Gerald Wallace has agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets, according to numerous reports. Our crack team of Nets analysts fires shots around the break-it-down roundtable, and as you’ll see, there’s a fair amount of dissent…
1. Gerald Wallace’s contract is…
- Sandy Dover: Egregious! Gerald Wallace is an above-average player making quasi-superstar cash for 4 whole years. Billy King has done everything he can to win the trust of the fans, but by strapping the franchise to a player whose best years peaked two seasons ago, he has effectively conceded the team to some as-yet-unknown level of failure. This is only another misguided decision in a series of misguided decisions that King has made to make the team “relevant”.
- Mark Ginocchio: What it is. Find me a free agent bargain in the NBA and I’ll call you a liar. You have to overpay for everyone on the open market and Billy King would have such egg on his face if he didn’t retain Wallace that I’m actually impressed he only had to pay $10 mil for 4 years.
- Devin Kharpertian: Fine. Gerald Wallace is a good player with a few years left of relevant contributions. Without him, the Nets’ final two months go from scraping the barrel of okay to completely unwatchable. They
haven’t had a small forward worth a damn since Richard Jefferson, and retaining Wallace helps save face on the deadline deal that brought him here. Four years may be a bit much, but by the time that fourth year comes around, Wallace serves as a valuable expiring contract. He’ll play defense, hit the floor, and score.
2. Will Crash spend the duration in Brooklyn?
- Sandy Dover: Wallace will likely be in Brooklyn by the end of his contract, unless he gets hot and starts playing like an All-Star again, or the team somehow finds the ability to cut him loose. Otherwise, considering Wallace a Net until he’s 33 or 34.
- Mark Ginocchio: I don’t see why not. Unless he’s injured to the point that he becomes an expiring to use in another deal in 4 years.
- Devin Kharpertian: I doubt it. Billy King loves making those deals. Come his fourth year, Wallace will be more valuable as a trade chip than as an asset.
3. Does Wallace affect Deron’s decision?
- Sandy Dover: This affects Deron Williams’ decision greatly, because that’s more money tied up to a player that will likely not make the Nets valid as winners. If the Dallas, TX native really cares about winning, he’ll care about the fact that his current team locked up a marginal complimentary piece in Wallace, someone who is best when he is surrounded by capable personnel, and the Nets are less than capable at the current time.
- Mark Ginocchio: He’s the assistant to the assistant. No way King does this unless he already has assurances from Deron.
- Devin Kharpertian: I don’t think so. It’s not a bad thing — Williams is a fan of Wallace’s, and certainly had input in making the deal for Wallace at the deadline. But I also don’t think he’ll make his decision based on Gerald Wallace signing. I do expect Deron Williams to make a decision in the next couple of days, but because of his own desires, not Crash’s.
