Nailon's wild ride

Forward goes from coveted free agent to the waiver wire

In the NBA, a player can go from being a coveted free agent to the waiver wire in the span of a few weeks. Occasionally he can even do it without being arrested for a crime or injured in a yacht fight.

Take the case of Lee Nailon.

After re-signing with the Hornets just last month, the 6-foot-8 reserve forward found himself out of a job Wednesday. It wasn’t really anything he did or did not do. Indeed, Nailon ranked fourth on the Hornets in scoring with a 10.3 average this preseason.

But there was Nailon on Thursday, packing his bags in New Orleans and awaiting word to see if any team claims him off waivers. The Knicks, Raptors, Bucks, Blazers and Magic all have salary cap exceptions, but as of Thursday it was unclear if any would bite within the 48-hour waiver period. If not, Nailon would be free to sign with any of the league’s 29 teams.

"We’ll see what happens," says Larry Fox, his agent. "We’re not upset at all. We’re confident he’s going to find a place to play."

Why would the Hornets give away an apparent up-and-comer like Nailon? After all, several NBA teams could use a proven bench scorer who averaged 10.8 points (on 48.3 percent shooting) and 3.7 rebounds a year ago. Didn’t coach Paul Silas sing the lefty’s praises all last season for the job he did filling in for the injured Jamal Mashburn? Didn’t GM Bob Bass just re-sign him a month ago?

Yes, but circumstances can change rapidly. This season, Nailon, 27, found himself stuck in a logjam at small forward with Mashburn and George Lynch. With Mash looking fit enough to resume his 40-minute-per-night pace, it was clear somebody had to go. Either that or Silas was looking at a season-long headache as he tried to keep locker room grumbling over PT from destroying team chemistry. Thus, Lynch, who makes twice as much money as Nailon -- and is probably twice the defender -- got to keep his job.

The Hornets could have tried to trade Nailon. Several NBA teams -- the Heat, Timberwolves and Bucks among them -- could use his services, but they all have luxury tax issues. Unless they had somebody on a one-year deal who made roughly the same as Nailon’s $1 million salary, it wasn’t going to happen.

So the Hornets basically did him a favor and cut him.

Nailon, a free agent last summer, never really wanted to stay in New Orleans anyway. He knew playing time was going to be an issue when Mashburn got back. After last year’s breakout season, he didn’t want to go back to being buried on the bench.

As a restricted free agent, however, Nailon’s options were limited. The Hornets had given him a one-year qualifying offer of $790,000 (bonuses ultimately pushed the total over $1 million), meaning any team that wanted to sign him away had to offer him at least a three-year deal. According to Fox, potential suitors like the Heat, Sonics and T’wolves were unwilling to do that because of luxury tax concerns.

"We shopped around, and there just weren’t any offers," Fox said. "So we went back to New Orleans, and they were up front about it. They said, 'If it doesn’t work out, we can release him.'"

Not all of Nailon’s money was guaranteed, so the Hornets aren’t on the hook for the full $1 million. Not that they’re worried. Clearly they think Nailon is good enough to find another NBA home.

Just not good enough, apparently, to play major minutes in New Orleans.

Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.

 

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