Trans. Jan 24 10:00 ET (Jan 24 10:00 ET ) Coming into this season, Delonte West was expected to play a major role in a rebuilt Dallas Mavericks backcourt that featured new starters at both guard positions. Things went sour just before the start of the campaign, though, with Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle suspending West "indefinitely" after a preseason outburst, reinstating him the next day after hashing things out, only to put him back on ice eight days later for "conduct detrimental to the team." The second shelving stuck, as the Mavs waived West four days later to open up a roster spot for, of all people , center Eddy Curry. (That marriage didn't last too long .)
We haven't heard much from West since; since Halloween, when he laid out his resume for prospective NBA suitors, West has tweeted just once — to share a bulletin about Carlisle threatening other Mavs with suspensions , a sort of "I'm just going to leave this right here" tweet without any added commentary. The quiet on the West-ern front (oof) broke this week, though, with the Memphis Grizzlies reportedly considering a 10-day contract offer for West to fill out their roster following Tuesday's multiplayer deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Wednesday night, ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that the combo guard's hedging his bets a bit by entering the player pool for the D-League in the hopes, it seems, of getting back to the league by mending some Lone Star fences:
[...] if the Grizzlies pass, West would be eligible to join the team at the front of the D-League waiver line, which sources say is the Donnie Nelson-owned Texas Legends, Frisco-based affiliate of the Mavericks.
Sources say that West hopes to play his way back into the league just like Mike James did earlier this month, earning a call-up from the Mavericks after a brief but successful stint in Frisco. James is nearing the end of his second 10-day contract with the Mavs and, according sources, is a strong possibility to be signed for the rest of the season next week.
A source close to West told Jeff "Skin" Wade of the Ben and Skin Show on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM that the guard prefers a potential situation with the Legends to the Grizzlies scenario in hopes that a good showing with the D-League team could put him back into favor with the Mavs, who released him before the regular season began.
The Eddy Curry era is over for the Dallas Mavericks after just two games. The Mavericks announced Friday that they've waived the journeyman center and replaced him on the 15-man roster with newly signed free-agent center Troy Murphy. The team didn't reveal any of the terms agreed to by Murphy.
The Scoop:In two games, Curry averaged 4.5 points and two rebounds in 12.5 minutes. The Mavericks are the sixth team on Murphy's resume. Golden State took him 14th overall in the 2001 NBA Draft out of Notre Dame, where he was a two-time All-America selection. He's donned the uniforms of the Warriors, Indiana, New Jersey, Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers before signing with Dallas. His career averages are 10.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 27.5 minutes per game.
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