Bye Bye Bonzi
John Salmons finds a home, but Bonzi Wells better call a moving truck…
Well, that worked out well for John Salmons, at least. After getting stuck between the Raptors and the Sixers and then finding himself without a team, tonight John Salmons agreed to a multiyear deal with the Sacramento Kings. This seems like a nice fit, as long, athletic players tend to flourish in Sacto. And the Kings are making a racket out of picking up guys that find themselves homeless (like they did last season with Shareef Abdur-Rahim).
The flipside to this is that Bonzi Wells will not return to the Kings next season. His agent said the Kings weren’t offering enough money, and that what they did offer included — get this — a weight clause. Did they think they were signing Anna Nicole Smith?
The Sacto paper makes it sound like a sign-and-trade is still a possibility, though it’s going to be tougher now to find Bonzi a home. Denver might have been a possibility, but since they traded for JR Smith that door might be closed, as well. How about Indiana? Anyone?
26 Responses to “Bye Bye Bonzi”
Jul.24 at 9:56 pm
Mighty says:
kings should have picked Bonzi! did they forget what bonzi did vs the Spurs?
Jul.24 at 9:57 pm
Stephen S. says:
If I’m not mistaken, Atlanta could use a good veteran scorer to put with Joe Johnson and has money to burn. Would they be at all interested?
Jul.24 at 9:59 pm
truce says:
so ron artest is going to kill him when he leaves right? i can’t wait to see that on the bottomline.
Jul.24 at 10:00 pm
Alex says:
Glad to see you hard at work, this late. Keep it up!
Jul.24 at 10:17 pm
Tunez says:
yeah Alex, gotta give Lang due props…. always gotta envy someone who does a job they enjoy… and truce, seeing as how it’s Ron Ron, it might actually happen. Bonzi’s a solid 2 guard who when stays out of trouble and focused, is down right dangerous. I don’t see him averaging more than 15-20 but he can easily go for 30 or 40 any night
Jul.24 at 10:38 pm
Stephen S. says:
And another thought. Now that Salmons spurned Toronto this would be an oppurtunity for Bonzi to go there and help them build a new franchise. Personally I hope he ends up at Phoenix, because they need another player who plays slightly out of position and is impossible to guard.
Jul.24 at 11:41 pm
Simo W. from Aus says:
Sorry Stephen, i’m a big, BIG toronto fan and would love to see a player of bonzi’s stature thrown into an already dangerous tdot lineup but it would jus clog it up to much. Toronto needs another outside scoring threat incase Bargnani doesn’t end up hittin em in NBA 3pt land. Toronto should conserve some cap space for nex year with an a good free agent class looming
Jul.25 at 12:10 am
Josh says:
Wow, Im from around Toronto and a lot of people are starting to look at the raps as a building franchise. Hopefully they will succeed. Now about the announcing issue in Toronto….
Jul.25 at 1:45 am
your mom says:
They should play shareef every single game as a starter
Jul.25 at 1:51 am
Kobe says:
I fail to see why you were shocked that the kings wanted a weight clause lang. Bonzi has a knack for getting out of shape.
Jul.25 at 2:16 am
Troy Dallas says:
Run, Bonzi run. cuz Ron Artest is gonna be on your ass
Jul.25 at 4:28 am
Matthijs says:
I’d say Bonzi Wells should go to Golden State Warriors. He’d make the starting five over Mike Dunleavy.
Jul.25 at 9:37 am
Cheryl says:
I’d like to see Bonzi in Houston. I think he’d do well backing up, or along side, T-Mac. The question is: does the Houston coaching staff have the cajones to keep the Bonz in line?
Jul.25 at 10:55 am
Rich says:
John Salmons…Kevin Martin…Francisco Garcia…its like they’re cloning 6-7 SG’s out there…plus they picked up Quincy Douby…
Jul.25 at 11:03 am
udani says:
kings can trade him to the pistons for carlos delfino and a future draft pick
Jul.25 at 2:29 pm
I.Favors says:
I think that the Sixers should get Bonzi Wells, him and Iverson would make a good backcourt.
Jul.25 at 2:59 pm
Glen says:
I’m with Truce, Bonzi’s good as dead with Ron Ron chasing him. And I’m a Kings fan and this is not good news. Nothing against Salmons, but Bonzi was the best rebounder on the team (which is sad, I know) and just the most consistent player after he came back from his injury. So I can’t decide who’s stupider, the Kings for not offering enough money or Bonzi for not taking it and now having Ron Artest chasing after him with a knife…..
Jul.25 at 3:38 pm
Myung says:
Stephen S, you’re right in saying the Hawks need another scorer. In losing Al Harrington, we’re losing our only other consistent scorer from last season. BUT…Bonzi wouldn’t be the answer because of the position he plays. I’m pretty sure the reason the Hawks drafted Marvin last year (as the World Wide Follower’s Marc Stein liked to point out 3.4 times a week during the past year) over Chris Paul was because they knew Al wouldn’t be a Hawk this upcoming year. Could we use a scorer like Bonzi? Of course. We NEED scoring. But my guess is that Billy Knight is placing all his trust in JJ…and then Marvin (whose scoring average better double), the two Josh’s, Zaza, Speedy, and Shelden. I don’t think we need another SF/SG. Are we going to have enough offense? Sigh. Let’s just say…I hope we’re not done dealing. I’d really like to see us get more scoring from the 5 spot. Personally, I think Bonzi is a gifted scorer but was motivated by the $$$ signs more than anything during the Spurs series. I WAS impressed by his rebounding numbers, but like the SLAM article in issue 101 said, Bonzi was doing his Croshere/Jerome James thing.
Jul.25 at 3:40 pm
dma says:
now i feel sorry for bonzi. nobody wants him. reminds me of jr rider part 5, but without the crack. talented, STRONG, 2 guard, but just stupid stupid stupid. there’s always new york i guess…
Jul.25 at 3:45 pm
Myung says:
I re-read what I wrote…and in case I was being unclear, I hated the fact that Marc Stein always mentioned the “Marvin over Paul” pick every chance he got. Between that and the Boris Diaw thing, it was tough to be a proud Hawks fan (not an oxymoron, though it sure seems like it could be). Look, in retrospect, we SHOULD’VE taken Chris Paul (to fill a NEED), but I still think Marvin Williams will end up being the best player from the 2005 NBA Draft. Why is it that everyone killed the Hawks for passing up Paul for Marvin, but no one really killed the Jazz for taking Deron over Paul? You telling me Deron Williams is going to be a better pro than Marv? OK…enough venting. Just had to get that out. We now return back to the regularly scheduled “Bonzi” post.
Jul.25 at 3:53 pm
soyboy says:
in other news… I saw the SLAM cover for the september issue. Is this possible? I mean I saw it on ebay. How could i see it for sale on ebay, and not see the pic released here first?
Jul.25 at 4:01 pm
Simmy Sosa says:
On a completely different subject, anyone interested in reading about the Dark side of Phil Jackson can go to: http://hoopshype.com/articles/phil_lazenby.htm I would like to discuss this article if anyone is interested.
Jul.25 at 4:25 pm
Sam Rubenstein says:
I don’t think Ron Ron will actually physically murder Bonzi Wells. Unless he signs with Indiana. In that case Bonzi is a dead man.
Jul.25 at 6:01 pm
Angelo says:
i don’t think bonzi has any chance of landing in Indiana, we’ve just dumped a whole load of salary for al (which i still don’t like-gave up to many quality players to accommodate him, that’s for another thread though) and aside for trading for a pq who can play for more than half a season think the pacers are done
Jul.25 at 11:30 pm
Wizfan says:
They shouldn’t waste all of thier money on a one seris guy.(Jerome James, that white guy that just got traded to the Mavs) They Have good young swingmen to take his space.
Jul.30 at 4:55 pm
PIMPN says:
FUCK!!!! kings should have kept bonzi what is ron rons reaction?????????????