Is Delonte West Hurting The Cavaliers?

Delonte West was an important cog for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.  Arguably, he could be the most versatile player on the team aside from Lebron James.

He was capable as a SG or PG, had ability to drive, had his sweet shooting spots on multiple areas of the court, had good ball movement and smart passing skills.  Some might consider him a better PG than teammate Mo Williams. 

In the offseason, life was looking good for West.  He got married, with Williams serving as his best man.  He's in the second year of a $12 million dollar contract.  He bought a new home. 

What happened? 

Apparently, he stopped taking his medication this summer.

First, it was the gun-toting incident in Virginia one month before basketball season started.             

Then it was nearly a week of unexcused absences from practice.  No one knew where he was.  Numerous phone calls from teammates yielded no response.

This was okay with the Cavaliers.  The team was willing to work with West.  Give him space.  Let him get his act together.

Much of this was attributed to his bipolar illness, which West admitted to and spoke freely about.  He claimed he had it under control with medication. 

Now, the domestic violence situation surfaced this week.  The Cavaliers are maintaining a bunker mentality regarding this situation.

Undoubtedly, there will be some form of punitive measures from the league for the gun toting incident. 

At this point what are the Cavaliers to do with Delonte West? 

West has shown what contributions he can make and was an important part of the Cavs' success last season.  However, his erratic and unpredictable behavior makes him unreliable.  Perhaps this is the reason the Cavs picked up Antonio Daniels earlier in the week. 

For a team such as the Cavaliers, (who must win now or risk losing James), this is not the kind of distraction they need.  This continued drama from West likely impacts the team negatively.  In the end, West is hurting his own team with his self-destructive behavior.