NBA: John Wall expected to pick up player option; could be on a new team next season
John Wall is expected to exercise his $47.4 million NBA player option, and he may be traded or bought out in the last year of his deal.
FollowJohn Wall is expected to pick up his massive $47.4 million player option for the upcoming season of the NBA. The Houston Rockets, who paid Wall over $40 million while not playing him in a single minute, are expected to look for trade partners or a buyout for the former all-star guard. Wall was drafted by the Washington Wizards in 2010 and led the franchise back to relevance with multiple playoff appearances as it became a multi-time all-star, all-NBA, and all-defensive selection. After the 2016-17 NBA season, where Wall played his best basketball and led the team to within a Conference game, the Wizards offered Wall one of the biggest deals in the entire league: A Supermax contract.
The contract would kick in 2019 and offer Wall up to $170 million. Unfortunately, for the Wizards, Wall didn’t play a single game for the team by the time the agreement kicked in, as he suffered an injury that kept him out for almost two seasons. Realizing Wall was one of the most overpaid and untradable contracts, the Wizards moved Wall [and a first-round pick] to Houston for Russell Westbrook.
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John Wall would play again, but he was nowhere near the player he once was. As the Rockets started to enter a rebuild, it was clear that John Wall wouldn’t be part of their plans. In most scenarios, this would lead to a trade. However, Wall’s contract had become so untradable that the franchise couldn’t find a trade partner. As a result, Wall had to sit out the entire 2021-22 NBA season while the Rockets developed their young guards.
Thankfully for Wall’s NBA career, there is a good chance he gets to play on an NBA court soon as there are possibilities of a trade or buyout with only one year left on his contract. A buyout would see Wall collect his $47.6 million before signing with another team for a more reasonable price.
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Reliable insiders have also suggested that Wall being on another NBA team is possible. Jake Fischer from Bleacher Report said, “If the Rockets cannot find a trade for Wall before the June 23 NBA Draft, all signs now point to Houston and Wall’s representation revisiting buyout talks before free agency in July. In that event, Wall would become an unrestricted free agent.”
On the other hand, Rockets insider Ben DuBose said that a buyout is “more likely” than a trade because Houston isn’t interested in taking on bad contracts, which would probably be necessary to move Wall’s salary to another team. Temas such as Clippers and Heat would be expected to pursue Wall if his contract is bought out.
