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It's been said multiple times that Delonte West gets himself into trouble most often when things are going well in his life. It doesn't get much better than the year Delonte had this past season for the Cavs. He became arguably the second most vital player to the team's success, he was the minutes king, and the wine and gold had the league's best regular season record. It doesn't get much better than that.
Now, just days before training camp opens, the Cavaliers are coping with the very real possibility that West could miss significant action in what has been dubbed myself and others as the most important season in Cavaliers' franchise history. If you haven't heard the details by now, Delonte was riding a motorcycle in Maryland where he cut off a police officer. When pulled over, he was found with three loaded weapons, and cooperated with the officers as they placed him under arrest.
There's still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the situation, and part of that depends on how the charges shake out. Commissioner David Stern has handed out several game suspensions for weapons charges, such as three games for Sebastian Telfair a couple seasons ago. I get the uneasy feeling, however, that the frightening firepower that Delonte was cruising around with is going to cost him many more than three games.
Last season, in that fantastic year by West and the Cavaliers, there were things about Delonte's condition that were swept under the rug out of respect for what West was going through, and rightfully so. However, you got the feeling that the team and the organization was crossing their fingers optimistically that something like this week's disaster wouldn't happen.
Luckily, the Cavaliers signed a guy this offseason in Anthony Parker who was going to push West for the starting shooting guard spot anyway according to some people. They also netted Jamario Moon, who can play some minutes to fill the void for a while. But, Delonte is also the backup point guard behind Mo Williams, and that job would fall on Daniel Gibson. Boobie, as we all know, is shaky at best in his ballhandling skills, and he has proven himself to be the traditional in-between guard.
The Cavaliers may have their deepest roster ever, but that depth's foundation is cracked without Delonte West in uniform. West is the team's best on-the-ball defender, a great foul shooter, a solid ball-handler, and he provides so many other things that don't fit so neatly into the stat column.
What the Cavaliers need to do is first try to minimize the effect of this on the team's chemistry and mindset heading into the season. Second, they must rally around West in the family-like way they went about business last season. Family is there in the bad times as well as the good, and West will need the full support of the organization to overcome this obstacle.
My hope is that Delonte accepts his punishment (hopefully avoiding jail time), serves whatever suspension is levied from the NBA, gets the help he needs, and is able to return to action within a month of the start of the season (10-15 games in). I know some people may think he'll miss less time, and some people think it could be much more. But, I'm going to take the middle ground and hope that Delonte has a lot of regular season games ahead of him to get things straightened out before the postseason.
Kirk
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