resigning Delonte West - requires MLE?

[Boris Badenov]

Although there are alternative means as Roy explained, I believe the market will force us into using a portion of the MLE. Despite his injury issues this year, he was healthy in the playoffs and played well for the most part throughout it. Furthermore, aside from smacking Von Wafer around a bit, he showed no off the court issues whatsoever.

Under this current CBA, I think he's $3 million player.

I agree, under the current structure Delonte's talent value is about $3million. Now given the fact that he has either not been good enough or not been healthy enough or not been under good enough terms with the league office to play in one third of the games he was eligible to play in, I would reduce the number to offer him by one third and offer him the LLE for two years. That's a bit over $2 million a year. Take it or leave it.

It is too early to think about these hypothetical "what is he worth?" questions.

A player's value is not an absolute. It is defined by the other options, and what it would take to sign them.

The discussion at this point can only devolve into "I would not pay him X if there is a better option. But if he's the best option, I'd pay him X."

And at this point, we have little to no idea what those other options will be.

[Chris]

West is still too much of a liability both physically, and with his off the court stuff to warrant anything more than standard raise on last year's salary.  We have too many holes to fill to be able to use part of the MLE or LLE on a guy who we just can't count on being on the floor. 

I think both sides will agree it is in everyones best interest for him to come back for that raise, to see if he can prove he can play a whole season, and that he is over the off the court stuff.  Then, Danny will likely bring in another SG, and a veteran PG as insurance, but West will have every opportunity to be their backup PG. 

[wdleehi]

What team is going to offer more the the vet min and one year for West?

[Celtics18]

I don't think Delonte is worth $3 million. 

I like him as a player, but he played 24 games last year, and it's not like his bi-polar has been cured.  He's never missed fewer than 11 games in a season, and hasn't missed fewer than 18 games in the last four seasons.  That's without even getting into his production, a fairly meager 5.6 points and 2.7 assists per game.

We can't go blowing half of our MLE on huge injury risks with mediocre to low production. If Delonte wants more than 120% of the minimum, I'd probably be inclined to let him walk.

Sadly I agree about West's worth monetarily, but I'm hopeful that Delonte will stay for 120% of the minimum. He left once for more money and I think it was hard for him to manage his depression/bi-polar issues.

I'm hoping that he sees staying in Boston as a way to continue his treatment --- I'd guess that he has a doctor/therapist here that's helping, his relationship with Doc seems to be a real positive in his life, and his role can grow on this team moving forward (as it did in Cleveland).

I'd actually like to see Delonte push to start and have Ray coming off the bench (which I think he's suited well to b/c he plays well with the bench.)

That's an interesting take.  I do think that Delonte's best chance at having good mental health will be as a Celtic. 

I think Delonte recognizes that, and it will factor into his decision. 

[CelticG1]

I find it hard to believe that any team is going to really over pay for Delonte.

I don't seem him leaving unless another offer blows us out of the water really.

He might get higher offers but I could seem him staying. He seemed comfortable with our team, seems to like Doc and the city. He might want to stick around in a situation like this for a bit longer and have a little stability instead of jetting to a completely different team, especially if the money isn't much more

[Thruthelookingglass]

He might get higher offers but I could seem him staying. He seemed comfortable with our team, seems to like Doc and the city. He might want to stick around in a situation like this for a bit longer and have a little stability instead of jetting to a completely different team, especially if the money isn't much more

I don't think this discussion factors in the interests of DeLonte's agent.  Whoever it is will also want to maximize his/her benefit too, which generally would mean pushing DeLonte to follow wherever the money leads.

[nickagneta]

What team is going to offer more the the vet min and one year for West?

Certainly not Miami

[gar]

Does not seem to be much interest in Arroyo. He played well in limited minutes and thought Doc made a big mistake not playing him when when Rondo went down in the playoffs. But Arroyo and Wafer is still using two players to replace one (west) and West lets you play Bradley.

[CelticG1]

He might get higher offers but I could seem him staying. He seemed comfortable with our team, seems to like Doc and the city. He might want to stick around in a situation like this for a bit longer and have a little stability instead of jetting to a completely different team, especially if the money isn't much more

I don't think this discussion factors in the interests of DeLonte's agent.  Whoever it is will also want to maximize his/her benefit too, which generally would mean pushing DeLonte to follow wherever the money leads.

I think it will factor in HUGELY. This is a guy who has had major issues as recent as last year and I think his agent well definitely has his well being in mind.

Ultimately the decision is going to come down to Delonte himself anyway. The Celtics picked him up last year when no one else would touch him and he played in 20 games this year because of injury all year. With all that he never lost any PT and seems to have a good relationship with the players and coach.

On top of that where is he going to be getting such a great deal from? 2 years at the vet min? 1 year at 3 mill? Did Delonte really increase his value this past year? No one would offer him anything last year and this year he played 20 games and was injured all year (something not uncommon for him). I guess he proved that he won't blow up mentally although he still got in a fight with Wafer at the beginning of the season.

[GUY]

What team is going to offer more the the vet min and one year for West?

Certainly not Miami

haha True that.  Although now that I think about it, he would be a fantastic fit there.  Great defender/hustle player/doesn't require a lot of shots.  On top of that noone ever seems to get injured while playing in Miami.

[GreenEnvy]

I'd use the LLE on him if we absolutely have to, but I'd be reluctant to use any of the MLE on him - not because of his talent, but because of his injury history.

He is a multi-faceted player who can be a very good role player, but he isn't nearly dependable enough to pass on a $5-6M/year player.

I hope he is on the team next year (for the vet min, even if we go multi-year). Then we have the LLE and full MLE to work with.

[XxSMSxX]

Whaever it is we need to resign him because he is an excellent backup PG that does everything well and nothing bad. He's also our second best perimeter defender who I thought did a great job guarding D Wade in the playoffs

[17wasEZ]

What team is going to offer more the the vet min and one year for West?

Only contenders who are in need of a back-up point guard and who are cash strapped. Miami? Atlanta? L.A. Lakers? Dallas could be a player if Butler has issues coming back from injury.

[jambr380]

What team is going to offer more the the vet min and one year for West?

Only contenders who are in need of a back-up point guard and who are cash strapped. Miami? Atlanta? L.A. Lakers? Dallas could be a player if Butler has issues coming back from injury.

Delonte is the kind of guy that is more valuable to us than someone else. If any of those teams overspent for Delonte, it would probably be a mistake. The Bi-annual seems to be a fair split for me. I find it highly unlikely that another team is going to give a mutlti-year deal at the MLE. If they choose to only use part of it (say 3 mill), I hope the Delonte would decide that it is in his best interest to stick in Boston. I know he isn't exactly the most durable of players, but I would try to lock him up for a couple of years this time.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Bringing him back at 120% of last year's salary would be great, but I'm willing to use the LLE (bi-annual) on him -- his value goes beyond stats (which could improve, I think) to his ability to play two positions and handle the ball well and shoot well. I hope to see the entire MLE used on one quality center.