BRHornet45
03-30-2011, 10:30 PM
When David West hit the floor, hollering in pain, last week in Utah, my heart sank fearing the Hornets power forward tore his ACL after coming down hard on his leg following a monster dunk.
It was later confirmed that my fear was a reality... West would miss the rest of this season and probably some of next year as well.
The news is absolutely devastating to a team still fighting for playoff positioning and possibly in danger of missing the postseason all together.
D-West is New Orleans' leading scorer. He's been averaging around 19 points per game. He's a big man that has the shooting ability and ball handling skills of a guard as well as just being one tough S.O.B. His passion for the game coupled with his skill make him the team's other leader besides Chris Paul.
After my initial reaction of "put a fork in this team." I started to think about next year. West's injury, in a very sick and twisted way, just may keep him in a Hornets uniform.
He was expected to opt out of his contract at the end of this season, but now the $7.5 million he is due next year is probably too good to pass up. I can't imagine a team willing to offer a 31-year-old forward recovering from a major knee injury a lucrative deal.
I mean look at guys like Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand. They have never been the same since getting hurt.
Maybe D-West reconsiders the Hornets extension offer now, but the team may want to wait and see what happens next year before inking him to a long term deal.
What does the team do now without him? Well, the Marcus Thornton trade for Carl Landry now looks like a genius move. Landry has made 47 career starts - averaging 16.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 35.2 minutes per game. In 2009-10, he averaged 5.6 points in the fourth quarter, ranking him 10th in the NBA.
Since taking over the starting slot for the injured David West, Landry is averaging a team-best 21.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on 50.0% shooting in 37.3 minutes per game.
So it's not ALL doom and gloom right now, but I definitely don't want to see New Orleans face the Los Angeles Lakers in round one of the playoffs.
http://www.wwl.com/Steve--West-going-down-has-a-silver-lining/9511702
It was later confirmed that my fear was a reality... West would miss the rest of this season and probably some of next year as well.
The news is absolutely devastating to a team still fighting for playoff positioning and possibly in danger of missing the postseason all together.
D-West is New Orleans' leading scorer. He's been averaging around 19 points per game. He's a big man that has the shooting ability and ball handling skills of a guard as well as just being one tough S.O.B. His passion for the game coupled with his skill make him the team's other leader besides Chris Paul.
After my initial reaction of "put a fork in this team." I started to think about next year. West's injury, in a very sick and twisted way, just may keep him in a Hornets uniform.
He was expected to opt out of his contract at the end of this season, but now the $7.5 million he is due next year is probably too good to pass up. I can't imagine a team willing to offer a 31-year-old forward recovering from a major knee injury a lucrative deal.
I mean look at guys like Gilbert Arenas and Elton Brand. They have never been the same since getting hurt.
Maybe D-West reconsiders the Hornets extension offer now, but the team may want to wait and see what happens next year before inking him to a long term deal.
What does the team do now without him? Well, the Marcus Thornton trade for Carl Landry now looks like a genius move. Landry has made 47 career starts - averaging 16.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in 35.2 minutes per game. In 2009-10, he averaged 5.6 points in the fourth quarter, ranking him 10th in the NBA.
Since taking over the starting slot for the injured David West, Landry is averaging a team-best 21.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on 50.0% shooting in 37.3 minutes per game.
So it's not ALL doom and gloom right now, but I definitely don't want to see New Orleans face the Los Angeles Lakers in round one of the playoffs.
http://www.wwl.com/Steve--West-going-down-has-a-silver-lining/9511702