What if Delonte Cant Go?

[billysan]

Looking at the past couple of games and who sat out, I began to wonder about how serious some of the injuries are. At his age Shaq could naturally have a few issues like sore hips that we can rest regularly because we have the depth at his spot to cover him for a couple of games.

The guy who kind of worries me is Delonte West. I am all on board with believing in Delonte to be a big contributor, straighten his act out, repair his rep, be our 6-7th guy in the rotation or even a spot starter for Ray Allen.

The real question is, what if his back is an issue and he cant give us those quality minutes? None of us can deny that he as a history of chronic back trouble and it obviously is a problem now. He could easily be injured or ineffective for most of the year because of his back.

He is on a non-guaranteed contract. The fact is, if he isnt able to play Danny Ainge certainly has the option to let him go and probably should at this stage. We dont sacrifice the season for loyalty to Delonte do we?

I definitely do not believe using Von Wafer in his place or Avery Bradley are viable options. I also dont really want to see excessive minutes on Marquis, Ray or Pierce just to keep him on the roster with the hope he can play at some point.

That only leaves a trade or waived players. Neither great options but maybe necessary.

[KobeGotRondoD]

I don't think Delonte's an attractive trade asset.

He's off for the first 10 regular season games, so that should give him plenty of time to rest. Tho Delonte's injury prone situation should be interesting to see if this affects the Von Wafer/ Stephane Lasme decision...

in the end, I think we'll be fine. we'd probably be giving heavy minutes to nate, and give some of the time at the 2 spot to avery bradley or marquis if delonte goes down during the reg season

[Jon]

I think we can deal with Bradley or Wafer playing some 2.  Ultimately, the regular season doesn't matter much anyway.  And even if Doc decides to go easy on Ray, he's still going to play 30-32 minutes per game.  Bradley already plays strong defense, so we should be able to survive with him playing 16-18 mpg every so often. 

As for trade options, I think if West proves he can stay healthy, that might make Nate expendable.  Packaging Nate and BBD together, could net us a very strong backup 3 and then allow us to increase our size of the second unit with West, Daniels, and whoever the new 3 would be.  It'd also make us very big up front with both O'Neals at the 4/5. 

[arctic 3.0]

one thing i noticed is how well nate and west played together. with out west on the floor nate is being asked to handle the ball and be a primary scoring option in the second unit. he's doing alright but the offense seems to become too one dimensional. west takes a lot of decision making responsibility allows nate to play off the ball and concentrate on scoring.

I'm hoping we can see the tandem some more before the season gets underway and west is forced to sit for 10.

[pearljammer10]

I say cut him... 14 healthy guys on the bench is more appealing to me than 13 healthy guys and one risky guy who cant dribble.

[mgent]

Delonte is not gonna be a problem, he's a "playa".  He's got 10 games of rest to look forward to.  I don't see a problem with him sitting the rest of the pre-season; he's already proved he can play with our bench, and who cares if he's all warmed up and ready just to sit his suspension.

Nate is more than adequate at the point, and Wafer can hit open shots.  If we end up taking Lasme over Wafer (which I certainly wouldn't mind) then put in Bradley for 10 minutes a game.  He'll probably play better D than Delonte and if he ends up finding a little bit of his offense great, if not it's not a big deal.  Our 2nd unit is stacked enough that we can afford to throw in a defensive guy (Bradley, Lasme, or even Erden if we want size instead of Baby).

[Roy H.]

I say cut him... 14 healthy guys on the bench is more appealing to me than 13 healthy guys and one risky guy who cant dribble.

Let's be candid, though:  if Delonte came out and scored 30 ppg, you still wouldn't want him on the roster.  The guy has filled up the stat sheet this preseason, and has shot 58% from the field.  He's looked amazing back in green, and our team has looked better with him on the floor.

Regarding this thread, I don't think Delonte's health is a huge concern.  He may miss games, but if he does, hopefully Marquis, Nate, and Bradley can take his minutes (and Wafer, too, if he makes the roster).  I don't think there's any justification at all to cut him.

[Change]

You can simply play Nate & Q more, and use Avery for spot minutes. Bigger worry is if Q can't go. You have no replacement.

[More Banners]

There are some things that we can probably book right now:

Delonte will miss around 20-25 games due to suspension+back spasms+quirky aches and pains.

Quisy will miss around 20 games, too.

There are 2 X 48 - 96 minutes available at the wing.  Paul and Ray can each play 32 min without much trouble, on average (ranging, say, 28-36 minutes on any given night).  That leaves 32 minutes to split among the bench.

So...WHEN Delonte or Quisy are out, the other guy can fill in for more minutes.  Perhaps a few minutes get gobbled up by Bradley or Nate at the 2, I dunno.  It's not really that big of a deal, until the inevitable happens when...

Delonte and Quisy are out at the same time, and a third-stringer has to play...that's where we've got something to talk about.  And I'm pretty sure Wafer is not the answer.  Lasme has yet to stick on anyone's roster in his career, let alone be able to contribute in meaningful minutes.

We're pretty deep at the tough spots to fill:  bigs and PG.  At the wing, Danny's gambling on two guys with a history of missing 20 games/season to play a significant role.

I suppose gambling on health is better than gambling on talent.

[wdleehi]

As long as the Celtics have a healthy West or Daniels, they are solid enough off the bench behind Pierce/Ray (with Ray having to play a little SF if Daniels is out)



I rather see Bradley take minutes while West is out and get his feet wet in the NBA.  It might weaken the 2nd team early, but will make the bench so much stronger later. 


2nd, it is time to comb through the waiver wire.  If another decent swing falls out, bring them in for a try out.  (watch the Pacers.  I am hoping Jones is waived to get to 15)  Wafer/Lasme/other West just isn't going to cut it. 

[guava_wrench]

Delonte is not gonna be a problem, he's a "playa".  He's got 10 games of rest to look forward to.  I don't see a problem with him sitting the rest of the pre-season; he's already proved he can play with our bench, and who cares if he's all warmed up and ready just to sit his suspension.

Nate is more than adequate at the point, and Wafer can hit open shots.  If we end up taking Lasme over Wafer (which I certainly wouldn't mind) then put in Bradley for 10 minutes a game.  He'll probably play better D than Delonte and if he ends up finding a little bit of his offense great, if not it's not a big deal.  Our 2nd unit is stacked enough that we can afford to throw in a defensive guy (Bradley, Lasme, or even Erden if we want size instead of Baby).

The 10 games off is big. He needs to really rest. Just stay in bed for a few days. His not playing is probably part of the healing process.

His back would have to be incredibly bad to give up on him.

[xmuscularghandix]

I think Delonte’s back is screwed up because he couldn’t really get out of the house all summer, then he rushed and pushed himself to get back in shape.

Just a little growing pains, he’ll be ok.

[pearljammer10]

I say cut him... 14 healthy guys on the bench is more appealing to me than 13 healthy guys and one risky guy who cant dribble.

Let's be candid, though:  if Delonte came out and scored 30 ppg, you still wouldn't want him on the roster.  The guy has filled up the stat sheet this preseason, and has shot 58% from the field.  He's looked amazing back in green, and our team has looked better with him on the floor.

Regarding this thread, I don't think Delonte's health is a huge concern.  He may miss games, but if he does, hopefully Marquis, Nate, and Bradley can take his minutes (and Wafer, too, if he makes the roster).  I don't think there's any justification at all to cut him.

I am not entirely sure I agree with this. Especially when West is playing the point guard position. Stalled offense, no movement, rushed shots in the shot clock.

[Roy H.]

I say cut him... 14 healthy guys on the bench is more appealing to me than 13 healthy guys and one risky guy who cant dribble.

Let's be candid, though:  if Delonte came out and scored 30 ppg, you still wouldn't want him on the roster.  The guy has filled up the stat sheet this preseason, and has shot 58% from the field.  He's looked amazing back in green, and our team has looked better with him on the floor.

Regarding this thread, I don't think Delonte's health is a huge concern.  He may miss games, but if he does, hopefully Marquis, Nate, and Bradley can take his minutes (and Wafer, too, if he makes the roster).  I don't think there's any justification at all to cut him.

I am not entirely sure I agree with this. Especially when West is playing the point guard position. Stalled offense, no movement, rushed shots in the shot clock.

This preseason?  No way.  Delonte and Nate have looked fantastic together.

[billysan]

Regarding this thread, I don't think Delonte's health is a huge concern.  He may miss games, but if he does, hopefully Marquis, Nate, and Bradley can take his minutes (and Wafer, too, if he makes the roster).  I don't think there's any justification at all to cut him.

If he has a chronic back problem that we find will significantly cut into his playing time and effectiveness, you dont think we should cut him?

I would think we cut our losses and find another serviceable wing. I like Delonte West just fine, I just dont see any need to pay the guy to sit on the bench injured when he doesnt have a guaranteed contract.

Delonte and Nate have looked fantastic together.

This is absolutely correct and if Delonte is healthy we have an exceptional pair of guards coming off the bench this year.