A New Home For Big Ben

By: David Lister

Best. Trade Deadline. Ever.

As bad as the 2007 NBA Trade Deadline was, the 2008 version has been historic. One future Hall of Famer, Shaq, has already been traded and another, Jason Kidd, is on the verge of switching teams. Past All-Stars Shawn Marion and Pau Gasol have new homes, as does former number one pick Kwame Brown. Two former stars, Chris Webber and Damon Stoudamire, were each signed by playoff-bound teams and I haven’t even mentioned the epic Stromille Swift-for-Jason Collins trade yet (and I won’t mention it again).

There is a very real chance that by the time the deadline passes next week every major title contender will have made some kind of move. And it’s wonderful. For the first time in recent memory, a trade deadline other than the MLB’s and the NHL’s actually means something.

Clearly, these teams seem to be feeding off each other, and in no way is this a bad thing. Trade fever is sweeping through the NBA and no one is immune. Not even the Bulls.

It has been said it would be foolish for the Bulls to make a trade now, given that virtually the entire team’s trade value has plummeted this year. No GM is going to come hard after a 6-3 combo guard averaging 13 points a game like Kirk Hinrich, not when he’s still owed almost $30 million over the next three years. And I doubt the Bulls have got many calls about Ben Gordon’s availability, not when you consider the injured sixth-man will likely want more than the $50 million the team offered him this off-season when he becomes a free agent in a couple of months. While Andres Nocioni is a nice player, the Bulls have to be worried he isn’t worth the $38 million contract he signed last year.

Then there are the untouchables. We’ve already seen the Bulls don’t really want to trade Luol Deng, nor should they. Similarly, Joakim Noah, Thabo Sefolosha and Tyrus Thomas all have upside, and unless you’re going to get a star in return you can’t trade them.

I’m sure someone would take Joe Smith, but he’s been the Bulls best player this season so he isn’t going anywhere. The rest of the team is either youngsters like Aaron Gray or mediocre vets like Chris Duhon.

The thing is, the Bulls don’t need to trade any of those players. They do need to trade Ben Wallace.

Before you think of all the things Ben isn’t, think about what he is. He’s still an above-average defender and a very good weak-side defender. He’s still a good rebounder. He’s not a leader, but he doesn’t cause problems either-unless it has to do with headbands. Most importantly, he’s a big man in a league that lacks big men.

Now the negatives. He is worthless on the offensive end of the floor and his contract means the only team in the NBA that would want to trade for him is the Knicks, and even Isiah isn’t that dumb. But that’s okay, because Wallace would be as bad a fit on the Knicks as he is on the Bulls.

Wallace needs to be on a team that has leaders. As he’s shown this year, to be effective he needs to be on a winning team. And if there’s one thing we know for sure about Ben Wallace, it’s that he needs to be on a team that has another post presence like he had in Rasheed Wallace.

But sending Wallace back to the Pistons makes no sense, either. The Bulls shouldn’t be going out of their way to make the Pistons a better team, and the salaries don’t match up unless Detroit is willing to part with one of their starters. There’s another team that makes even more sense.

Ben Wallace needs to be on the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs don’t have anything to give the Bulls except for expiring contracts, but the Bulls shouldn’t mind. At this point, Wallace is doing nothing but hurting the development of Noah and Thomas. He’s not the veteran leader the team sorely lacks and even if he was still a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, the Bulls aren’t winning anything this year. It would also allow the Bulls to be a player in a free agent market this year that will include a plethora of stars.

Brent Barry, Francisco Elson and Jacque Vaughn account for almost $10 million in expiring contracts, and the Spurs wouldn’t miss any of them. Add Robert Horry’s $3.6 million expiring contract and you have a deal.

The Spurs need another big man, they admitted as much when they started Barry at power forward earlier this year. The 37-year-old Horry is no longer a consistent option at power forward, and Greg Popovich doesn’t seem to trust either Fabricio Oberto or Francisco Elson at the center position. Matt Bonner may be okay for 15 minutes a game, but nothing more.

Adding Wallace would allow the Spurs to match up with the Lakers new combo of Andrew Bynum and Gasol as well as the Suns duo of Shaq and Amare Stoudemire. It also would allow Duncan to rest more on the defensive end and once again the Spurs would be the top defensive team in the league. Wallace’s contract wouldn’t be a huge problem for the Spurs, either. If the trade doesn’t work, the Spurs are stuck with Wallace for the 2008-09 season before he enters his final year. Then they have a valuable trade asset-a huge expiring contract.

Popovich has made a living avoiding contracts like Wallace’s, but if he wants to do something he’s never done before-win back-to-back championships-he’s got to take a risk. The Spurs are nothing but a year older this season, and while it wouldn’t be a shock if they won it all without Wallace, it wouldn’t be a shock if they didn’t make it past the first round either.

In any other year, this trade would make too much sense to happen. But not in 2008. Not when trade fever is sweeping the NBA.

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David Lister is the web editor for the National Sports Review. You can reach him at chicagosportsreview@gmail.com. Go Cards.

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