Guillermo Diaz (basketball)

Guillermo Díaz (born March 4, 1985) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. Diaz was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2006, becoming the fifth Puerto Rican ever drafted by the NBA and the eighth to play there. Diaz has also played professionally in Europe and in Puerto Rico.

Guillermo Díaz
No. 2 – Atléticos de San Germán
PositionPoint guard
LeagueBaloncesto Superior Nacional
Personal information
Born (1985-03-04) March 4, 1985
San Juan, Puerto Rico
NationalityPuerto Rican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolMiami Christian (Miami, Florida)
CollegeMiami (Florida) (2003–2006)
NBA draft2006 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52nd overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2007ČEZ Nymburk
2007Olympiada Patras
2007–2008Anaheim Arsenal
2008Los Angeles Clippers
2008–2009Juvecaserta
2009–2010Biella
2010Capitanes de Arecibo
2010–2011Victoria Libertas Pesaro
2011Capitanes de Arecibo
2011–2012Armia Tbilisi
2012–2016Capitanes de Arecibo
2016–presentSan Lorenzo
2019–presentAtléticos de San Germán
Career highlights and awards
  • 4× BSN champion (2010, 2011, 2016, 2018)
  • BSN Finals MVP (2011)
  • BSN All-Star (2016)
  • 2× Second-team All-ACC (2005, 2006)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Puerto Rico
FIBA AmeriCup
2009 San Juan
Centrobasket
2016 Panama

Biography

University of Miami

Diaz had a stellar college career at the University of Miami, where he earned All-American status. At the University of Miami, he finished 10th on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,477 points, including 174 three-point field goals. He garnered All-Big East Team Freshman First Team honors in 2003–04 and led Miami in scoring as both a sophomore and a junior. He was named to the All-ACC Team in both his sophomore and junior years.

Los Angeles Clippers

Diaz declared his eligibility for the NBA draft following his junior year and was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers, with the 52nd overall selection in the 2006 NBA Draft. During the summers of 2006 and 2007, Diaz participated with the team in the NBA Summer Pro League.

On August 16, 2007, Diaz signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Los Angeles Clippers[1] to 3 years $2 million, according to HOOPSHYPE.com. On October 25, Diaz was released at the conclusion of preseason, signing a free agent contract with the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBDL. Through January 8, 2008, Diaz averaged 16.6 points per game in 14 games, with 7 starts.

On January 8, 2008, Diaz was signed to a 10-day contract with the Clippers,[2] in which he debuted against the Phoenix Suns playing 5 minutes and registering 1 rebound. On January 18, the Clippers extended his contract for an additional 10 days. Through 6 games played in the NBA, Diaz scored 5 points, grabbed 2 rebounds, and dished 1 assist in 18 minutes played. The contract was terminated on January 28, when the team decided not to offer a guaranteed contract for the remainder of the season.[3]

NBA Summer League 2008

Guillermo Diaz was included on the Summer League roster of the Charlotte Bobcats for the NBA Summer League 2008.[4]

Overseas career

For the 2006–07 season he played for ČEZ Basketball Nymburk in the Czech basketball league. On January 7, 2007, El Nuevo Dia reported that Diaz would not return for the second half of the season, as stated by mentor Arturo Alvarez, as Diaz wasn't able to adapt to the different lifestyle that he experienced in the Czech Republic. By the time that Diaz decided to leave the Czech league, he was the second leading scorer in the whole league, with an average of 20.1 points per game, and had led Nymburk to a 15-1 season start in the Czech League.

Diaz also played in five games with AEP Olimpiada Patron in the Greek League in 2007, tallying 13.0 points per game.

In February 2008, he signed for Pepsi Caserta, a team in the LegADue, now known as Serie A2 Basket, the second division of Italian professional basketball. He helped them win the championship in the 2008 season. For winning they were promoted to the Italian top-tier level LBA in the 2008–09 season.

Controversy with National Superior Basketball

After his departing from the Czech national league, Diaz announced that he was interested in including his name to the list of players in the Puerto Rican BSN draft. He was involved in a movement that was trying to convince the team owners of the league to avoid the implementation of a salary cap to first-year players.

However, the team owners decided to put in cap on salary of twenty five thousand dollars, which led Diaz to remove his name from the list of players.[5] This led former owner Miguel Mercado to create a movement inciting first-year players to withdraw their names from the draft; the controversy reached a conclusion, when Mercado and the league reached an agreement. Diaz announced that he was going to skip participation in any league, and continued his participation in the Clippers Summer League team.[5]

Career stats

Domestic leagues
Season Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07ČEZ Basketball NymburkCzech NBL1532.5.620.411.8973.13.32.5.120.1
Olympias Patras B.C.Greek A1524.2.484.462.7391.41.2.6.013.0
2007–08Anaheim AngelsD-League2134.9.484.333.8444.03.11.0.118.4
2008–09Eldo CasertaLegadue2533.3.552.411.7673.42.01.4.016.7
2009–10Angelico BiellaLega A327.3.333.250.7501.72.01.0.07.7
2010Capitanes de AreciboBSN1322.0.543.474.7912.82.7.7.213.5
2010–11Victoria Libertas PesaroLega A2428.3.547.364.8062.71.31.3.012.5
2011Capitanes de AreciboBSN2528.5.583.352.7093.73.81.0.012.8
2011–12BC ArmiaGeorgian Superliga2426.1.534.316.8203.22.61.5.312.4
2012Capitanes de AreciboBSN826.3.409.280.7313.03.3.8.19.5
20131829.1.617.245.6863.93.91.4.311.3
20144932.0.579.257.7623.92.7.8.310.6
20153725.5.565.330.7942.52.5.8.18.7
  • NBA: 6 games, 5 points (0.8 PPG), 1 assist (0.2), 2 rebounds (0.3), .250 field goal percentage and .600 free-throw percentage
  • NCAA Division I: 93 games, 1477 points (15.9 PPG), 238 assists (2.6), 313 rebounds (3.4), 123 steals (1.3), .448 field goal percentage, .740 free-throw, and .380 3-point.

See also

References
  1. Diaz signs non-guaranteed contract with LA Clippers
  2. Clippers sign Diaz to 10-day contract
  3. Lester Jiménez (2008-01-29). "A un paso de vestir los colores de Carolina". Primera Hora. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  4. "Bobcats Announce NBA Summer Camp Invitees". Charlotte Bobcats. 2008-07-07. Archived from the original on 2008-07-12. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
  5. "Diaz no jugara en Puerto Rico" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2007. Retrieved 16 May 2007.
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