Percy Allen / NBA reporter
Trades: When you gotta go ...

By Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter

	RICK BOWMER / AP Bonzi Wells, a Portland co-captain when the season began, was traded to Memphis on Wednesday. Wells spit on a player and made an obscene gesture to fans as a Blazer.
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Too late.

For both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Chicago Bulls.

The trades that transformed both teams could have and should have been made months ago.

We all saw it coming. But the general managers of both teams waited and waited and waited, until it may have been too late to save their seasons.

These moves were inevitable.

"No, it wasn't inevitable," said John Nash, Portland's GM, "but it's for the best for all parties. We met with the player and his agent three weeks ago, and everyone knew this was going to happen."

The trade that shipped Bonzi Wells out of the Rose City last Wednesday had nothing to do with acquiring Wesley Person from Memphis or adding talent to a roster filled with talent.

This trade was all about getting rid of a problem. Coach Maurice Cheeks can sleep a little easier at night. Courtside fans no longer have to fear being flipped the bird, and opponents won't have to dodge spit flying at them.

Wells had to go.

All you have to know about him was an account detailed by John Canzano in last week's Oregonian of Wells' final workout with the Blazers.

Standing with crony Rasheed Wallace, both players spotted teammate Ruben Boumtje Boumtje on the other side of the court taking jump shots with his back turned to them.

"Wallace slapped Wells on the back and said, 'Watch this,' " Canzano wrote. "He then picked up a ball, reared back and fired a 100-foot, baseball-style strike that left Boumtje Boumtje writhing on the floor."

When trainers ran onto the court, Wallace and Wells scurried out the door.

And to think, Wells was a team captain when the season started.

What were the Blazers thinking? How could they elevate him to a position of leadership? What positive example could he possible set?

Last season, Wells was suspended three times — twice by the NBA and once by the Blazers.

This season, Portland fined him $10,000 for an obscene gesture toward two fans near the end of a home game against Philadelphia in early November.

Two weeks later, he cursed at Cheeks during a game at Dallas, and the team suspended him for two games and stripped him of his captaincy.

Wells became such a villain that he was booed at home.

"Bonzi could no longer be successful here," Nash said. "Change was needed."

Too late. Or better yet, not enough.

The Blazers should cleanhouse right now, but they know 11 of their 13 players have two years or less on their contracts. That's good news for a team that began the season with an $81 million payroll.

Wallace is a free agent after the season, and he won't play in Portland next season.

Nash, however, should take a cue from the Sonics and trade Wallace before he hits the open market. The Sonics dealt Gary Payton, and in return, they received Ray Allen, Ronald Murray and a first-round pick that resulted in Luke Ridnour.

"Salary-cap relief is one thing, and that's a good thing, but if you can bring in quality players, then you do it," Sonics GM Rick Sund said. "But it has to be the right deal."

Midseason deals aren't easy. Teams are restructured. Philosophies must change. But they aren't impossible.

"Don't let anybody tell you they can't happen," said Jalen Rose, who had been traded twice during a season. "Half of the teams in this league should make a trade."

By Rose's accounts, Chicago was a flawed team when the season started. He felt stifled, as did Donyell Marshall, who was also dealt to Toronto.

With the Raptors they've played their best ball of the season. Marshall has scored at least 21 points in all three games, and last Friday, Rose fell two rebounds short of a triple-double.

"I never wanted to get traded because I didn't want the stigma of being traded," Marshall said. "You get looked at a certain way. You get a rep. You can look around the league and see a lot of bad fits, players that don't belong on certain teams.

"And you wish the organization would make a move. Toronto has been trying to get me for years, so I'm not upset. I don't feel like I was unwanted in Chicago. I feel like I came to a place that wanted me."

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com

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