Gerald Wallace's contract is like a lottery ticket for the Boston Celtics

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/gerald-wallaces-contract-lottery-ticket-040102941.html

SB Nation Teamsite
By Kevin O'Connor
6 hours ago

Crash's contract is ugly, but it's more valuable than you think.

Gerald Wallace was stoic last season. He often moped around on the end of the bench with his hands stuffed in his face, and he almost never smiled. But neither did the Boston Celtics fans that watched him play on the court.

Many of the league's observers consider his contract as one of the worst in the entire NBA. Wallace's three-year, $30.3 million contract was criticized by Celtics fans in a Bill Simmons piece published on Grantland.

The Worst Contracts in the NBA
Eric in Springfield, Massachusetts: "Instead of a jersey number, could the Celtics convince Wallace to wear all the first-rounders we got in that trade on his jersey? I want to be constantly reminded that we have those picks every time I’m forced to watch him play basketball."

Jared in Boston: "My roommate is a huge Celtics fan. He just realized that he turns 21 on the day Gerald Wallace’s contract expires and said, ‘That’s definitely the day I die of alcohol poisoning.’"

At 32-years-old, coming off of knee surgery and an underwhelming season, his contract certainly doesn't match his talent level, but that doesn't mean it has zero value.

To "Jared in Boston," if you're reading: Dying of alcohol poisoning on your 21st birthday/Wallace's "last day" is not worth it. Trust me.

In fact, Wallace's contract could be extremely valuable as soon as next February, but certainly during the 2015 offseason.

Before this summer Celtics president Rich Gotham was asked about how the team can put themselves in the best position for a blockbuster trade.

"Whether it's the ‘13-‘14 summer or the ‘14-‘15 summer, we do have flexibility to react to opportunities that might present themselves," Gotham said. "I think that's a big part of what we've tried to accomplish, whether that goes to a free agent or a trade. It's terribly important."

The Celtics are certainly willing to react to opportunities, as they tried to do this summer for Kevin Love, but they also have the flexibility because of the assets on the roster.

Lots of discussion goes into the value of the young prospects and the draft picks, but contracts like Wallace's have value too.

Wallace will essentially become a $10.1 million expiring contract next summer, and if there's half as much movement as there was in 2014, then he could be the piece that materializes a transaction.

Look back to 2007: if the Celtics didn't have Theo Ratliff's jumbo-sized expiring contract they never would've been able to complete a trade to acquire Kevin Garnett.

There's no guarantee any opportunities of that caliber will arise, but as Gotham said, they have to be in a flexible position to react if they do. That's exactly why Wallace's contract is like a lottery ticket. There is absolutely no reason to sell him for five cents on the dollar right now when that ticket could bring in so much more.

The Celtics have to plan for the best-case scenario, and that's exactly what they're hoping for as they hold onto Wallace's potentially valuable contract.

It's worth the risk and the wait, too. Wallace might look like a problem when he's sulking on the bench, but he's actually one of the most well liked players in the locker room. He serves as a veteran presence to many of the team's young players and he played a large role in Jeff Green's progression.

And what's the worst that can happen in keeping Crash? He sucks again with a 46.5 free throw shooting percentage? He keeps bricking threes? Or he's a nightly inactive and just keeps collecting his paychecks?

So what? Deal with it, because this current roster isn't contending for a title this year anyway.

If a star player becomes available next winter or summer, the Celtics will be one of the favorites to acquire him because of their plethora of future draft picks, prospects, and of course Wallace's expiring contract.

Before you complain about how terrible it is having Gerald Wallace on the roster, think about how happy you'll be if he's the reason the Boston Celtics are able to acquire a big-time player. Danny Ainge and the front office have to plan for the best-case scenario, and you should share those expectations.

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When I read the title, I thought the article would be about having Wallace on our roster, which would mean that we would only aspire to be a lottery team next summer, in other words, he was our ticket to getting a lottery pick.  That was because he took up so much of our cap space and his skills had eroded so much and so forth.

No, it was about the distant (to us) future and the not-so-recent past.  Wallace will play the role of Theo Ratliff, the expensive stiff that couldn't get off the bench.  How we complained about Theo's contract and the fact that it was a huge waste of money, etc, etc.  Little did we know that his expiring contract would be a key to the "Trade".

Now all we have to remember is that he is reportedly a positive influence in the locker room (contrary to many of our opinions), he can play D and has a surprisingly decent inbound passing skill.  It's a long way to the trading deadline and even longer way to the post-season, but it may all be worthwhile in the end.

gyso

I cringed when I found out we got Wallace last summer.  I wasn't feeling the same way by the end of the season.  I thought Wallace played very hard, every minute he was out there.  Has his skills eroded some, yes, but he doesn't slack and he was the #3 ball handler on the team last year when Rondo was out (Crawford in the beginning, Pressey, then Wallace and, when Crawford was traded Wallace moved up).  

Is he overpaid?  Yes.  Do I care?  No.  Other than Kevin Love, who was available this summer that we could have had but didn't because of Wallace's contract?  So, the gloom-and-doom of his contract is just that, gloom and doom, and not about legit opportunities lost.

He'll probably be in green until February, 2016 if not all the way to the end of his contract.  There's no doubt in my mind that, for as long as he's in green, Crash will be going 90 mph like his dreadlocks were on fire every second he's on the court.


bob


.

I think his point has merit. While a lot of writers have talked about trying to get rid of Wallace and his contract I've looked at it diffrently.. sometime between this upcoming trade deadline and the beginning of next summer look for the real fireworks..

For me it's been a matter of getting a gentleman's handshake on a max or near max with Rondo and then trading Wallace expiring in a ray allen type deal... and we'd still have some cap space and all our younglings..

I think Wallace has gotten a bit of a bum rap from people who like to look for negatives because they hate his salary.  He didn't brick three after three, Bill—at least not compared with the rest of the team.  He was in a virtual tie for fourth ranking in three point shooting among last year's players who are still with the team.  He hustled his ass off.  He was a bit of a loose cannon on offense, but he never was given an offensive role.  He played good defense.  He showed me absolutely no signs of "sulking" on the floor.  If you have to travel all the way to the bench to criticize his demeanor, Bill, you're really stretching it.  A lot!

He's certainly not a building block for this team.  Between his injury and the advent of Turner, he may not even spend much time on the floor this season.  But people need to lay off seeking ways to criticize him simply because, at one point, a team felt he deserved the money he's now making.

Sam

Sam

I'm of the mindset that Wallace was an underrated player last year. His energy and defensive intensity were missed once he fell to injury. I though the team exhibited a stark contrast with its perimeter defense afterwards.



KJ