The David West Decision Revisited

[quidinqui33]

It's been three seasons now since David West backed out of a done deal to come to the Celts and sign as a free agent with the Pacers for only slightly more money.

After last season, it seemed as if he had potentially made the right decision to become the veteran presence and heart of a young up and coming Pacers team as the Celtics started to show their age.

However, with three years removed, the Pacers at a cross roads, and West being three years older, did he actually make the right decision if winning was the main thing?

That first year West would have been here, the Celts took a team with Jeff Green out with heart surgery, Jermaine out with a bad wrist, Avery out with two bad shoulders, and Ray playing on bone spurs to Game 6 of the conference finals with two chances to knock out the Heat.

I can not help but think West could have made a huge difference that year and the Celts would have had a good shot at beating the Thunder after beating the Heat, effectively impacting the story arc of Lebron's career as the heat would have had many questions to answer after that.

It's crazy to think that one player's career, when taken at face value, will be relatively inconsequential to the history of the NBA actually may directly have impacted the championship count for the Celtics (and for Pierce, KG, and Ray), impacted the trajectory of Lebron's career, and the Heat's place as one of the better teams this league has seen.

[GreenWarrior]

No he was an idiot!

he did what a lot of players and fans do. he got it in his mind "multiple championships?" or "only 1?"

concern yourself with getting 1 and worry about multiple later.

[SHAQATTACK]

He and CP3. Grew up with this hate Boston attitude ......they hung together .....doesn't surprise me.

CP3 grew up with this lame brain attitude of hate for the Celtics.....for no reason other than everybody he knew were Lakers fans ,this hating Boston.

Yet CP3 teams up with Sterling ...huge racist pig.

I have no respect for either

[SmoothTsunami]

I've thought about this non-signing a lot over the past couple years. From what I remember, West was concerned about starting, as I believe we hadn't committed to KG at the 5 yet.

Starting David West over Brandon Bass would have been a huge improvement, and had he known that he would be start next to KG rather than come in off the bench, I think West would have signed with us. His toughness would have fit right in, here.

[Ogaju]

it was a bad move for him at the time, and it is still a bad move in retrospect.

[lon3lytoaster]

Yeah, he made a mistake. I understand why he signed in Indiana, the logic behind it at least but he messed up. He really should have had a sit down with Chris Paul and talked about coming here. I doubt either of them will ever be contributing factors to a championship now. They almost certainly would have been here.

[moiso]

Didn't Indiana give him more money? 

[Ogaju]

yeah they gave him a little more, how did that work out for him.

[moiso]

Well he went to the eastern conference finals this year and the Celtics didn't make the playoffs so I'm sure he is not sitting at home wishing that he could be playing with Avery Bradley and Jeff Green.

[Celtics4ever]

He made it further than us this year.   

[D.o.s.]

Yeah, I talked to Ainge. I talked to Doc [Rivers]. I talked to Ray [Allen]. It was definitely out there. I was just trying to weigh immediacy over the long haul. Ultimately, I made the right choice. I mean, all those guys are gone. They?re gone from Boston now. When I looked at everything, it made more sense for where I was in my career.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/qa-david-west-on-the-heat-the-pacers-and-playing-with-an-edge/

[Ogaju]

Well he went to the eastern conference finals this year and the Celtics didn't make the playoffs so I'm sure he is not sitting at home wishing that he could be playing with Avery Bradley and Jeff Green.

It really does not work like that, does it? If he had come things would have been much better for him. He could have been that difference we needed.

[BigAlTheFuture]

I remember how much of a shock it was when news came out he was going to sign here. This whole blog was ecstatic

[obnoxiousmime]

Boston couldn't offer as much money because nobody would take Jermaine O'Neal, right? Just another way that signing bit us in the butt.

West made the right choice. Yes, his best bet for a championship was with the Celtics but the Pacers were a better long-term play and also they just re-signed him to a 3 yr/36 million dollar deal. That wouldn't have happened in Boston considering they're in teardown mode.

He got a guaranteed starter's job in Indiana (his role on the Celtics would have been coming off the bench, at least initially) and more money to boot (do we know what the Celtics could offer without the sign-and-trade happening? Probably just the mid-level, right?). Even if the Celts had a better short-term shot at the Finals, there's no guarantee they would have won one anyway.

I know the ultimate goal is to win a Finals but going to two straight ECFs is pretty [dang] good too.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I hope he's happy. He could've had a LEGIT title shot for at least one season in Boston, but he chose a long-term situation with a "promising" team that has no true point guard and an unreliable frontcourt partner, a team that just finished demonstrating its mental weakness.

And no, we shouldn't go after Roy Hibbert; he's reached his ceiling, and it isn't very high.