Delonte West doesn’t care about playing with LeBron
Delonte West (photo. Jacob Gerber)As DimeMag.com reader Sans put it so poignantly in Smack this morning, the Cavs are “acting like a wounded seal on the open water” this summer. With contenders and Lottery teams alike picking up free agents and making trades left and right, the only significant moves Cleveland has made is re-signing Daniel Gibson and drafting J.J. Hickson.
Never mind that the Cavs have a handful of attractive expiring contracts in Wally Szczerbiak ($13 million), Eric Snow ($7.3M), Joe Smith ($4.7M) and Damon Jones ($4.4M), and never mind that they could possibly get over that championship hump with just a few improvements; the Cavs front office is either trying and constantly failing to get things done, or they’re simply not trying.
One key piece the Cavs should be trying to re-sign is starting PG Delonte West, who was the only guy besides LeBron to show up during the team’s Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 loss. But according to Delonte’s agent, the Cavs aren’t giving his client anything in negotiations.
“They said, ‘Take the deal we’ve offered or we’ll go an alternate route,’” Aaron Goodwin told the Willoughby News-Herald. “They won’t negotiate fairly.”
“They made an offer to Delonte for around what they got Boobie to sign for,” Goodwin added. “Chris Duhon got $5 million-plus, and he might not even start. All the comparables that we showed them doesn’t matter to Cleveland. They keep saying how much players want to play with LeBron. That doesn’t work with Delonte.” (What’s that line from dude on Jay-Z’s albums? “F*** you, pay me.”)
It has been rumored that the Cavs are going after Louis Williams, which could have something to do with their reluctance to pay Delonte. If that’s the case, which one would you rather have: West or Williams?
July 29th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Sith Lord 24 says:
I agree the Cavs are slipping Big Time. they need to do something but they just sitting back and watching everyone around them get better. are they trying to get King James Pissed Off????
July 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
McLovin says:
GOOD BYE LEBRON
July 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Justice says:
phucking danny ferry man! fire this guy…
July 29th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
hahns says:
delonte one of the funnniest guys in the game. hope this guy gets picked up by a big market so we can hear more interviews w/ him
July 29th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
weezy f says:
louis williams made an appearance at bow wows house on his episode of cribs
July 29th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Celts Fan says:
Delonte, not even close. Delonte does 3 things Lou can’t/doesn’t. He can shoot, he plays D, and he starts.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
GayforRudy says:
Yeah well “dude” on Jay-Z’s album ripped the line from Goodfellas.
But that was an amazingly bland article aside from that Austin! Good job.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
shake&bake says:
That line is from GoodFellas before Jay-Z used it.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Data says:
The Cavs have deer in the headlights syndrome going on they are so fearful of losing Lebron that it’s paralyzed them. I won’t even feel bad for the franchise when they lose him cause they did nothing to try and keep him. Seatle Cavaliers has a good ring to it.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
weezy f says:
if you combine the knicks roster with the grizzlies or heat rosters does anyone think they can win a championship?
July 29th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
shake&bake says:
The Knicks and Grizz combo wouldn’t even make the playoffs.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Austin Burton says:
@shake&bake — Thanks. I couldn’t remember if it was Goodfellas or Scarface and I didn’t feel like looking it up. Hence, giving credit to Pain In Da Ass (Jay-Z’s guy).
July 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
G says:
West hands down
July 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
aaron says:
delonte doesn’t do that much for them. it’d be nice to resign but they made the finals without him and would have lost game 7 this year without him. Louis doesn’t add the much either. These are pancake moves they need to bring in some belgian waffles
July 29th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
quick wit it says:
…that line was also used by Kanye on “two words”
July 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
shake&bake says:
It’s looking like LeBron is going to be telling Jay-Z to pay him if the Cavs keep this up.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
fiyaman says:
trade Wally to Knicks for Curry and Jeffies… Cavs get low post presence (can play PF next to Big Z) Knicks get expiring contract
July 29th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
JORDA17 says:
The Cavs gotta do something fast. They need help everywhere. They need to go after a guy like Michael Redd to take some stress of ‘Brons back when it comes to scoring. They can afford it if they don’t sign those bums mentioned in the article. The only guy worth keeping is Wally and Delonte’ but snow can go! I was so mad the day they signed Eric Snow. He doesn’t improve their roster at all, all he has is an ugly jumpshot, and you can use that jumpshot while grillin burgers at macdonalds.
My point is, they need to take the load of ‘Brons back and sign someone who can put the ball in the bucket everynight..Before the ‘Choosen 1′ decides to turn the Cavs into the ‘Lost ones’ after signing with Jay Z and the Nets!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Kobeef says:
The cavs stood still and look what the rest of the east did:
Heat - got Beasley, healthy Marion
Sixers - got Brand
Raptors - Jermaine, resigned Calderon
Bucks - got Jefferson with Redd, Bogut
Magic - Got Pietrus and will be better with another year of Dwight, Rashard, Hedo
Wizards - resigned Jamison, Gil
Indiana - got TJ Ford, Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert
Pistons & Celtics & Hawks look to be status quo which is not bad.
That’s 10 probable playoff teams that the Cavs have to beat to even make the playoffs - and they have done nothing to counter those moves?
And you wonder why Lebron says his favourite city in USA is NY.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Celts Fan says:
@Kobeef, good call except 1. I think Indiana will still suck. They’re on their way, but IMO they’re not making the Playoffs this year (and that Jerryd Bayless trade, which was bad enough the second it was announced to most hoop-heads who know what these guys actually are/could be, looks worse and worse with every game Jerryd plays.)
July 29th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
I can’t remember any other time in the last 20 years in the NBA that a team had a top 2 player in the league and refused to build a team around him. The Cleveland front office is as incompetent as they come. Maybe even more than the Grizzlies. With that being said I see no way that Lebron stays with the Cavs after his contract is up.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
BlazeMcHerbs says:
I hope a bunch of players go to Europe, just so that Stern’s system, the one that pays Marbury $20M, Lafrentz $12M, etc etc, finally gets da back hand treatment it deserves.
Kwame made $9.9M last year, can anybody tell me for what?
This system is not a good one, a player can have a good year, sign a big deal and fuckup the market by not playing so good anymore, then next year FA’s can use him as a precedent to measure up their worth. How stupid is that? $10M for a center who can grad 5 boards and put in 7 points? Jerome James makes $5M a year for doing nothing, all he does is fuck up shop for everyone else.
How many players in the league dont deserve their paycheck:
-Bobby Simmons
-Wally
-James
-this list can go on forever…
I hope Stern gets fired, dat fucking liar…
July 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Prof. TX says:
I’m no Cavs fan, but give it time. They’re in the East, so you don’t need to play .600 ball to get into the playoffs. Alot of teams think they are contenders, then by midseason they realize that they aren’t and start thinking about rebuilding. That’s when these contracts might be important again, at the trade deadline when teams decide to drop some good talent and start over. GM’s get judged during the summer, and then around the all-star break, so maybe something is still coming.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Truth says:
Post 22.
I agree with you 1 thousand percent!!!
July 29th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
AB_40 says:
yeah prof I also think they’ll make some trades again mid season or a blockbuster just before all the signings should be done. and delonte is talking his way out of cleveland. why not him and some other guys and a first round draft pick for luol deng. or without the pick for ben gordon. Maybe both. I just evvison luol deng or tayshaun prince playing with lebron. Maybe they should make the splash and get ron artest. With lebron and artest on the 2 and 3 positions teams will be kinda intimidated
July 29th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
doc says:
Delonte aint fucking with Lou.I done played against both and Lou got that explosion.Delonte starting dont mean shit.Lou could start for the Cavs or Seattle too.Delonte would not start in Philly.He worried about Duhon money but he got overpaid and Delonte aint that type of player to be commanding that much.If Azubuke got 3 years 9 mil thats what Delonte should be shooting for.@Celts watch some of our games Lou got a stroke dog.Delonte good on Bron team just like any other player.E-Snow and Damon Jones was the points in a chip run.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
d says:
The only thing about Delonte is, and you know this if you’ve watched him over the years, he’s injury prone. I don’t know how many games he played last year and he’s got enough skill to be a decent 2 and play some 1, but at the same time how reliable is a guy who is often injured?
July 29th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
nick says:
delonte is a better shooter(3pt)and defender and rebounder then lou. however lou is the better scorer and has the quickness advantage. toss up of what ya looking for really.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
sans says:
dime, thanks for the shout out. You’re sight and mag a breaths of fresh air, and is basically the only reason I have to have an internet connection. Love it when you quote me.
I kind of feel what Amir is saying over at Cavalier Attitude, that its better to wait it out with expiring contracts, that they gain value over time. But they need to resign Delonte–the only viable peice of their trade last season (other than Joe Smith). They also need to buy out Ben Wallace. There is no reason to pay him what he’s making, clear the cap room. Danny, I hope you’re hearing this.
At the end of the season, it’ll be great to be able to play around with all that money, but being a skinflint executive that people do not want to play for is a bad sign. He’s quickly becoming the Michael White of Cleveland sports, dragging us through ignominious turmoil over nothing significant. I like that he didn’t give Sasha what he thought he deserved to be overpaid, but hook up Delonte to 6-8M. Keep the team outta Seattle.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Ferdiberdi says:
Cavs are definitely in wait-and-see mode. Got a lot of expiring contracts and they are being conservative in making big deals to tie up the money.
The downside is, they are one LBJ season injury from heading into lottery.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
jace says:
for the moment.. delonte is better.. but lou-will improved a LOT last season. i say stay with delonte cuz ur tryna please ur superstar. the way they handle things in cleveland, i wouldn’t be surprised if lebron walked away from the cavs when his contracts up.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:33 am
djkianoosh says:
sixers, go grab delonte and let louis williams go to cleveland..
win-win.
done.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
word says:
wow austin your wack, dude on jay-z’s album?? wtf u don’t know where thats really from, one of the greatest movies of all time.
smdh.
stuff like that happens 2 often in life, no respect for the originality, everythings just a replica.
oh and the cavs front office wins the worst executive award in the nba for 4 years running.