Nba market, Wall and Houston divorce: that’s why and who can take it

Maybe it’s not a mission impossible, for sure it will be complicated: John Wall and the Houston Rockets have decided to separate. Via trade and not via buyout, as The Athletic anticipates, but for a point guard who seems to have taken the avenue of the sunset despite being 31 years old with a contract of 91.6 million dollars for the next two seasons it will still be complicated.

the choice

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Wall arrived in Houston last November to team up with James Harden. It was to be his relaunch, after the 18 months preceding the pits for a devastating injury, the rupture of the Achilles tendon. Except that Beard had grown tired of the Rockets and loudly asked to leave, only to be satisfied in mid-January with a one-way ticket to Brooklyn. Wall, with Christian Wood, was supposed to be Houston’s parachute, but it has imploded and is now in full reconstruction. A process that passes through Jalen Green, second choice in the last Draft, the veteran Wood and an extremely young team. Not for Wall, a fish out of water in a context like this. His agent Rich Paul (the same as LeBron James) and the Rockets met and decided a common line: Wall goes on the market, looking for a buyer, someone who can absorb his huge contract by making Houston derive the best assets possible for its reconstruction. A team that allows Wall to raise. If the trade does not materialize within two weeks, the point guard will still show up at the Rockets camp (as opposed to what Ben Simmons wants to do, another one assisted by Paul on a break with the Sixers) but will not play either in the preseason or, possibly, in regular season.

who can take it

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It’s hard to imagine a contender putting Wall in their sights. In 2020-21 he played 40 games, just over mid-season, finishing with 20.6 points and 6.9 assists per game. All in all respectable figures, but obtained in the team with the worst NBA record, one that gave up well before mid-season. The value of Wall is to be understood: before getting injured in December 2018 he had the potential to be a superstar, but his physical problems reduced him to an enigma. He has a contract as a phenomenon (only Steph Curry is paid more than him), but a return to be deciphered. It would be easier if he accepted a buyout, thus allowing a team to bet on him at the minimum wage, but it is difficult to agree when there are 91.6 million dollars at stake. Unless Oklahoma City, which currently has the lowest wage bill in the league at $ 78 million, repeats the Kemba Walker operation and accepts Wall’s contract to reach the minimum wage bill, then letting the player go (Kemba ended up like this at the Knicks). However, it may take a while. Meanwhile, Wall, who has already lost two years due to injury, would remain in mothballs. Just what to avoid …