Suns Buyout Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace Is A Valuable Free Agent

Arizona Republic reports

Ben Wallace was gone before he was here.

The Suns completed a contract buyout Monday for Wallace, whom they acquired for such financial motivation in the Shaquille O’Neal trade in June. The Suns negotiated a $10 million buyout for a contract that would have paid him $14 million this season.

The Suns could save $8 million as a result of the buyout, because next season’s payroll projects to exceed a $69.9 million luxury-tax threshold, kicking in a dollar-for-dollar penalty for the excess.

Suns Cap

My previous salary cap projections for the Suns had them at $74.19 million. Since then, the Suns have signed Grant Hill ($3 million) and Channing Frye ($2 million), which would also remove the open roster spot charges. They’ve also bought out Ben Wallace and trimmed $4 million off their payroll, which means they do need to sign one more player to reach the league minimum of 13 bodies. That would leave the Suns at $75.18 million if they signed a veteran minimum contract.

So the Suns luxury tax bill appears to be a little under $5.3 million next season.

Savings

How much did the Suns save on the Shaquille O’Neal trade?

• The Suns only took back $18.75 million versus the $21 million they would have had to pay Shaq. That saved $2.25 million.
• Only $1.5 million of Pavlovic’s $4.75 million contract was guaranteed, saving a further $3.25 million.
• The Suns then bought out Ben Wallace’s $14 million deal for $10 million, saving another $4 million.

Since the Suns where in, and still are in, luxury tax land, those savings of $9.5 million are doubled up to $19 million.

Phoenix also received $500k in the trade, bringing the final total to $19.5 million.

Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace was having a very good season last year until he fractured his leg. For my money, Big Ben was in the running for an All-Defensive second team accolade and was the main anchor to the Cavs interior defense. Wallace was also still doing a good job on the backboards, but was miserable offensively.

I think Ben Wallace is still capable of being a good rotation player and someone that can be useful to a contender.

• Cleveland — The Cavs could use a proven fourth big in their rotation, and Wallace could be their man. He’d be a poor fit alongside Shaquille, but he’d work fine alongside Big Z.
• Boston — The Celtics badly need a fourth big and Ben Wallace is a superb fit alongside either KG or Rasheed Wallace.
• San Antonio — The Spurs are still looking for quality big men to round out their rotation. Wallace could be the first or second big off the bench down in San Antonio. This is his best opportunity for a large role.
• Portland — If the Blazers strike out in free agency, and are just looking for a 10-12 minute a night backup power forward who can provide toughness and muscle in the paint … Ben Wallace would be a nice fall back option for them.
• There are a bunch of other teams that Wallace could help too, but they’re the first ones that come to mind.

Ben Wallace will likely be available for a minimum contract, and will likely sign a one year deal. He’d be one of the best low price free agents on the market this summer.

Phoenix Big Man Rotation

Amare Stoudemire will start. Then they have Channing Frye, Robin Lopez, and Louis Amundson. The second starter could be anyone of the three, as could the first and second bigs off the bench. I expect all four players to be regular rotation players.

Loss Of A Trade Asset

The Suns only hope of being an elite team next season was to parlay Ben Wallace’s expiring contract into a meaningful acquisition (for example, Tyson Chandler). Without that influx of high level talent, the Suns simply aren’t equipped to play at the highest level.

The Suns are still a good team, a team that is capable of winning 50+ games, but they’re not able to fight with the big boys come playoff time. They’ll likely make the playoffs but lose in the first round.

Steve Nash + Grant Hill

Re-signing Grant Hill was a waste of Hill’s time, and a waste of Phoenix’s money.

Re-signing Steve Nash will be a terrible decision. The Suns need to start rebuilding, not handing out an eight figure per annum three year contract to a 36 year old point guard.

Suns Medium Term

The Suns are going absolutely nowhere. They’re running into a brick wall over and over again for the next couple of years.

Conclusion

I think this was the wrong decision by Steve Kerr. He would have been better off trading Ben Wallace for a guy like Tyson Chandler, and then not signing Channing Frye and/or Grant Hill. That would have given the Suns more options at retooling on the run.

Also, Ben Wallace becomes one of the best available free agents in pay bracket. He could be a difference maker for someone.