TUESDAY, 8:07am: De Colo tempered the idea of an NBA comeback, saying during an appearance on France’s beIN Sports that while the NBA is in the back of his mind, he won’t return to the league simply for the sake of returning (video link; translation via HoopsHype). The 28-year-old made it clear that he would want to have a role on NBA team and not just a spot on an NBA roster if he were to come back.
MONDAY, 8:55am: Guard Nando De Colo, currently with Russia’s CSKA Moscow, is pondering an NBA return once his contract expires after the season, as Mark Woods of ESPN.com writes. “I will see what happens,” De Colo said after guiding France to a Eurobasket bronze medal on Sunday with an 81-68 victory over Serbia.
De Colo, a 2009 second-round pick of the Spurs, finally signed with San Antonio on a two-year deal in 2012. At the trade deadline in 2013/14, the Spurs shipped him to the Raptors in exchange for Austin Daye. The guard played limited minutes for Toronto as a backup wing and after the season he was given a qualifying offer of roughly $1.8MM. Seeking more playing time and presumably more money, De Colo instead signed on with CSKA Moscow.
Before De Colo agreed to go to Russia in 2014, there was mutual interest in a reunion between De Colo and the Raptors and there were other NBA clubs with interest, according to international journalist David Pick. This past June, the Raptors once again gave De Colo a qualifying offer of ~$1.8MM even though he was committed to playing overseas.
In his two NBA seasons with the Spurs and Raptors, De Colo averaged 3.8 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 1.7 APG in 11.9 minutes per contest. In 60 total games for CSKA this year, De Colo has put up 14.5 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 3.2 APG in 23.8 minutes per game.