The Cleveland Cavaliers may have been crushed at the hands of the Orlando Magic on Saturday but that may not be as big as the loss of their starting center and enforcer, Ben Wallace, who is contemplating retirement at the end of the season.
“I’m going to sit down and talk with my family, weigh my options and come up with a decision,” the 34-year-old Wallace said after Cleveland’s 103-90 loss. “Nothing’s definite, but there’s a strong possibility that this was my last season.” 
With one year and $14 million left to go on his contract, Wallace said that he has yet to speak to his team management about a buyout or even retirement. “I haven’t talked to Ben at all about his future,” said general manager Danny Ferry, clearly surprised to hear the news.
A 13-year veteran in the NBA, Wallace has said that it is mainly his declining health that he believes is the main reason why he wants to quit the game. The center missed 25 games this season for a number of injuries that included a forearm laceration, a fractured right fibula, a bruised right knee and a strained tendon on his left patella. “It’s tough being on the sidelines when you’re banged up,” he said. “Then you’ve got to put in all that work to get back in the rotation. It’s becoming a young man’s game.”
A decision to retire will mean that the Cavaliers will be asked to buyout his contract as retiring might end up costing him the entire year’s salary. However, Wallace was quick to point out that it isn’t money that will help him take a decision. “I think I deserve (a buyout),” Wallace said. “But if I don’t get one and I’ve just got to give it up, that’s what I’ll do.” 
Wallace may have dropped in performance however his presence on court has been a great influence at times. Anderson Varejao and Joe Smith, Wallace’s possible replacements, both becoming free agents the Cavaliers will have no one but a 34-year old Zydrunas Ilgauskas to place at the center position. Wallace going out will mean that Varejao may get an added bonus in negotiating his contract in the summer. After sitting out more than half of the season as an unrestricted free agent, Varejao will be looking to take advantage of the Cavaliers’ need for a center and grab a deal estimated to be for a long term, worth $10 million a year.
But to sign Varejao at that amount would mean that the Cavaliers will miss out on a Chris Bosh, a star free agent, in 2010.