Sean Deveney

If free agency is a game of musical chairs, Bonzi Wells is singing the blues. Wells and his agent, William Phillips, severely miscalculated early this summer, when the Kings made a five-year, $36 million offer. Wells and Phillips turned it down, certain they could work out a bigger deal in a sign-and-trade. Wrong — which helps explain why Wells still is looking for employment two weeks before training camp starts, and also why Phillips is now Wells' former agent.

Most of this, of course, is Wells' own fault. It's hard to pity a guy who overvalued himself as much as Wells did back in July; it's also hard to pity a guy who still will make in the $3 million range this season. He had a brilliant postseason, but in the luxury-tax era, teams just can't overpay for two weeks of brilliance.

If the tax was designed to save owners from themselves, to prevent them from making stupid signings based on little consistent production, then the Wells case is a good example of the tax at work. Additionally, Wells carried a reputation as a slacker and pain in the backside after stormy tenures in Portland and Memphis. He's also had two severe knee injuries — just more reasons teams did not flock to him this summer.

But Wells is too good a player to be in his current situation. He is one of the best post-up shooting guards in the league and a solid perimeter shooter. He is capable of playing good defense and is an excellent backcourt rebounder. Questions about his attitude should be tempered by the fact that Kings coach Eric Musselman was an assistant with the Grizzlies two years ago when Wells was in Memphis — the year that coach Mike Fratello sent Wells home during the playoffs. But Musselman supported the re-signing of Wells in Sacramento 100 percent. He could not have been all that bad in Memphis. Thus, it was easy to have contempt for Wells early this summer. And it's easy to have sympathy for him now.

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Wells will play this season, but he has limited options. He missed a chance to make Sacramento a contender again. He won't be going back to the Kings. Sacto can't afford to make a sign-and-trade with Wells, so that option is almost certainly out. Unless Wells now undervalues his skills, he is basically left with one choice: sign a one-year deal (maybe with a player option for a second year, in case he is injured) with a team that can showcase him.

The Heat has been discussed, but Wells would be low on the scoring totem in Miami. Charlotte is another possibility, but Wells is not going to turn the Bobcats into a contender and would lack the postseason exposure that would boost his summer value (however, if the Bobcats offered a one-year, $8 million deal, well then, all bets are off). That means one of two things: taking a one-year, $3 million deal with Denver or working out a Rockets-Kings deal in which Houston sends its $4.2 million trade exception to Sacramento with a pick.

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Wells would make more money with Houston, but that does not look like a wise career move. The roughhouse defensive approach of Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy is outdated, and Houston was 29th in the league in scoring last season. On a team that has Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, Wells does not figure to score much. If he signs a one-year deal, he will have to put up good numbers. His chances of doing so in Houston are diminished.

The Denver option is the better one, because the Nuggets are a good team desperate for a shooting guard. Wells would be the No. 2 option on an uptempo team, meaning he'll have the opportunity to score 15-18 points per game and grab 7-8 rebounds. If he does, he can take another crack at free agency next year. When he does, hopefully he will have learned his lesson, and he'll jump at $36 million when it's offered.