Another Portland Trail Blazers’ alum makes an appearance here; however this time Portland doesn’t get to have the bragging rights about sniffing out Gerald Wallace’s exceptional talent. Although its possible the Sacramento Kings never did either, as they did not place protection on Wallace in the NBA’s 2004 Expansion Draft.
Just like that, Gerald Wallace became a Charlotte Bobcat. The next six seasons would be the kindest of Wallace’s career, averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. Wallace quickly showed the world he was no simple project player unworthy of expansion protection, but instead a prodigy of the game set on making an impact.
2010 would be the pinnacle of Wallace’s achievements, averaging 18.2 points and 10 rebounds per game. This season marked the first and only time Wallace would be selected to the NBA All-Star Game, as well as being nominated to the All-Defensive Team. As the cherry on top, Wallace would lead the struggling Charlotte Bobcats to their only positive record and playoff appearance between the years 2005 and 2013.
As fate would have it, Wallace’s career appears to be an ironic direct inverse of the aforementioned Nic Batum’s. Batum was a player with mediocre stats on a successful team that was dealt from Portland to Charlotte as soon as he had a bad year. Wallace was a player with excellent stats on a bad team that was dealt from Charlotte to Portland as soon as he became an all-star.
While he would never again be the player he once was, Wallace’s average of 14.2 points and 7 rebounds across two seasons and 65 games with the Blazers were still very respectable. Even if he put up a horrid performance, Portland fans would likely still forgive him. In 2012, Wallace was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets in return for Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams and a first-round pick. Who would that pick eventually become? Damian Lillard.
For that reason, the brief memory Gerald Wallace will always hold a special place in the heart of the Portland Trail Blazers organization.