Crisis reaches Russia - Delfino refuses to play

Our contact in Russia has informed us about some major development in Russia. According to him, the global financial crisis is having a direct effect on the Russian basketball. If you really think about it, it just makes sense and critics of high-paying Russian investors are finally proven right.

He also explains why Russia is having problems:

Much depends on the value of the dollar. If the oil prices keep dropping - the ruble (Russian currency) will fall. It is expected that the ruble will fall. From there, everything will get worse. Many Russian basketball contracts are in dollars, but sponsorship of the clubs and salaries is in rubles, meaning the clubs will have to pay more money to their players.

If you take a look at the sponsors and their stocks, it is obvious what clubs will or already have problems.

CSKA Moscow, Dynamo, Khimki, Triumph Lyubertsy and CSK VVS are not paying salaries right now. While CSKA and Dynamo are just going through long delays, Khimki’s and Triumph’s situations are much worse. The CSKA women’s team is on the edge of bankruptcy: Its main sponsor sold his business and the new owner does not want to have any relationship with the club.

But that does not mean that CSKA will have any problems with players, though there has been a delay to payment of more than a month. CSKA CEO Andrey Vatutin said that there are difficulties, but the main sponsor of the team, Norilsk Nickel, has assured it would continue to fully meet its financial obligations. It is not clear why CSKA has problems, because Norilsk Nickel stocks have not fallen significantly for the year.

There are more problems with Khimki and Triumph: Yesterday, Carlos Delfino refused to go to play in the third quarter. Head coach Kestutis Kemzura said that he doesn’t want to see a player ignoring his instructions.

I am sure Carlos doesn’t want to see his team not paying him, either.

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Carlos Delfino has a new/old teammate!

After Carlos Delfino signed a nice contract with Eurocup team BC Khimki, it looks like the Khimki managers wanted more from the Raptors than “just” Delfino.

A few hours ago, the club and the Eurocup website announced that Jorge Garbajosa has signed a two-year contract with Russian club BC Khimki.

It also looks like another American player is leaving his home country: Carl Landry from the Houston Rockets is rumored to be signing with Spanish club Tau Ceramica - We will keep you updated.

Carlos Delfino makes his way to Europe

It looks like the Toronto Raptors are this year’s NBA club to deal with European players and clubs. Roko Ukic joins the team, Jorge Garbajosa leaves the team: While Jose Calderon re-signs in Toronto for the Raptors, Carlos Delfino will leave the Raptors for a new adventure in Russia.

Delfino signed a three-year deal with BC Khimki, a team slated to participate in the new Eurocup. Yes, the Eurocup, not the Euroleague.

I’m not sure what has been promised to Carlos, but to make him join a team that does not even play in the highest league in Europe, BC Khimki must have come up with something special - like $$$ or even better some major €€€. (Rumored, in fact, to be €8.5 million over three years.)

Carlos signed for three years with the club, although this will not be his first time in Europe; Carlos has already spent a few seasons in Italy.

Here is Carlos’ reason to come to Europe again:

“I really wanted to return to Europe. Khimki is an ambitious club that will soon become one of the strongest in Europe. I will do my best to make it possible.” (via eurocupbasketball.com)

Additional note: The NBA should no longer have an NBA Europe. The Raptors spent too much time in Europe - Everybody wants to play here now!

Monday rumors

Jorge Garbajosa to join CSKA
What a signing by CSKA: Terrence Morris joins Ettore Messina for the 2008/09 season, but as you can imagine this was not the last signing CSKA Moscow has announced or will announce. It looks like they are battling it out with FC Bacrelona this year, at least as far as big signings are concerned.

This is where FC Barcelona is still in the lead by signing Spanish NBA player Juan Carlos Navarro. Hold up, wasn’t there a Spanish guy who just came to an agreement to leave his NBA club? Right: Jorge Garbajosa. You can be as sure as anything that CSKA officials are trying to get this man on the roster, or at least considering the move. We heard about Jorge signing with Unicaja, but with the latest weekend deals, Jorge might end up in Moscow: Even the Spanish media thinks so.

Jorge Garbajosa joining CSKA:

Daniel Santiago to return to the NBA
Speaking of Malaga, is anybody thinking about Daniel Santiago from Puerto Rico? Just take a moment and look Daniel up on Wikipedia - this guy is like a chameleon! No, I’m not talking about his eyes; take a look at his name: Daniel Gregg Santiago Lynn. He can either go American with Gregg Lynn or Puerto Rican with Daniel Santiago. Well, just a funny side note…

On a more serious note, I just saw an interview with Daniel Santiago telling us that his contract with Malaga is over and he would love to join the NBA - again. He played for the Phoenix Suns in 2001 and the Milwaukee Bucks in 2003. Santiago also tells us that he would love to play in the NBA, although he has numerous offers from European clubs.

Santiago going to the NBA again … Well, he wishes:

Carlos Delfino to join Panathinaikos
Sounds great, doesn’t it, Greek basketball fans? And Panathinaikos has to come up with a signing like this. Nikola Pekovic alone won’t be enough to compete with FC Barcelona and CSKA Moscow, especially if Sarunas is leaving the club as many people hope or fear.

In Toronto, Carlos is stuck. He doesn’t get any significant playing time and probably not the kind of money a club like Panathinaikos is willing to offer. Bringing these thoughts together, I am sure Panathinaikos is considering Carlos.

Carlos coming to Greece:

Papaloukas to join Olympiakos
For some - at least some people in Greece -  this is already a done deal. I’m fine with that, but I do have my doubts. I was following Papaloukas closely at the Final Four in Athens last year and it looked to me like he was very attached to Panathinaikos, the arena and the fans. Don’t you think that Papaloukas signing with Olympiakos might make things even more difficult? Just imagine the Olympiakos vs. Panthianiakos game … We like excitement so we’ll approve this rumor!

Papaloukas joining Olympiakos:

Anthony Parker to return to Maccabi Tel Aviv
Good thinking: This guy knows how the game is played, but let’s not rip this Raptors team apart. Some players still have to remain, right? Meanwhile, I await the first Calderon-coming-back-to-Europe news.

Parker back in Europe … I’ll give it a one-star chance: