Delonte West will reportedly play for the Clippers' summer league team. (USATSI)
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Free agent guard Delonte West will play for the Los Angeles Clippers in NBA Summer League this July in Las Vegas, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
His unwavering desire to once again play at the highest level is a goal he's fixated on procuring for next season, one of the sources explained. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity due to an official announcement yet to be made by the team.
Clippers head coach and Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations, Doc Rivers, has always been fond of West as a player and a person dating back to when he coached him as head coach of the Boston Celtics.
Doc Rivers spoke to West in Dallas this season and told him that, if the Clippers' J.J. Redick didn't return from injury, there might be an opportunity in Los Angeles, according to an excellent profile from Slate's David Haglund published late Wednesday. That piece paints a picture of West waiting for his next shot in the NBA -- he has been out of the league for two seasons and spent this one stuffing stat sheets in China, but would rather not go back there:
“We need 40 so we can win tonight,” the coaches would tell him, he says. “But that's a low quality of basketball. That's open-gym style.” I ask if basketball was still fun over there, and if it's still fun in general. “Basketball's always fun,” he says, “but I like to play at the highest level. And that's why the NBA is where I belong.”
West is only 30 years old, and was productive when he played for the Mavericks in 2011-2012. According to Slate, he wanted more than a minimum salary from Dallas at the time, but now "says he has no contract demands." If West makes a good impression in summer league, perhaps he will wind up back where he wants to be.
Basketball Hot News
San Antonio has 54-49 halftime lead behind 15 from Tim Duncan
SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs got the best of both worlds — an up-tempo game and 15 points out of Tim Duncan rolling to the rim — and that got them a 54-49 lead over the Heat at the half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
It was a tightly contested half, but the Spurs at home are just executing at a level the Heat have not had to face coming out of the Eastern Conference. Their passing was crisp and it led to 50% shooting overall for the Spurs — plus they were 7-of-14 from three. Manu Ginobili has 11 for the Spurs, Tony Parker 10.
Miami has 13 points from LeBron James on 5-of-9 shooting, a dozen points from Dwyane Wade, 10 each for Chris Bosh and Ray Allen.
It’s a myth that the Spurs want to play slow and the Heat fast, over the course of the season it was the opposite (Spurs one of 10 fastest, Heat one of five slowest) and in what had to be a good sign the first half was played at the Spurs pace.
Miami went small from the opening tip, staring Rashard Lewis at the four and Bosh at center. Gregg Popovich stayed, big, with Tiago Splitter and Tim Duncan as the front line, although Boris Diaw came off the bench for 17 minutes and we are going to see a lot of him (maybe starting the second half).
Miami raced out to 7-2 lead thanks to Bosh hitting his first two shots, but Spurs settled down and came back quickly, leading to a tight first quarter.
What kept the Spurs ahead was Ginobili, who went 3-3 from beyond the arc early, which electrified the AT&T Center. Heat’s defense not as consistent this playoffs but this level of Spurs ball movement and shooting would expose anyone.
If the Heat are going to win Game 1 in a very warm AT&T Center (conditioning will be an issue for players, it’s hot in here and not in a Nelly way) they are going to need LeBron James to be the best player on the planet. Because at home the Spurs will be the Spurs and that has been a force at home.
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