When i heard the rumors of ben wallace coming to chicago, i though the bulls had a good idea going on. He is a great rebunder for his size, 11 1/2 last year is really good but not great. Tyson chandler pulled down 10 per two years ago and nobody really noticed. But ben's defense is what really makes him good, all the blocks and steals, not to mention the countless times players hesitate or alter their shots because of his mere presence. ( His one on one defense is not that great though. In the playoffs you saw him fall prey to spin moves from shaq and cheap arm-guided drives from lebron james)
But when i heard that he was getting sixty million over four years i could have passed out. When you look at it, at least to me, he is basically a poor man's dennis rodman. Rodman's was a legendary rebounder, pulling down 15-18 boards per game on a regular basis. And dont forget about theway he frustrated players with his physical defense, which does as much as steals and blocks because of the countless times players couldnt get a shot off with him in their face. And what was rodman making per year? He brought in 4.5 million guaranteed and 5.something in potential incentives. Thats 10 million maximum per year. Ben Wallace is not Dennis Rodman, and deserves less money than Dennis Rodman got. Enough said
I think the pressure was on the bull's GM, paxon, to make a move, and paxon buckled. The money would have been better sent on a player like Nen'e, who can rebound and put up solid offensive numbers, and is a bigger body. And unlike wallace, Nene is not asking for an increase in offensive touches, which he will get anyway. I believe that the Fro is now bigger than Ben himself, and paxon fell bait to the all-encompasing fan attraction we call the FRO.