Waiting on Delonte West

There were only a few minutes left in practice and Delonte West was about to pass through his final test before making his return to the Celtics.

He had gone through periods where he couldn’t use his wrist, which he broke in late November. He had made it through rehab and hour upon hour of solitary shooting drills. He had even made it through a handful of contact practices. All he just needed was to make it just a little longer.

That’s when he hurt himself again. It’s a little unclear how it actually happened. One eyewitness said that West caught a pass at an awkward angle. He may have been hit on the wrist, or a combination of both.

Whatever the reason, he left before the session was over and Celtics coach Doc Rivers said West would have X-rays to make sure nothing truly serious had gone wrong. But his anticipated comeback for Wednesday’s game with New Jersey was put on hold. Again.

“I was worried about it [Monday] and it happened,” Rivers said. “So, we’ll see.”

West said last week that he wasn’t going to be 100 percent until the summer. The bone had healed but there was still pain and discomfort in the wrist and he didn’t have a full range of motion yet. He pegged his health at 85 percent, but improving all the time.

It was strong enough to play, however, and West began lobbying Rivers to get back on the court last Thursday before the Lakers game. The coach said no. West tried again before Sunday’s game with the Heat and Rivers held firm. 

Rivers stuck with his plan to play West about 10 minutes against the Nets on Wednesday to let his guard get a game under his belt before the All-Star break. There’s still a chance that it could happen, but until it does the Celtics remain waiting for the player who could be the key to giving the second unit a needed dose of stability.

“I’m pushing for it,” West said on Monday. “I want to play. I want to get out there but there’s no point in getting out there if I’m not ready to go and contribute.”

The plan -- as it was drawn up during training camp – was for West to become the anchor of the second team. He would take the responsibility for running the team when Rajon Rondo got a rest and free up Nate Robinson to be a scorer. He would become the perimeter stopper that the team lost when Tony Allen signed with Memphis in the offseason.

“That’s the kind of guy you want to see out there,” Kevin Garnett said. “What you’re going to see with him coming back is a lot more poise, a lot more control of the second group. Delonte’s a basketball player. To have him back is going to be tremendous for us.”

Or, as Rondo put it: “He can check one through three. He can run the show. He can shoot the ball. He can post. He does a lot.”

The Celtics second unit has lost an absurd amount of games to injuries. West has missed 38 games due to his wrist, in addition to 10 for an NBA suspension, while Jermaine O’Neal has missed 36 more.

Semih Erden has missed time with an assortment of injuries from his shoulder to his groin. Shaquille O’Neal has been in and out of the lineup and Marquis Daniels is out indefinitely with a bruised spinal cord. Only Robinson and Glen Davis have played in every game among the reserves.

If Rivers has one great concern for the second half of the season (other than staying healthy, obviously), it’s getting his rotation some meaningful minutes together on the court in preparation for the playoffs.

“I would like our second unit to form an identity,” Rivers said. “Form some kind of rhythm. We haven’t registered one minute with our entire second unit this year. That means we are way behind in that aspect.”

That, frankly, may never happen. Daniels remains a huge question mark, as does Jermaine O’Neal who is rehabbing from knee surgery. Shaq’s Achilles has lingered as a problem longer than anyone expected. And then there’s West.

Through it all, he has stayed remarkably upbeat and positive. This season was supposed to be about getting his career back on track after a tumultuous time in Cleveland and he knew the stakes coming into the season.

“Playing every game, every minute this year like my life depended on it, cause it does,” West said back in September. “Nothing’s promised. I’ve been given this opportunity to prove to the NBA and the world that I’m a good person. I have a lot to prove and I don’t want to let anyone down.”

West’s chance will still come. It may just not be as soon as he would have liked. 

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