Two-way center Angel Delgado could help LA’s rebounding woes

LA Clippers two-way player Angel Delgado has recently pieced together several impressive performances in the G-League. Could he be called up soon?

Last Friday night, LA Clippers two-way player Angel Delgado went off for a G-League record 31 rebounds in a win against the Oklahoma City Blue. It was one of the most impressive performances of the season so far, and Delgado was sure to follow it up with another strong game.

In Tuesday night’s 109-100 loss to the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Delgado went for 23 points, 21 rebounds and four steals in 36 minutes. The 24-year-old connected on 10 of his 19 field goal attempts, and one of his two from three-point range.

A 20-30 game is extremely impressive, and following it up with a 20-20 game is even more so. Assuming he keeps his numbers up, we could see him play a number of games for the LA Clippers as the season progresses.

Of course, finding minutes for him at the NBA level will be difficult. The Clippers already give a substantial amount of minutes to Marcin Gortat and Boban Marjanovic, and when they’re on the bench, Montrezl Harrell eats up most of the minutes at the five.

Those players have all earned their position in the rotation, but there’s still potential for change. Harrell continues to look like the team’s best big, despite standing just 6-8. Throwing him into the starting rotation could help out that unit’s differential, but it wouldn’t be long until opposing teams took advantage of his size in the paint.

That’s where Delgado comes in. At 6-10 and weighing in around 245 pounds, he’s got a frame made for the NBA and likely wouldn’t get pushed around in the paint as easily as most young bigs would. His offensive game has greatly expanded since he left college, too, as he’s gone as far to add a three-point shot to his game.

Take a look at this video shared on the G-League’s official YouTube page. In it, Delgado shows off his strength, mobility, and most importantly, his ability to rebound.

That’s an area where the Clippers have struggled heavily this season, and the numbers show it. According to Basketball-Reference, LA ranks No. 17 in rebounds per game, and their lack of a consistent center is arguably the biggest contributor to the issue. After all, Tobias Harris is the team’s leading rebounder, and Harrell, Gortat and Marjanovic average just under 17 per game between the three.

Delgado is raw and lacks experience, yes, but if the Clippers continue to get eaten alive on the glass, there may not be a better option available.

At the least, it wouldn’t hurt the Clippers to experiment with him. At seven games above .500 and a relatively easy schedule coming up, it may be worth taking a risk against a lesser team to see what Delgado is capable of at an NBA level. He’s also got all 45 days remaining on his two-way contract, so the Clippers don’t need to worry about committing either way. Even if he spends every game day with LA, he’ll have time remaining on his contract, so there’s no worries about needing to sign him to a fully-guaranteed deal. And if it doesn’t work out, there will still be an abundance of opportunities to try again before the season comes to an end.

It may take an injury to get Delgado up to the big leagues, but if he continues to play at an elite level in the G-League, the Clippers may have no choice but to call him up.