# Gerald Wallace opts out officially



## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I suppose this is a great shock to anyone who didn't expect that Gerald might not like to pretty well double his pay.It seems to me that we should come right out with an offer that would scare off everyone else.I was reading this from a blog called dallasbasketball.com and if their information is correct then virtually noone else is going to be able to offer him substantially more than the mid-level exception.I see no reason to low ball Gerald.We've been getting him on the cheap for a good while and if we lose him it's going to destroy this franchise.Just come right out and let everyone know that we're serious about it.

I really wouldn't think there's much way anyone else could sign him without an S&T.I suppose he could decide to go somewhere to look for a title and sign for low money,but he's only 25 and it'd be foolish to think you might get another chance to sign a contract for fifty or sixty million bucks.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

We can't afford to lose him and I hope our FO realizes this. I don't think there's a chance he's not a Bobcat next year though. He's bout to get paid and he deserves it


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I guess the smart thing would be to frontload the contract bigtime since we're going to have all sorts of capspace next year and after that you would have more flexibility to do whatever you wanted.Pay him 16 million next year and then 10 million for each of the three years after that.Something like that so that we'd pay him a lot when we could easily afford it and not pay him so much when we might want to get other people.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

In other words we'll probably give him a contract that makes the least possible sense


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Orlando is set on Rashard, and nobody else can really touch him. He will be back!


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I don't know if what I said works.I need to ask Storyteller or someone else who really knows the salary rules.Now that I think about it a signing bonus probably counts against the cap over the length of the contract.You can frontload a contract so that if you pay players more in the early years of a contract and save the capspace for later years.

Right now we've got a lot of open roster spots and only about 24 million in contracts right now.If we give Gerald 10 million a year and pay two rookie contracts on the picks now I think that takes you up to around 38 million and we need to get over 40 million just to meet the minimum salary threshold.In the next offseason you're going to have all sorts of huge Free Agents,depending on who opts out.If we want to go after those guys it would be better to take as much of a salary cap hit as we could this year.

There's also the potential for Emeka to really bust out this season and end up costing us big money to re-sign.Right now his QO is only 7 million,but given the demand for quality bigs in the NBA it's going to be a lot more expensive if he can stay healthy and productive next year.All he'd have to do is develop a good offensive game and you'd be looking at really big money to keep him.


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## -33- (Aug 6, 2002)

S&T to Miami? Please?


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

That's quite possible. Charlotte would love a guard like Kapono wouldn't they? As long as Gerald has no chance of coming back.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

http://www.charlotte.com/bobcats/story/175428.html

*Wallace to become free agent*

*Bobcats to meet forward's agent at stroke of midnight*

*RICK BONNELL*

*[email protected]*


The Charlotte Bobcats will waste no time addressing Gerald Wallace's impending free agency.

Wallace's agent, Rob Pelinka, confirmed to the Observer that Wallace has chosen to become an unrestricted free agent, effective at midnight Saturday. Wallace gave up a guaranteed salary of about $6 million next season to enter free agency.

That doesn't seem like a big risk. Based on contracts for small forwards Tayshaun Prince of Detroit and Josh Howard of Dallas, Wallace could make $10 million or more on the open market.

Bobcats executive vice president Bernie Bickerstaff is expected to meet with Pelinka as soon as the rules allow it, when Saturday becomes Sunday.
"The Bobcats have made it very clear to Gerald that he is their top priority," Pelinka told the Observer. "But Saturday at midnight, Gerald and I will start to assess what all our options are."

Pelinka confirmed what Wallace has said repeatedly -- that Wallace very much enjoys being a Bobcat.(MORE in URL)
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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

Amazing to see the S&T's other forums have put up for Gerald like were just going to give him away


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Apparently everyone is convinced that we're going to lose Gerald for nothing.Therefore we should take some trash deal for a guy who basically has no weaknesses in his game.They obviously haven't done their homework or they'd know this is just some sort of self-delusional nonsense.Orlando could possibly make him a credible offer,but all speculation centers on them and Rashard Lewis.I don't think it would be wise for Orlando to screw with us either.We can outbid them on both Wallace and Lewis...Or simply drive up the price on Lewis to be spiteful.

I am tired of explaining the reality to people.Unless someone really blows us away with an offer it's hard to see a situation where we let Gerald go.He seems to be pretty happy here and we're going to pay him what he's worth.Noone else can and therefore it's really hard to imagine that he plays anywhere else next season.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

I bet all the opt outs except for Rashard stay home. Chauncey, McDyess, and Gerald.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I got a rumor off the Memphis board that the Grizz are going to offer Gerald a contract starting at 10 million in the first season.Looking around at the salaries of nearly all the teams it looks as though Memphis can't bid more than that in the first year,but Orlando and Milwaukee could probably go up to 12 million in the first year.I don't believe anyone else can make a reasonable offer unless they find some way to shed a bunch of salary.In fact aside from Atlanta I don't think anyone can offer more than the Full MLE,which is a little less than the deal he just opted out of.Atlanta and maybe a couple of other teams could make offers that would be fairly similar to what Gerald was paid last season,just slightly more than the MLE.


I would hope that Gerald wouldn't want to go to the cellar of the Western Conference,but who knows.If we are lucky Orlando shall go after Rashard Lewis and that will take care of them really quick.If they keep Darko that might leave them with enough money to go after Gerald,but not the sort of money Lewis is expecting.Milwaukee doesn't have a point guard on their roster and they would seemingly want to either re-sign Mo Williams or go after Chauncey Billups.Either way they need a point guard and you would think they'd be focused on that more than going out to outbid us on Gerald when that would leave them without capspace to pay a decent point.


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## Jwill55gRizZ (Jun 8, 2003)

uhh.. they do have Rudy Gay..


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## step (Sep 19, 2005)

Front loaded contract similar to Kirk Hinrich's 5 year, $50M. It benefits the team and the player, he gets more money upfront and if he doesn't perform up to par in the future, he's easier to trade. Plus in the future the team could sign another player due to more available cap space.


> McDyess


McDeyess chose not to opt out.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

http://www.nba.com/magic/news/Magic_Tend_Qualifying_Offers_t-230377-800.html
Orlando has extended the QO to Darko.I believe it's quite similar to the MLE.If Darko accepts then that means Orlando will only have about 13 or 14 million in capspace for either Rashard Lewis or for Gerald.The only thing I've heard is that they are after Rashard and nothing about them going after Gerald.Undoubtedly this means that they want to be retain the option of arranging a sign and trade.Hard to say what it means for us,but since Orlando is almost the only real threat we should cast a wary eye towards them.


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## dnbman (Jul 1, 2007)

I'm not too worried about it. If it's the difference in a Mil or two, we'll resign GW. That small amount is worth Johnson and Jordan's credibility. 13 is getting a little high though. Hopefully Orlando refrain a bit. Also, Darko will command more than the QO. That could bring down their capspace even more.

The other thing to think about is that they're going to have to give Howard the max pretty soon. Unless they want to be way in the red for the luxury tax, they're going to have to be careful of their contracts. 

I think they're more interested in Lewis anyway. Hopefully we'll sign GW before Lewis signs.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

An Observer reporter is saying Gerald just put his house up for sale. I don't know if that's any evidence of him being set on leaving but we'll just have to wait and see.

LINK to the story it's near the bottom.

and then there's this



> The Mavericks' No. 1 target in free agency? Folks in Dallas might have been expecting Mavs killer Matt Barnes, but I'm told it's actually Charlotte's Gerald Wallace.


It would have to be a sign and trade and I can't see us agreeing to something like that


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Losing Gerald without getting a lot in return would be devastating for this franchise.I don't see anything Dallas would be willing to give up that I'd want half as much as Gerald.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Oooh. If they trade Howard for KG they would definately need G-Force. Interesting!


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## WhoDaBest23 (Apr 16, 2003)

He better be back... I'd give him $11 million more or less and that's it. They just better not lose him for nothing.


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## dnbman (Jul 1, 2007)

There have been a lot of haters from the Shinn years that like to run their mouths about the misfortunes of the Bobcats. They've already been making up things about Wallace wanting out, despite everything Wallace has said being to the contrary. The fact that the house isn't listed makes me think this is another one of those rumors. 

Basically, we can outbid everyone for him. If a team says they're going to pay him something ridiculous, like $20M, they'd have to send that back to us in players. The only two realistic possibilities for Wallace leaving and us getting nothing is if Milwaukee or Orlando went after him. Milwaukee has to get a pg and will either pay Yi or whoever they get in return for him. Even if they outbid us for Wallace, they'd put themselves pretty deep into the luxury tax. 

Orlando has already made a qualifying offer for Darko, which would limit their ability to sign Wallace. Again, they could do it, but they'd already put themselves into luxury tax territory and haven't even ponied up for Howard's big contract coming up in two years. 

I think we're in pretty good shape.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

I missed the part about him selling his house. That's definately a bad thing.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

*Bobcats face competition to keep Wallace*

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -The Charlotte Bobcats face heavy competition in their effort to re-sign leading scorer Gerald Wallace.
*The Bobcats were one of eight teams that contacted Wallace when the NBA's free agency period began at midnight Saturday. Dallas, Orlando, Milwaukee, Detroit, Miami, Portland and Golden State all made inquiries, a person close to Wallace said Sunday.*
The person, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, said Wallace hasn't agreed to a deal with any team.
Bobcats part-owner Michael Jordan said last week that re-signing Wallace was one of the team's top offseason priorities. Bobcats vice president of basketball operations Bernie Bickerstaff did not immediately return a phone call Sunday.
Wallace averaged 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds a game last season, when he made just over $5.5 million. He opted out of the final year of his contract, which would have paid him about $6 million, to become an unrestricted free agent. Wallace could command more than $10 million a season in a deal that could run as long as six years.
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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The _*person*_ is indubitably Gerald's agent spreading the word that lots of teams want him.Of course we knew that already.It doesn't change the fact that he'd have to take less to sign almost anywhere else,nor that we aren't very likely to work out a sign and trade unless we have very little option.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

What do you guys think of a Tayshaun + Flip Murray for Gerald Wallace trade?


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## CB4Allstar (Feb 21, 2006)

This is bad news for Charlotte. I know if I were them, i would much rather have him than Adam Morrison, a.k.a. one dimensional softie...Gerald brings everything to the table, and he helps them in virtually all areas. He's one of the most versatile players in the League.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

All the comments we saw on the other boards are finally venturing over here Diable

HE'S NOT LEAVING!


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Well when I'm done spending every minute looking for updates on KG hopefully there will be some info on Gerald's situation.


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

I just read that Milwaukee has contacted Desmond Mason, and offered Mo Williams a 5yr/40M contract. So they are out. Orlando is dead set on Rashard Lewis. Dallas likes him, but Howard isn't going anywhere. It looks like it'd have to be a S&T deal. So out of all those rumored teams I guess Detroit & Golden State could be destinations.


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## dnbman (Jul 1, 2007)

Remember, also: a team has to agree to a sign and trade. If we didn't want to trade him, we wouldn't have to. And on top of that, we'd have to get contracts in return for that to happen. 

Otherwise, no one can offer him as much money as we can outright. 

Don't sweat this. It's all good!


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## Ruff Draft (Nov 21, 2004)

Well if you absolutely can't sign him. A S&T is better than nothing...


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## dnbman (Jul 1, 2007)

It's true, but Orlando presents the only possibility for us getting nothing, unless Gerald takes a pay cut. 

We'll resign him.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Milwaukee has apparently offered Mo Williams a contract worth about 8 million a year and that should eliminate the very small chance that they would have made a competitive offer for Gerald.If Orlando would just make a big fat offer for Rashard Lewis we could pretty much relax.

I understand that Lewis is looking for some really big money.I just hope his greed doesn't frighten off the Magic.Of course I can't say I wouldn't like to make 80 plus million in the next six years.


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## BenDavis503 (Apr 11, 2007)

*Where will Wallace go?*

Thoughts? I would LOVE to have him in Portland.

What are your opinions on that happening and where do you think he will actually go? Or will he stay?!

What do you guys want to happen?

Thanks.

B

P.S. I am a huge Bobcat fan.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

*Re: Where will Wallace go?*

Considering theres a 30 something post thread on Gerald opting out where every Bobcat fan in it has said repeatedly that Gerald isn't going anywhere I don't think we really need this thread


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

*Re: Where will Wallace go?*



BenDavis503 said:


> Thoughts? I would LOVE to have him in Portland.
> 
> What are your opinions on that happening and where do you think he will actually go? Or will he stay?!
> 
> ...


Feel free to to read this entire thread if you really wish to be illuminated.I do not choose to repeat the facts which are well known to those who really wish to know.


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## Carbo04 (Apr 15, 2005)

*Re: Where will Wallace go?*

If GW is not a Bobcat next year I will never watch this team again.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

I'm surprised he hasn't signed yet but with Rashard Lewis signing with Orlando the chance of him leaving is pretty much gone

I read Gerald was scheduled to visit Orlando at the end of the week so maybe this signing will speed up since he won't have to go


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