Two weeks ago, I discussed Bonzi Wells’ current situation in “Where’s Bonzi?” Well, he’s still a man without a team and he’s since fired his agent (William Phillips) and signed with Merle Scott, an indication that he’s not too happy with the way the summer has gone. There is still interest from several teams, and most recently he met with the Houston Rockets.
After earning $8 million last season, he turned down a five-year, $36 million offer from the Kings, a strong indication that an offer of a mid-level exception would not work. The Kings instead signed John Salmons, and the majority of teams over the cap spent their mid-level exceptions.
The Rockets have just $2.1 million of their mid-level exception remaining to offer unless they can work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Kings. The Rockets have a $4.2 million trade exception in which they could sign a free agent for as much as $4.2 million and send only a draft choice, but as with any sign-and-trade arrangement, that would require an agreement with the Kings.
It looks like Wells may have shot himself in the foot when he turned down the five-year/$36 M offer from the Kings. With so few teams under the salary cap, it’s unlikely that anyone is going to want to invest $8+ M a year for five years in a 30 year-old player with a history of being a malcontent. If he is able to get a contract greater than the mid-level exception (~$6M), some team is going to have to put a package together that the Kings will accept. Teams over the cap have to execute a sign-and-trade with Wells’ old team to get around the salary cap rules.
The Rockets seem like a strange fit. They’ve already got Tracy McGrady and Shane Battier on the perimeter, so Wells (or Battier) would have to come off the bench. That assumes that McGrady’s back is good to go, which is a big assumption.
