In the NBA, Wells played for five teams from 1998 to 2008: the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets.

There he was named the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Freshman Player of the Year in the 1995–96 season, while helping the Cardinals to the NCAA Tournament.

[2] Wells broke Ron Harper's conference record of 2,377 career points on a one-handed dunk against Northern Illinois on February 21, 1998.

[4] As a swingman in Portland, Wells achieved career highs in scoring and improved somewhat on defense, and picked up what some would call a bad-boy image,[citation needed] while sharing the role of co-captain with Rasheed Wallace.

Wells and teammate Erick Barkley in 2001 were cited for criminal trespass after they refused to follow the order of an officer to leave the scene of a fight near a downtown nightclub.

[10] The co-captains carried the sixth-seeded Trail Blazers to a decisive Game 7 versus the Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki-led three-seeded Mavericks.

The Mavericks won the series, and thirteen games into the following season Wells was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Wesley Person and a 2004 first-round pick.

The unorthodox coaching methods of Hubie Brown and his strict 10-man rotation limited Wells to just under 25 minutes per game for the Grizzlies.

[11] Prior to the start of the 2005–06 NBA season, Wells was acquired from the Grizzlies by the Kings in a trade for point guard Bobby Jackson and center Greg Ostertag.

When Wells entered free agency at the closing of the season, teammate Ron Artest (now known as Metta World Peace) offered to forgo his entire salary in order to keep him on the team.

[15] Van Gundy placed Wells on the inactive list, dismissed him from team practices for over a month, and relegated him to working with trainers and on the exercise bicycle to improve his conditioning.

He returned to the lineup on January 17, and saw consistent playing time off the bench, highlighted by his 14 points in a win against his former team, the Trail Blazers.

On February 21, 2008, Wells was traded to the New Orleans Hornets along with Mike James as part of a three-team deal involving Houston and the Memphis Grizzlies.

[18] February 23, Wells made his Hornets debut when he came off the bench registering 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in a 98–89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

[20] Wells chose to sign with Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association[21] rather than play for the NBA's minimum salary.

[28] The nickname, Bonzi, originated from the cravings his mother, Christine Scaife Coleman,[28] had for ice cream bonbons during her pregnancy with him.