Why The L.A. Lakers Won’t Trade For Ben Wallace

The Chicago Tribune’s Sam Smith reports on the Bulls trying to move Ben Wallace: 

Though no one among the Bulls is going to admit it, the beginning of the end for Ben Wallace probably came Saturday night. It was against the Pistons with Joakim Noah taking all the minutes down the stretch as the ball-deflecting, shot-blocking, offensive-rebounding, bad-free-throw-shooting, bad-hair guy.

The notion is Wallace’s contract, with two seasons after this totaling $28.5 million, is unmovable. (We always say things like that and then guys like Juwan Howard and Shawn Kemp are traded.) Wallace makes sense for the Lakers with Andrew Bynum’s injury, and they can give the Bulls enough to make sense of a deal.

You take Kwame Brown’s expiring contact of $9 million and add Vladimir Radmanovic at $5.6 million and it’s a deal. The Bulls wouldn’t want to take on Radmanovic’s deal, which goes through 2010-11, but it’s much cheaper than Wallace and may be the best way to get out from under his deal. (This deal was also reported by CNNSI.)

My Very Quick Take: Smith is right. Wallace is available; Noah, for all his yapping, is the post of the future in Chicago.

But this rumor makes no sense for the Lakers. None. Why trade Brown’s expiring contract for Wallace’s 2 year, 29 million dollar pact? Especially since Big Ben would start for just two months until Andrew Bynum returns. Talk about an expensive rental.

Then there’s the chemistry thing. Right now, everybody and everything is gelling in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant is feeling his team and the team is feeling him.

How would Wallace react to limited minutes once Bynum returns? And how would he click with teammates and coach Phil Jackson? Remember, the veteran has had issues with past sideline bosses.

Wallace’s contract proves two things. First, Pistons’ GM Joe Dumars was smart not to re-sign him two summers ago. Second, Bulls’ GM John Paxson made a mistake signing the veteran to such a lucrative, long-term pact.

Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak won’t make the same mistake as Paxson.

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