The Rockets have the worst start in franchise history, and a healthy John Wall is yet to match a game.
After Early season report indicated With Wall and Rockets mutually agreeing that he wouldn’t play as the team was looking for an exchange, the five-time All-Star’s patience seemed to be running out.
THAN: Wall’s contracts, limited trading options leave him in limbo
After the Rockets suffered their 15th consecutive loss of the season on Monday, November 22, Wall took to Twitter to respond to two tweets about his situation.
“No clothes on,” Wall wrote, offering a correction to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, who called Wall’s situation “quite mythical”.
Less than 10 minutes later, Wall tweeted in support of one user that “you are punished for something you cannot control”.
Given the Rockets’ rough start to the season and Wall’s recent tweets, should the brand change course in its approach to Wall’s situation? As with most things, there are pros and cons to playing the 31-year-old this season.
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Should the Rockets play John Wall this season?
With 10 players with 3 years or less of NBA experience, it’s clear that this is a Rockets team focused on building for the future.
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That being said, nothing has turned around after losing 16 of their first 17 games, meaning Houston will be tied by the lottery for a second straight season. It’s not too much of a tank as it focuses on the development of young players, so comes with loads of losses and lessons learned.
Does John Wall play get in the way of rebuilding?
Last season, Wall averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 rebounds in 40 games with the Rockets, but he wasn’t playing well enough to make them a fringe playoff team.
In fact, with Wall already active for more than half of its games, Houston still finished with a 2nd pick overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, the tournament they used to draft the franchise platform. future commercial in Jalen Green.
That said, Wall has only come on off the bench 12 times in his 10 years, and the Rockets’ focus is on developing Kevin Porter Jr as their future defender. Will Wall return and dominate the ball as a signature guard, will that hinder Porter’s growth into a starting calibre?
The decision to play John Wall can open up the commercial market?
It’s no secret that Wall’s contracts are the biggest obstacle to getting a deal done. He owes more than $44 million this season and all reports suggest he plans to exercise his player option worth $47.4 million for the 2022-23 campaign.
But, if history has taught us anything, no contract is untradeable.
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Wall’s numbers in the 2020-21 campaign are good, but he lacks the impact star power displayed during his peak of power with the Mages. After being out of action for nearly two calendar years through injury, that version of the Wall may no longer exist, but he can play up his trading value by returning to the floor.
John Wall not playing because of injury history?
Contracts that were once considered “untradeable” were mostly due to two factors: high salary figures and trauma history.
Before the 2019-20 season, Chris Paul had to miss the game due to injury but he returned to All-Star level with the Thunder, which cost the Suns in exchange for him. Last season, Kemba Walker’s knee problems prevented him from becoming a difference-maker with the Celtics, but it was that Thunder franchise that was poised to sign the draft capital’s sweetie before finally bought him.
It seems the only way the Rockets can prove to a potential suitor that Wall is durable and capable of being a positive addition is to play him enough to prove himself. At that point, Wall will perform at a high level and the franchise will think he’s the missing piece to a title.
With the amount of shards moving in this situation, the story of the Wall has only just begun.
