It is 10 o’clock at night and Delonte West is speeding down the Interstate near his home in the off season near Brandywine, Maryland. Nothing unusual about that. Delonte is riding his 3 wheel 2009 Can-am Motorcycle. If not for one other little detail, it would be business as usual.

Delonte West is carrying a 9mm Beretta in his waistband, a .357 Ruger is strapped to his leg, and a shotgun is stored in a guitar case slung over his shoulder. In essence, he is loaded for Bear.

All of the sudden there are Police lights and Delonte West is being pulled over.

He has been charged with two counts of gun possession and several traffic citations, although those charges could be amended, Copeland said. According to Maryland criminal law, having an unlicensed handgun can carry a fine of $2,500 and/or up to three years in prison.
source

Just what was Delonte doing with all the guns? Was he going to kill himself? Was he going to kill someone else? Was he just coming home from a really impressive gun show?

For Delonte West things are a little off kilter

Now here is the scary part. Delonte West suffers from Bipolar disorder. He has to take medication to help control moodiness and depression. This is not some angry young man carrying around guns. This is a man torn to pieces on a regular basis by his own mind. He hurts. What were the guns for? Delonte may tell us and he may have to tell us to avoid imprisonment, but you can almost be sure it is tied to his disorder.

Just a guess on my part, but maybe we should be praying for Delonte for some relief from his circumstances and not be upset because one of the Cavaliers was caught with guns.

Image: Zuma Press

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As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

This is a monster trade by Cleveland, Chicago, and Seattle.

Cleveland gets Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago and forward Wally Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West from the SuperSonics.

Danny Ferry, the Cleveland GM, immediately announced they were good enough to win the title.

Hold on, there.

All four players were underperforming, especially Ben Wallace.

Now as a huge Pistons fan, your intrepid author likes Ben Wallace a lot, but he is 33 years old. His best years are behind him. You also gave up Dwight Gooden to get him. Expect Ben to play excellent defense, but will he be able to rebound like days gone by? Most likely not.

Here is a rundown on the trade.

In an 11 player three-team blockbuster trade, the Cavaliers acquired Chicago’s Ben Wallace and Joe Smith, Seattle’s Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West before the trade deadline closed on Thursday, two league sources confirmed.

The Cavaliers sent Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons to the Bulls, and Donyell Marshall to the Sonics. Seattle also gets the expiring contracts of Chicago’s Adrian Griffin and Cleveland’s Ira Newble. source

LeBron James

Still LeBron James has to be happy. His current cast was going nowhere and Ben is an intimidator, Smith and Szczerbiak give you scoring, and West is young. It will help LeBron to have more outside shooting around him than Daniel Gibson.

Danny Ferry is happy to be out of Larry Hughes contract.

Much like Wallace, Hughes didn’t deliver as the Cavs had hoped. They signed him to a five-year, $60 million free agent deal in 2005, but he struggled with injuries and his jump shot.

Hughes had become a target of abuse at Cleveland home games as fans grumbled with every miss and every mention of a contract—he’s making $12.8 million this season—that seemed untradeable. source

Still, Danny Ferry was trapped. His Superstar, LeBron James, was unhappy and that is not good.

He’s dead serious, though, about getting the Cavaliers their first title. James, who led them to their first finals appearance last season, had publicly campaigned for Ferry to do something before the deadline.

James got his wish. Ferry overhauled the Cavs, trading 60 percent of the starting lineup Brown used Wednesday night.

The deal caps a busy month of trades as several stars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion and Pau Gasol, all were dealt to new teams. The Gasol swap triggered an arms race of sorts among the Western Conference’s top squads, while this one could have a major impact atop the East.

Will Ben Wallace bring Cleveland the NBA Title?

Probably not, but the mix makes James happy and gives them a shot and that is all he wanted.

NBA Basketball Fan Question Can you break down this trade to make LeBron happy?

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Post from: NBA Obsessed

 Your humble author disagrees, but not for the reason you are thinking.  Wait, how can anyone know what you are thinking?

 Oden has to be the number one pick, because the two players were rated so close, but Centers are just hard to find and true Centers are even harder to find and Greg Oden is a true Center.

 Still you could not go wrong by picking either player (except this year with Oden being injured).

 Now what about that changing the game stuff?

Well, get this, the Supersonics (and isn’t that the perfect team name for Durant to play for) have decided to play Durant at shooting guard.

The second overall pick in June’s draft was on the outside looking in during the first practice of his NBA life. He was a shooting guard.

It seemed to fit.

“It’s the same system we ran at Texas, so I’m comfortable in it,” Durant said with a smile.

For now, he’s in the same “2″ spot that All-Star Ray Allen held in Seattle from 2003 until he was traded to Boston for Szczerbiak, Delonte West and fifth overall choice Jeff Green, moments after the Sonics drafted Durant.  source

Is Kevin Durant the next Magic?

Remember Magic Johnson coming into the league and playing point guard at 6′ 9″ tall and everyone said that wouldn’t work?  Ok, maybe you don’t remember, but your gallivanting author does remember and it did change the game.

“In my opinion, that’s where he’s best suited right now,” said new Sonics coach P.J. Carlesimo, who Tuesday ran his first practice as an NBA head man since Golden State fired him in 1999. “Because of the way he shoots the ball, the way he handles the ball, and the fact that he is not as physical right now as he’s going to be before he’s done.

“He’s like — he’s not like Magic Johnson at all — but he’s like Magic in that you can play him probably any of four positions, if not five. Playing the 2, he’s not going to get beat up, box to box, the whole game.”

vs. MSU

Kevin Durant played against my Michigan State Spartans last year while he was at Texas.  Our star freshman, Ramar Morgan, guarded  Durant and did a great job.

 All in all, Morgan was great in that game and MSU pulled out the victory, but Kevin showed moves that only a small man should be able to make and he showed range on his shot  that was beyond 3 point land. 

Kevin did it all with an ease that showed what a star that he can be.

How will you guard Kevin Durant?

Ramar was a 6′6″ fast, strong, live body freshman that excels in defense.  Ramar did a great job, but he didn’t stop Kevin.

If your shooting guard is only 6′ 5″, what is he going to do?  If your shooting guard is 6′ 9″, will he be quick enough?  Probably not.

Yes, Kevin Durant will change the NBA game!

 NBA Basketball Fan Question  Have you had a chance to see Kevin Durant play?

Post from: NBA Obsessed