Gerald Wallace it is….."waffling" D12 stays put

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Updated: March 15, 2012

The NJ Nets have acquired SF Gerald Wallace from the Portland Trailblazers for Mehmet Okur/Shawne Williams/2012 1st rd pick (protected 1-3)  

Wallace (aka Crash) is a career 13 pts/6 rebs/2 assist player that is 29years old with a great motor and one of the best SF defenders in the game.  Wallace has a player option for 11.5 ml next year on his contract and it looks like he will pick that option up now.

He was playing around 35 minutes a game this year but the Trailblazers are in complete disarray after starting the year well behind LaMarcus Aldridge and it looks like Nate McMillan has lost the team as they have bottomed out.  The team has just released word that McMillan has been fired and the team also traded starting C Marcus Camby to Houston for Flynn/Thabeet and a 1st round pick.

Wallace will be a much-needed addition to the Nets the rest of this year and probably go into Brooklyn with the team as the SF position has been nothing short of “horrendous” for them to date. Injuries and more injuries have depleted the position to a sham the entire year and now there will be some stability for the Nets to make a late push for the last playoff spot.  If Deron Williams and Brook Lopez can come back healthy this week the Nets now have a formidable starting lineup that includes WilliamsBrooksWallaceHumphriesLopez along with some pieces off the bench.  The Nets were unable to complete a deal to rid themselves of  the Petro and Farmar deals but just getting a SF on this team is a blessing.

Many Nets fans seem to be upset with the addition of the Nets 1st round pick in the deal but they do have a protection 1-3 and beyond those 3 slots I really don’t see a “franchise changing” player so all in all I think Billy King filled a need that will show Deron Williams he can adjust quickly and still have plenty of space and expiring deals for the summer to upgrade roster moving to Brooklyn.

Dwight Howard pulled one of the more memorable “waffling” games ever seen by an athlete as he “opted in” to his current contract by changing his mind several times in the last 24 and may have cost himself many millions of dollars as well as every  piece of leverage he now has moving forward.  Nice job Superman ….now live with the results and a capped strapped team for another year.

Follow me on Twitter @jpaolantonio23

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