Making Sense of Wallace's 40-14-6-4 Night

Wanted to wait a day before attempting to make sense of Gerald Wallace dropping 40 on the Washington Wizards. Wallace, whose bum hip caused him to get out of the gate slowly this season, also collected 14 rebounds, took six steals and blocked four shots in a performance being dubbed the best in franchise history.

Earlier this season I said the Bobcats should be looking to move the skywalking small forward - before he walks on his own and tests free agency in the offseason. This is one aspect of sports I've never agreed with - losing somebody for nothing.

It seems to happen all the time, but I'm not a fan of it. Yes, sometimes general managers find their hands tied (dealing a popular player rarely thrills the fan base). Other times, teams will have no leverage to deal a player before they walk.

But something must be done with Wallace. He plays the same position - small forward - as first-round pick Adam Morrison. Unless Wallace wants to shift to shooting guard - something that is possible, especially now with a guard spot open after Brevin Knight was lost for a month - I can't see him co-existing with Morrison. Why not A-Mo at shooting guard, you ask? Well, there's the little fact that he can't play defense.

Solution? Might as well try Wallace at the off-guard. Have him start tonight ... with Kobe in town.

As for any actual trades, it probably will be tough to move Wallace alone - teams probably figure why give up anything for him when we can make a run at him this summer? - but if you package say, Wallace and center Melvin Ely, perhaps someone bites. For now, you'll have to settle for the occasional outburst in scoring from Wallace, and hope his shot selection doesn't hinder the progress of Morrison, one of the players the franchise apparently wants to build around (Emeka Okafor being the other).

And I do mean outburst. Because a guy playing for a big payday is likely to get his chuck on.