Checking in from Seattle

Hey, everyone. It’s Donyell, checking in …

Life’s been pretty insane since the big trade sent me out here to Seattle. Getting traded is something I’ve done before, but it’s always hard to get uprooted and move. I remember how it went down the day I found out.

During that time of year, there’s always speculation. But I didn’t hear anything, personally, about myself. But I’ve been around the league 14 years and I know it’s a business; and I knew the Cavaliers needed to do something to make the team better. Did I think I was necessarily be a part of a trade? No.

The night before I was joking around with some of the media – but in reality trying to see what was going on. Now I’m kind of wondering if I jinxed myself as far as the trade.

I actually found out for sure the next day. Obviously, there was the rumor the night before about me possibly being in a trade to Memphis. And that was the first time I saw my name flying around.

The next day after the Indiana game – the day of the Deadline – my wife said, ‘We’re going to lunch; we’re not going to sit around and watch ESPN all day.’ Because she knew that’s probably what I would have done if I would have been home.

So we’re sitting at lunch and I get a call from a reporter who asked me if I knew anything. I said I hadn’t. The same reporter called back a little later and said he’d heard it would be Seattle. Then my agent called and said it was true, and that he didn’t want to call me until it was for sure.

It didn’t totally sink in until three o’clock – right at the Deadline. But my agent had quite a few players get traded, so he had a lot to deal with. Cedric Simmons is one of his players and he went in the Cleveland deal. Bobby Jackson and Stromile Swift – who have my agent – got dealt a couple days before that.

When I saw it on ESPN a little while later, I guess that’s when I knew it was official.

Right after that, Danny (Ferry) called me and we had a talk. And the GM in Seattle called me after that to tell me it was a done-deal and they would get back to me with flight arrangements.

The conversation I had with Danny was good. He pretty much told me the situation and that it wasn’t anything personal, it wasn’t anything I did. It was just what needed to be done to get the trade to go through and for the Cavaliers to get better and I told him, ‘No hard feelings. I understand.’

I’ve been traded before and I know it’s part of the business.

Since I’ve been gone, I’ve talked to Damon (Jones) and I’ve talked to LeBron. Even Eric (Snow), periodically.

Obviously, I was disappointed – going from a team that just went to the Championship (and that could go back to the Championship) to a team that’s in the middle of a youth movement. It was difficult; it was frustrating – especially when you get out there and you’re told that you’re not going to play because Seattle wants to evaluate their young guys.

It was difficult, but I believe one reason that they brought a guy like me here was to mentor the young guys. And just like I was close to LeBron – within the first week me and Kevin Durant and Jeff Green talked a lot. Kevin said he really liked having me here and a lot of the players really don’t talk to him. I sit down and have conversations with the young guys, and I guess it really wasn’t like that before.

I’ve been thinking about getting into coaching and this is part of the business – being able to sit down and talk to the players and get in their heads, calm them down when things aren’t going right, especially if you’re an assistant coach, because half the time, you’re the mediator between the player and the head coach.

Even though I’m still a player, this has given me practical experience as far as coaching.

Speaking of coaching … Everyone made a big deal about the little scrap that P.J. Carlisemo and I had a couple weeks ago. That was a minor incident.

And I think the reason it got blown out of proportion was because – if you’ve ever seen the bench set-up in Milwaukee – the media is seated right there. And it was a minor disagreement over a defensive scheme and something that happened on offense.

It was a minor disagreement and it was over by halftime. Yeah, I slammed my water bottle out of frustration. But it was over a few things – not going to the Playoffs, being part of the youth movement and now, getting into it with my head coach. It wasn’t really over what happened with me and P.J.

I didn’t pout the rest of the second half. I sat there and laughed and joked with my teammates. The media said P.J. benched me for the rest of the game. Well, you can’t get benched when you already know you’re not going to play! The articles in the paper made it seem like it was more than what it was.

It was nothing as bad as what they wrote.

P.J. and I walked from the locker room to the bus together after the game. It was two friends who got into an argument. We’ve known each other since I was a freshman at UConn and he was coaching at Seton Hall. It was a disagreement between two friends.

The rest of this year, I’m going to be here to mentor the young guys. The next month or so, I’ll stay in shape – which I have been doing. I’m not taking time off – even during the summer. Because I’m not playing doesn’t mean I’m not going to do anything. I haven’t done that. I’ve been still working out, still running, still practicing.

But I want to stay in shape so I go into summer a step ahead for next year. And I like mentoring these young guys. They respect me and what I have to say. We just finished an East Coast trip and a lot of the guys came to me about how to guard this guy or that guy. Even the coaching staff has asked me for my input.

I have one more year left on this deal and we’ll see which way it takes me. And after that, I’ll sit down with my wife and my family and we’ll discuss our future.