Delonte West Injury: Bad News. But How Bad?
Delonte West has a fractured right wrist. I knew this season was too good to be true. This is Cleveland. I kept waiting to see how this season was going to be derailed, and now I see it.
Delonte was off to another great start tonight when he went up to challenge a Derrick Rose shot and he kind of got his legs cut out from under him. He came crashing down to the floor head first, busting open a cut over his eye, and fracturing his right wrist.
Before we talk about the nature of the fracture, let me talk about the impact any missed time will have on this team. The simplest explanation would be to read Scott’s piece today (by the way, thanks for the jinx, Scott). Specifically, I quote:
Breaking down the James/Williams/West unit, it is actually Delonte West that has provided more from a +/- standpoint than his backcourt peer. LeBron James and West have a differential of +363, slotting them in as the top duo in the league. Not far behind is James/Williams with a differential of +329. The next highest two-man combination? Bostons’s Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with +277 – more than 50 points below LeBron and Mo.
Delonte is this team’s best perimeter defender. He’s the guy who guards the opponents’ quicker PGs when Mo Williams is struggling to stay in front of them. Delonte has been the team’s best 3-point shooter. Delonte is the guy who does all the little things….the intangibles…when the team needs them the most, whether it be a timely steal, or knocking loose a pass on a fast break, or even the occasional blocked shot. In my opinion, the Cavaliers will not be able to get the #1 or #2 seed in the East if Delonte misses extended time. Not with Ilgauskas still out for a while and Ben Wallace losing a lot of strength and weight with his illness. Not with the meat of the schedule still to come.
So that’s the doom and gloom of it. I’m writing this on a whim, as I sit here in a panic with the season flashing before my eyes. But I’m trained to be that way as a Cleveland sports fan. The reality could be different. But how long will Delonte be gone? That’s tough to say.
It is a non displaced fracture. Ok. But what does that mean? My roommate is a doctor, so I decided to ask him about it. Now, mind you, he hasn’t seen any X-Rays or MRI’s or anything, so he can only speak in general, but when I asked him what a non displaced fracture means, his response was, “Non surgical, non shooting hand, non displaced…….if all that is true he can play w/o issue.” That would seem to echo what Delonte told the TNT crew, but I have a funny feeling the Cavs doctors will have other ideas.
In a perfect world, Delonte will only miss 1-2 weeks. This is Cleveland, though, so expect him to be out 4-5 weeks. How will this affect the Cavaliers’ plans involving Wally’s expiring contract? How will Mike Brown adjust without Delonte? Who will need to step up in Delonte’s absence? We’ll cover all of these issues in the next couple days as we learn more about the extent of his injury.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Glass half full…
If this causes the Cavs to realize that the only way to get better is to trade Wally then it is a positive. The idea that they were going to just sit on Wally’s contract for the season was just silliness. Hopefully this facilitates a good trade for Danny Ferry and the Cavs.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
I just got home and checked ESPN’s gamecast and saw that Delonte had 11 points in 10 minutes… great game! And then it hit me… why had he only played 10 minutes out of 3 and a half quarters? That’s Cleveland for you.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
I’ve broken my wrist twice, and have had surgery twice. If it’s a non-displaced fracture, I’d be surprised if he missed an extended amount of time… let’s just hope he’s not going to have to be in a cast, and have to rehab to get range of motion back–that can be a bitch.
January 15th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Well…I think it is time to do SOMETHING with Wally, I love the guy, but he is the most trade able person we have and likely can’t provide the big minutes we will need while DW is gone. Unless there is someone we can bring in/up from somewhere. Move Gibson into the rotation and get someone for off the bench. We will be OK, just hope he is back before the year is over.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
If the way lebron took the game over tonight, the Cavs are in deep s***
Family friendly rules still apply. -WFNY
January 15th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
This definitely forces the Cavs’ hand to get a trade done.
Oh, and way to give up 4 3-pointers in overtime, guys. The Cavs never wanted to win this game.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
After the defense in the OT, we need Delonte back soon, but not until he’s healthy. Another big is the main need – would help sooner rather than later, I think Boobie can make use of the minutes in the mean time.
Side note – WHO WAS (supposed to be) ON DENG IN THE CORNER?!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
@IRB: Delonte West
January 15th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
Trade Wally now please…..Gerald Wallace where are you?
January 15th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
@Rock – Touche.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I’m concerned about D-West, but I’m really worried about how weak we were inside tonight, we need Ben to get back soon, they were keeping us out of the paint with no second chance shots. Deal Wally and get a big who can put points on the board and play serviceable D and we should be Ok.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
O my gosh what a crazy game… Wright, Hickson, Varejao and Jackson combined for only 71 minutes. Last night they played 80, and there was no overtime. LeBron couldn’t shoot against this team. One of the worst games of the year, without a doubt.
January 15th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
A wrist fracture – that sounds like an injury that’s going to take a couple weeks to heal. Let’s learn the lesson from Z’s ankle injury and not rush Delonte back prematurely; still a lot of season left. We will be alright!
January 15th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
@Jacob – game was bad, but it speaks volumes for the season when this is easily one of the worst games of the season – two starters out at the tip, one more goes down in the first, and the Cavs still take it to OT.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Ugh is all I can say. Rock, I completely agree that losing Delonte is a HUGE loss for this team because of all of the little things he does. Hopefully his diagnosis is right and he can come back within a couple of weeks and regain his form. Not having his presence on both ends of the court really killed this team tonight because LeBron was not on his usual game (he has a cold according to BW) and while Mo had moments of brilliance, there was no one else to step up offensively.
I’ve been a big fan of JJ, but tonight he looked lost and overwhelmed. He played like a rookie, which is to be expected. I bring this up not to rank on JJ but to reiterate the comments of those who are advocating trading Wally for another interior guy. I remember in a column a few weeks back Bill Simmons throwing out possible trades for the Cavs and in one scenario he had Jamison and Songalia coming to Cleveland. Given how little Pavlovic is giving us right now, those would be two nice additions…
I just have a bad feeling that in a couple of weeks we’re all going to look back at this game as the game that started a funk for this team. Two of our four most consistent offensive threats are now injured with one of them being our best perimeter defender. If we can’t handle the Bulls on the road under that circumstance, how are we going to handle NO, LAL, POR, GS, UT, and ORL coming up?
Ugh.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Let’s not panic yet, I mean the Cavs have a tough schedule coming up, BUT it’s better to let your guys get healthy, go into Feb (trading deadline) getting Delonte back, Ben not sick, and Z returning soon. THEN at the deadline trade Wally, IF Ferry see’s a good deal out there (G. Wallace, or other unknown player) and really solidify us as the #1 seed heading down the stretch run.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:13 am
BTW: Terrible officiating in this game tonight.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:24 am
i think im gonna cry
January 16th, 2009 at 12:28 am
It will be OK Kunal. Just try to zone out of the Cavaliers here for the next two or three weeks…
January 16th, 2009 at 12:30 am
And just for everyone’s amusement… Here is perfect description of the intangibles Delonte West brings to this team:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=cornetta/060214
(P.S. This is meant as a joke. Just to try and get a laugh on a very sad day for the Cavaliers…)
January 16th, 2009 at 12:56 am
Is it me, or do the refs seem to have it in for LeBron lately?
The Chicago radio guys (via Sirius) said that West came out at half and participated in warm ups. Can anyone confirm that?
Time for Sasha to step up.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:53 am
He did participate in warm-ups, but only in a symbolic sense. He had no intention of playing but was trying to be there for his team, which is admirable.
Time for Lebron to step up. There are some big games coming up
January 16th, 2009 at 2:41 am
lebron played poorly tonight despite his box score. he looked like he was trying to force everything even when his shot wasn’t falling.
like the wind out of the sails. thats what delonte’s injury seemed to do. it was like they couldnt go on with life. like they couldnt concentrate on the game and were too busy worrying about the injury and what it means for future games. they just didnt show up.
mo looked great though.
its a long season. we’re going to be ok.
tomorrow night might be a challenge.
it’s not called believeland for nothing.
January 16th, 2009 at 7:45 am
deng and heinrich are finally back for the bulls so they are now better than the record they are playing with. the CAVS were going to absoultely blow them out had D West not gotten hurt. he was killing gordon.
I think everyone should just chill out until the CAVS get back from the west coast trip and see how long West will be out. Losing on the road to legit teams (upcoming west coast trip) is not the worst case, especially if everyone is back and healthy soon after the all star break.
Just glad at this point the boys got off to such a great start this year.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:01 am
This is going to be a rough couple of weeks…I think I may have unintentionally helped ‘jinx’ Delonte because I was watching the game and telling a friend of mine how he’s my favorite player on the team because of all that he does. I mean, the guy stayed on the bench after he was hurt to support the team…its just one of those things that can’t be measured in the box score.
Word is Sasha is starting in his place…and unless the Sasha that played well in the 2006-2007 season shows up, we’re in deep trouble.
We just have to have a little faith and a little hope that he gets better sooner than later.
As far as tonight’s game…they’ll really miss his defense more than anything.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I think Cleveland’s best shot at a title is through home court advantage. This stretch could seriously hurt those chances. I hope they can somehow turn this into a positive thing for down the stretch.
January 16th, 2009 at 8:45 am
#14, yes. I don’t forget the botched goal tending + blocking foul combo. That’s a 4 point swing in crunch time.
Trading for Gerald Wallace would be dumb. We need interior help, not perimeter (i.e. if our interior was strong we could more easily weather the loss of west, but getting a guard would be getting stitches for a paper cut).
We can still win the east from the #3 seed. Just let our guys get healthy and be back in top form for the playoffs. The rest will take care of itself.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:05 am
I agree with S-Dub, I don’t think it’s time to panic just yet. Call me an optimist but the season is still somewhat young and the most important thing is to have everyone healthy heading into the playoffs.
Hopefully we can have the bench contribute and win some of these tough games on the road over the next few weeks. I think the most important thing is to have Bum-lovic actually play some defense and step up his game.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Delonte has long been my favorite part of the big trade from last year. He’s short for his position, but the guy’s got more heart than any other player i’ve seen in a Cavs uniform. The cavs are going to be seriously hurting with him on the bench. Even when Ben gets back. Even when Z gets back. Delonte is that big middle cog that keeps all the other cogs around him working properly.
as for wallly, i do not want Gerald Wallace. Delonte will come back eventually. in the meantime, you have Boobie and Sasha to start at the SG, both of which have started at that position in the past. It won’t be as good as Delonte, and it makes our bench much more shallow, but it will still work. Wally’s contract needs to be used on a solid big. We have a bunch of guards, but we are seriously lacking in the front court. The fact that we are currently starting Lorenzen Wright just shows how little depth we have.
January 16th, 2009 at 9:48 am
@ Gabriel – I’m no big fan of Lorenzen Wright – he played like absolute crap on Tuesday at Memphis, but last night he played hard around the basket and I thought was an asset in the first half. He didn’t seem to get much PT in the 2nd.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:24 am
Huh. I wonder if AP would like to know that you steal their photos. [WFNY Edit. Read the 'Before You Comment' section if you want to contribute here.]
January 16th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I dunno. Ask them.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Actually, just checked and saw this is your 2nd offense and you clearly have nothing to contribute here, so that earns you a ban. So, good on ya.
January 16th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Goodbye Branson!
January 16th, 2009 at 11:10 am
I was at the game… and even before the game Lebron didn’t look like he was all there with missing about 75% of the shots he was taking
However, that fall was a rough one and I’m just going to hope for the best (while spending some time on ESPN’s trade machine trading Wally’s contract)
January 16th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Rock-
I think that was his fourth or fifth honestly.
And now onto my comment. I hate to be in panic mode, but i think its time that Shawn Marion rumor gets started up again. Marion is a GREAT defender. He will be able to play the bigger 2’s in the league (Kobe, T-Mac, V.C. and more), he can shoot somewhat well, and not to mention he can play anywhere from the 2 to center (ok so maybe to the 4). He gives the Cavaliers depth in both the front court and the backcourt. This may just be the panic coming out in me, but if Delonte misses anything more than a month, Wally is O-U-T and maybe a free agent acquisition.