Coming into the 2021-22 NBA season, the Houston Rockets’ intentions were clear. They selected four teenagers in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft and wanted to get those players as much playing time as possible. Houston is in the early stages of a rebuild so the approach made sense.
However, there were some veterans on the roster. Some of them, such as Christian Wood, Eric Bledsoe and following his acquisition ahead of the trade deadline Dennis Schroder, were in the rotation. The same could not be said about John Wall.
Wall returned from a two-year absence during the 2020-21 season, appearing in 40 games. He averaged 20.6 points with 6.9 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. It was a solid showing given how long he was sidelined, but he didn’t appear in a game this past season.
It wasn’t because of injury, either. Wall and the Rockets agreed that he wouldn’t play this season as they looked for a team to trade him to. A trade never materialized, which wasn’t surprising, as Wall has a $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season that no team was willing to take on.
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Around midseason, John Wall reportedly asked about getting in the lineup for Houston. He wanted to play given the fact that he was healthy. Showing he can still produce may have also improved his trade value, but the Houston Rockets kept him sidelined, as he operated more as a coach than a player this season.
Once he exercises his option, Wall will be on an expiring contract, which could open up more avenues to trade him. Rockets’ general manager Rafael Stone believes there will be a trade market for Wall and that a deal will come together at some point. If that doesn’t materialize, again, a buyout could be approached.
Knowing there is the potential for a buyout, some teams may not make their best trade offers, instead of hoping to pick up a veteran in free agency instead. However, Wall’s situation is similar to what the Los Angeles Lakers are going through with Russell Westbrook.
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A team could see this as an opportunity to move on from long-term deals they no longer want on their salary cap. Matching Wall’s salary is not an easy thing to do, but anyone looking to clear cap space in a deal with the Lakers, such as the Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks or Indiana Pacers, could show interest in Wall as well.
Going on 32-years old, John Wall isn’t as explosive as he once was, but is going into the 2022-23 season 100 percent healthy and should be able to help a team that is in need of some point guard help.
