The Portland Trail Blazers have waived Brendan Haywood as expected, placing his NBA career on hold and probably on the shelf.
The Blazers acquired Haywood from the Cleveland Cavaliers just recently, along with another aging veteran in Mike Miller. However, the consensus was that Portland never really had any intention of signing both players.
Haywood hardly saw any action for the Cavs last season and his hefty $10.5 million contract didn't help at all. Although it is believed that some teams were willing to give him a shot, the fact is that he is no longer the same effective player whom many found effective years back.
Right now, there is no word on what his future will be in the NBA and many believe that Haywood may have unwillingly reached the end of his career.
Even though he wants to continue playing, there may be no team willing to take him in. He could resort to taking lesser pay; but based on his previous years in the NBA, Haywood may no longer be of help.
At present, it may be his experience which could count, but seeing that there are lots of other free agent forwards that other teams could gamble on, things don't seem rosy for the 35-year-old center.
The case, however, may not be the same with Mike Miller. Despite being the same age as Haywood, Miller's outside sniping could still come in handy for teams looking for an outside threat.
There were rumors linking Miller to the Miami Heat. Whichever team he ends up with, he will likely get the minimum pay. Of course, like Haywood, he also has to option to call it quits.
Certainly, all these retirement talk remain unofficial since you never know when any of the NBA teams would take a chance on both players. Of the two, however, the more likely to retire first is Haywood.
