Tonight's Celtics/Wizards game marks the return of Delonte West from a 10 game suspension to start the season. Normally the return of a player whose career scoring average is 10ppg, and who plead guilty to carrying a concealed weapon, is not the saving grace for an NBA franchise with 17 championships. Although West's troubles should be of some concern to Celtics fans, his contributions on the court by seasons end should put to rest those concerns. Drafted by Danny Ainge in 2004, Delonte West earned initial recognition from fans for his hustle, outside shooting, and his basketball IQ. It wasn't until his second NBA season before he put up solid all around numbers. In a mostly starting gig, West produced great percentages, low turnovers, and averaged 11.8ppg, 4.1rpg, and 4.6apg. The St. Joe's grad produced similar numbers across the board the following season, as the Celtics stumbled all the way to 24 wins, their third worst total since joining the NBA. He wasn't a pariah in the locker room, and his play on the court was one of the few positives out of a truly dreadful season (Sebastian Telfair was not). Losing brings change, and Ainge saw an opportunity to get better, and traded West, the No. 5 pick, and Wally Szczerbiak to the Seattle Sonics for a sharp-shooter and well known "Jesus Shuttlesworth" Ray Allen.
Thanks to Kevin McHale, the Celtics landed Kevin Garnett and the rest is history. Meanwhile, West toiled away on the Sonics bench before Cleveland saved him. The Cavs, looking for a solid playoff run for LeBron to have (oh, how times have changed), needed more than Boobie Gibson and Larry Hughes at the guard spots. West came in and sparked the Cavs, but were eventually put down by the Celtics in seven games. Everytime West had an open three during that game, I had to turn away. The following year, Cleveland owned the best regular season record, and were nationally revered as the team to beat. LeBron and Delonte may have been the only two Cavs who showed some guts during the Orlando series, but it wasn't enough, as the Cavs once again went home.
It was during that successful regular season With Cleveland, that West began having problems. From his time with the Celtics, it was clear that Delonte was a goofball(the guy tapes SpongeBob episodes). With the Cavs, he began showing signs of depression, and even being bipolar. Problems began before the gun incident, but that event was what pushed his troubles into the limelight. The Cavs fizzled in the playoffs once again (to Boston yet again), as LeBron infamously dogged it during at least one of those games. Not surprisingly, West appeared in all of the games. What was surprising was the fact that West totaled eight points in the final three games, and looked like a complete non-factor for most of the series.
With his problems growing, and his play appearing more average than superb, West was sent packing to Minnesota in the offseason, where it was clear he would never play for the Timberwolves. In need of depth at the guard positions, and a clear fan of his game, Danny Ainge made a late signing of Delonte West on September 2nd for the veteran's minimum.
It's clear that West's troubles are not far behind him, and there is still baggage riding the coattails of the lanky lefty. He's been diagnosed as being bipolar, and the Celtics will be monitoring everything that comes from West this season. He's also in a familiar spot, being back with Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Kendrick Perkins, and Shaquille O'Neal, whom he was with last season in Cleveland and are reportedly very close.
We're not talking about an MVP caliber player joining the Green, but West's point guard abilities will allow Nate Robinson to move to the off-guard position where he is more comfortable, he's a smooth shooter who will spread the floor, and is also adept at picking up steals and even weak side blocks. God forbid anything should happen to Ray, Rondo or Pierce, West could step in in a heartbeat and fill in admirably. Heck, he could start for a handful of teams this season. Everything appears to be looking in West's favor, let's hope it stays that way.
UPDATE: Delonte broke his wrist and is out for at least three months. Hopefully he can come back and give the Celts a boost come playoff time.
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