Chris Webber Wants His Contract Bought Out

Chris Webber, who has missed nine of the past 12 games with foot and ankle injuries, returned to practice on Monday. He's already been ruled out for tonight's game against the Pistons, though, and it's likely he could miss Wednesday's trip to New York to face the Knicks.

In fact, there's at least a chance that he's played his final game for the Sixers. Attached to the bottom of an AP article about Larry Brown's return was a surprising quote from Webber. Judge for yourself:

But Webber, who has been unhappy with his role and the losing, said after practice he would not play against the Pistons, and didn't know if he'd ever play for the 76ers again.

When asked if the team was trying to buy out his contract, Webber said, "I've been talking to them for a long time," indicating he might soon be finished in Philly.

Cheeks said Webber has been a complete professional, but understood why the 36-year-old forward wanted to end his career with a winner.

Wow. First AI, now C-Webb. The Kings didn't get much value for Webber when they traded him to Philly (my apologies to all of the Kenny Thomas/Corliss Williamson fans out there) in 2005, but they did get out from underneath Webber's massive contract just when he started his decline. What did Philly get out of a year and a half of Webber? If this goes the way Webber wants, nothing but a pile of debt.

C-Webb is making slightly more than $20.7 million, he's the second-highest paid player in the NBA this year (trailing KG and tied with Allan Houston), and he's got another $25 million and change coming next year. But he's a shell of the player he used to be, averaging just 11 points and 8.3 rebounds, down from 21.4 and 10.0 from his career average.

If the Sixers do buy him out, he'd be an interesting commodity on the free agent market. Assuming he can get healthy, he certainly looks like he could be more productive than Jalen Rose, his Fab Five teammate who was swallowed up by Phoenix's bench after being let go by the Knicks. Where could Webber go? I make my best guess after the jump.

Webber grew up in Detroit and flirted with the Pistons the last time he was a free agent, but if there's one thing the Pistons have enough of it's power forwards. It could happen, but I doubt it. I could picture Webber going to another Central division team, though ...

If Webber hits the open market with a big fat buyout and is willing to sign for the rest of the year for the veteran's minimum, I have to imagine Chicago would quickly emerge as one of the top suitors. Most people seem to agree that the Bulls are a scoring big man away from being a true contender, but the Bulls might not want to trade one of their core youngsters to acquire such a player.

While Webber may not be able to score 25+ night in and night out like he used to, he's an excellent ball-handler, could help Ben Wallace on the boards and would make the Bulls much more dangerous down low. Plus, Chicago's offense is slow enough that it won't be clogged up by Webber, who's stuck with a bum set of wheels for the rest of his career.

Webber has started 777 of 779 career games, and Chicago is the rare contender that he could immediately slide into the starting lineup. Andres Nocioni is a very fine player, but he's undersized to be a consistent four in the NBA and may be better-suited coming off the bench, where he can play both the three and the four.

Obviously, a lot of things would have to fall into place for this to happen -- namely, Webber and Philadelphia coming to terms on a buyout in the first place. But if he does become a free man, seriously, this makes too much sense for it not to happen. What do you think?