The news of Delonte West choosing to re-sign with the Dallas Mavericks instead of playing for pennies as a Laker is about as surprising as Adam Sandler’s latest box office flop. Some things you can see coming from a mile away.
When it was reported that the Lakers were only willing to offer West a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum you knew there was no way he would be putting on purple and gold. Though none of the financial terms of the deal with Dallas have been released I feel safe in saying it was more that what Mitch Kupchak was offering likely in both dollars and years.
Mike Brown coached West during his time in Cleveland so there was some familiarity there. There is also a very real lack of depth on L.A.’s bench and West would have really helped in that department. At 29-years-of-age he would have also helped the team to get a little younger which is saying something.
As it stands the Lakers still have the mini mid level exception in their back pockets which they were apparently unwilling to use on West. Maybe Kupchak is sitting on that one just in case he can use it in some way to try and pry Dwight Howard away from Orlando. Odds are this is just another cost conscious decision in this new era of NBA spending.