of course, among others, teams that play a very European type of basketball. I think I can fit better in those types of teams.”
“Right now (for Monday) I have to wait until Wednesday to see how things work out. Toronto has my rights and they showed interest in trying to bring me back. There have been negotiations because that’s what this time is about. But, apparently, since the signing of Turkoglu for about 53 million dollars, the “poor” guys (laughs) like Parker, Delfino, and Humphries (Editors note: he means Graham, Humphries is not a free agent this year) loose all our rights. Right now I’m waiting for what will happen, how the market is going to move because I could change from being a restricted free agent to an unrestricted free agent, which means I could negotiate with any other team.”
“Today I’m a Khimky player, because that’s what I actually am, I’ve got a contract signed for two more years […] but there’s a buy out clause in my contract in case some NBA team is interested in me. If something interesting suddenly comes to bring me back to the NBA where I’ve already played and where I’ve always dreamt to be, I’ll evaluate it and I’ll take the decision I have to take. But for now, I just have to keep waiting.”
“At a same financial situation in Russia and in Toronto or some other team, I’ll for sure be coming back to the NBA. I’ll return even losing money if it’s a good situation for me basketball wise. I won’t come to be the 12th guy on the bench or in the injury list. But I’m willing to lose money if I’m going to be in the coach’s rotation.”
About his decision of the NBA for Russia last year:
“Zero, I mean, zero regrets for it […]. Last year I wanted to sign a contract quickly so I could play with the National Team without other preoccupations and win a medal in the Olympics. Luckily it all came down great. In the moment I signed, the team that moved faster than any other was Khimky with a very good offer. If maybe I had waited to sign with a NBA team, I wouldn’t have been able to play with the National Team.”
“It was a very good experience for me. I also grew up and learned a lot as a person. I’m really happy because I grew up a lot the last year. It was really hard because the injuries. Beside me, Garbajosa was injured too. For a while, we had seven players injured at the same time and there weren’t even enough players to practice.”
“Even tough we didn’t win any title last year; we made it to the finals in the EuroCup and in the Russian league, losing 3-1 to maybe the best team in Europe, CSKA. We qualify to the Euroleague which was one of our main objectives.”
About his right shoulder injury:
“I’m not a hundred percent right now. Even tough I didn’t start to practice hard yet I’m still doing rehab. When I went to shoot some baskets, I moved a little and it sore and it bothered me, something that I wasn’t expecting.”
“One doctor that gave me details about the exact type of the injury and what I should do was Mario Mouche (a well know doctor in Argentina that focus on basketball) […]. He told me that this type of injury could heal in one month or in six, there’s not a special quantity of time to recover. He told me that I have to keep working even tough I feel that it’s healing”
