Gerald Wallace Trade To Blazers Dead After Bobcats Back Out, According To Report

Gerald Wallace appeared to be on his way to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, but it now appears that talks are cooling and no deal will take place. In fact, according to a report by Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer, the talks are officially dead.

Reports yesterday indicated the Blazers were going to trade either Joel Przybilla and/or point guard Andre Miller, as well as draft picks and cash, to the Bobcats for Wallace. The move would have given Portland an upgrade as it pushes for the playoffs, while Charlotte would have saved long-term payroll and gotten out of the final two years and $21 million of Wallace’s contract. However, according to Bonnell, the talks happened much earlier in the season.

The internet was abuzz Wednesday with rumors Wallace was about to be moved to Portland, before Thursday’s trade deadline. This much is true: The Bobcats approached the Blazers as far back as December, to inquire about their interest in Wallace. The Blazers showed enough interest to do research on Wallace’s personality and health.

However, other reports indicated the Bobcats backed out yesterday, with Michael Jordan himself getting “cold feet” according to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski. If so, this wouldn’t be the first time. The Bobcats had a deal in place last summer to move forward Boris Diaw to the Raptors for point guard Jose Calderon, but Jordan backed out of it at the last minute.