Cavs Board

As a follow up to the big trade yesterday, many have asked “Where does this leave Delonte?”.

Well Brian Windhorst, in his article summarizing the Mo Williams deal, had this response from Ferry when questioned about the team’s desire to retain West:

”This changes nothing on the Delonte front,” Ferry said. ”We want him back and hope we can reach a common ground.”

Ferry said the team still wants to re-sign West and believes Williams and West can play together on the court. West is the better defender of the two and has played shooting guard at various times in his career. West has been working out at the Cavs’ facility in Independence during the offseason.

For those of us wondering if the Williams deal was a result of the stalemate with Delonte, or just something that happened to play out simultaneously, Bob Finnan added this is his article in the News Herald:

Cavs general manager Danny Ferry said talks have been ongoing for three weeks with Milwaukee.

So it would seem that Ferry’s desire to get a deal done may have been pushed forward by the ongoing problems with Delonte West, if not created entirely because of them.  The question I then have to wonder is who initiated the talks?  Did Milwaukee see the Cavs as an opportunity to rid themselves of Williams’ deal and reach out to Ferry, or did Ferry see the Bucks talented guard as a possible fallback to a contentious negotiation with West at which point he started discussing potential deals?  

Update:  Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plains Dealer added this in her article today.

Said Aaron Goodwin, West’s agent, “The addition of Williams doesn’t really mean anything in Delonte’s negotiations. He knows and respects Mo, so if he is a Cav, he welcomes it. Delonte has always loved competition, even if they are paying the other guy $8.5 million next season. This doesn’t change the fact that if the Cavs do not offer Delonte a favorable contract, nothing long term will be worked out. I believe we will come to a positive conclusion in the end.”

Lebron’s thoughts of the trade were concise and positive:

“It can help us. I think Mo is a very good point guard, he can create for himself and create for others, so it’s a great move. I think it’s an ‘A,’ ” he told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan.