Gibson To Remain Richer Than Delonte?

by Steve Weinman on Jul 28, 2008 12:00 AM EDT in NBA Articles

That is certainly the word out of Cleveland.

As reported by the Plain-Dealer's Jodie Valade:

"As we have consistently communicated, we like Delonte and what he brings to this team, and that is how we have approached this free agency process," said Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry, who declined to be specific on the status of negotiations.
Talks were believed to be progressing between West and the Cavaliers, but the team is not expected to offer more than the five-year, $20.8 million deal shooting guard Daniel Gibson signed last week. Because West is a restricted free agent, the Cavaliers can match any offer he receives from another NBA team -- but Cleveland has no such edge with foreign teams.

Sounds like West could be showing himself the door sooner rather than later.

As we discussed in this space earlier this week, it is likely in West's best interests to take any decent long-term offer he gets from the Cavaliers if his preference really is to stay in town. But with that said, as is the case for most NBA players, it's hard to imagine that West has any desire to be in a situation in which his back-up is a higher-paid player than he is despite both of them signing extensions in the same off-season. If the Cavs won't even match the Gibson deal in their offer to him, it seemingly would become more likely that West would either take the qualifying offer or look to head elsewhere, possibly abroad or perhaps via sign-and-trade.

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Gibson is more valuable than Delonte. He’ll only look better and better as the Cavs upgrade his surroundings. Delonte on the other hand is too ball happy and will likely see a big decrease in his contributions as more talent arrives, talent who’ll need the ball to operate. Gibson is also improving at a high pace while Delonte is not.

The Cavs should pay Gibson more than Delonte. They shouldn’t sign Delonte to a long contract, short or medium term would be far better. They’ll likely be replacing him at some point, might as well make it easier on themselves.

by Who on Jul 28, 2008 12:30 AM EDT reply actions

Gibson is a much better player than Delonte. Has a better outside shot, and gets teammates involved. Delonte abuses the ball, and looks to get himself involved first and foremost.

by Tradetime on Jul 28, 2008 1:47 AM EDT reply actions