Force adds 2019 G-League Rookie of the Year
On Friday, March 6, the Skyforce picked up its most significant piece of the season in center Angel Delgado. He spent last season on a two-way contract for the Los Angeles Clippers, winning the G-League Rookie of the Year Award and beating out Yante Maten, who spent time last season with the Skyforce, among others.
Delgado averaged 18.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.1 blocks on 62% shooting, committing just 2.6 fouls in 33.4 minutes per game last season in the G-League. Delgado is also responsible for breaking the G-League record for most rebounds in a game, grabbing 31 rebounds with eight being offensive boards, to go along with 22 points.
With such a high-profile addition that also fills a need for the Miami Heat, one has to wonder if the Heat would consider adding the 25-year-old center from the Dominican Republic to the big league. The only bigs on the Heat are Bam Adebayo, Kelly Olynyk, Meyers Leonard, Chris Silva, Udonis Haslem, and Alexander.
Alexander and Leonard are both currently injured, while another rebounder in recent-addition Jae Crowder was injured in last Friday night’s loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Add to this the lack of playing time for Silva and Haslem, as well as their lack of size, and that leaves the Heat with exactly one healthy player that stands over 6’10”. This would be Olynyk, who is not exactly the epitome of a rim-protector.
Pat Riley himself said the Heat would scour the buyout market for bigs and while Delgado has not been on an NBA team this season, he certainly fits the bill for what the Heat are looking for. One way to add Delgado to the team would be to waive Solomon Hill, who is due over $11 million this season, with the Heat having the space to add Delgado to a minimum contract.
Even if this scenario does not play out, the addition of Delgado should still have huge positive ramifications for the Force, who played Delgado a significant amount of minutes in his first game. This was a 23-point blowout of the Warriors, giving the Force an edge on them for the playoffs.