John Wall Unlikely To Play This Season

[RealGM Wiretap]

John Wall is unlikely to play this season, as the Houston Rockets have no plans to put the former All-Star in uniform anytime soon. The Rockets continue to look for a trade for Wall, but that seems unlikely to happen this year.

“There are no plans for John Wall to play for the Rockets, and it’s becoming increasingly likely that John Wall may not play anywhere in the NBA this season because the cost of his contract right now is just too prohibitive,” ESPN Insider Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown.

Wojnarowski added that “Any team that would potentially trade for him would want him to decline that option. Well, he’s not doing that, he’s not giving that money back.”

Wall is on the Rockets books for $44.3 million for the 2021-22 season. Wall then has a player option for $47.4 million for the 2022-23 season.

Via Adrian Wojnarowski/ESPN NBA Countdown

[castor777]

John Wall's contract will forever remain among the most baffling in NBA history.

[Winsome Gerbil]

Sure wish somebody would pay me $44 million for a year to sit at home watching movies on the couch. I'll even work cheap! I'd do it for $43 mil!

[IWishIWasHarden]

It's surely against the rules to sit your best player and tank? How is this accepted by the league?

[ALPHAandOMEGA]

Sucks....I understand the rational for him sitting and that both he and the team are on the same page. I enjoy watching him play though.

[pilkoids]

There has to be some ongoing lingering health issue the team can point to as an excuse if questioned about this?

[asuran]

Sure wish somebody would pay me $44 million for a year to sit at home watching movies on the couch. I'll even work cheap! I'd do it for $43 mil!

First you would at least need to have some talent & potential to have someone offer a contract like that.

Frankly, John Wall was a good player. Unfortunately injuries f'd that up.
Here's to hoping he'll have a career revival similar to that of D Rose.

[kuclas]

Should be illegal for Houston to tank and sit out healthy players. Why doesn’t nba selectively not crack down on tanking teams like okc tank 2.0 and Houston tank 1.0. But crack down on sixers tank job? I don’t get it.

[kuclas]

There has to be some ongoing lingering health issue the team can point to as an excuse if questioned about this?

No lingering issues. They don’t want him playing cause they are tanking. Even though he isn’t the player he once was. He can probably contribute 15-20 min to a contending team. Or play some minutes on Houston and god forbid he helps them win games. That is the last thing Houston wants. It’s for wall to help them win games. They want their young players playing and improving. But the object is player development. Not necessary having a veteran help win games.

[pilkoids]

There has to be some ongoing lingering health issue the team can point to as an excuse if questioned about this?

No lingering issues. They don’t want him playing cause they are tanking. Even though he isn’t the player he once was. He can probably contribute 15-20 min to a contending team. Or play some minutes on Houston and god forbid he helps them win games. That is the last thing Houston wants. It’s for wall to help them win games. They want their young players playing and improving. But the object is player development. Not necessary having a veteran help win games.

I completely understand this, but this can't be their official stance? The league would come down on them very swiftly if so.

[elmdawgg69]

How is this even legal under NBA rules? At least suit the man up and have him set at the end of the bench so it looks like they’re trying to play him but he just sucks.

Hinkie got robbed for actually trying to win and playing all his guys. He just signed bad players on purpose.

[dubbmotta]

Wall average 20pts and 7 assist last year...dude can still contribute, league gotta step in a do something about this.

[madmaxmedia]

Wall average 20pts and 7 assist last year...dude can still contribute, league gotta step in a do something about this.

Both parties made their beds and appear content to lie in them. Houston so far doesn't want to give up assets to move him, so seem content to continue paying Wall until they trade or buy him out. Wall so far doesn't want to negotiate a buyout, so will collect $92M over the next 2 seasons whether he plays or not.

The situation doesn't appear contentious, it's simply the not-unexpected outcome of an older and diminished superstar with a big contract on a rebuilding team. I think they both understand this.

It is a shame though, and hopefully this goes no further than the end of this season.

[dubbmotta]

Wall average 20pts and 7 assist last year...dude can still contribute, league gotta step in a do something about this.

Both parties made their beds and appear content to lie in them. Houston so far doesn't want to give up assets to move him, so seem content to continue paying Wall until they trade or buy him out. Wall so far doesn't want to negotiate a buyout, so will collect $92M over the next 2 seasons whether he plays or not.

The situation doesn't appear contentious, it's simply the not-unexpected outcome of an older and diminished superstar with a big contract on a rebuilding team. I think they both understand this.

It is a shame though, and hopefully this goes no further than the end of this season.

I don't think he's "diminished" true, he's not a superstar..but he average 20 & 7 last year..he could be a great contributor to the Clippers...

[Pickled Prunes]

There has to be some ongoing lingering health issue the team can point to as an excuse if questioned about this?

No lingering issues. They don’t want him playing cause they are tanking. Even though he isn’t the player he once was. He can probably contribute 15-20 min to a contending team. Or play some minutes on Houston and god forbid he helps them win games. That is the last thing Houston wants. It’s for wall to help them win games. They want their young players playing and improving. But the object is player development. Not necessary having a veteran help win games.

I completely understand this, but this can't be their official stance? The league would come down on them very swiftly if so.

Their official stance is "player development". Wall can still play and averaged 21/3/7 last season. He can't play anywhere near his $47m price tag, but he never could. That contract was always going to be a problem, even without injury.

[bearadonisdna]

So the rockets will continue to healthy scratch a huge portion of their cap for draft posturing

[Lamak]

i wonder how long this will last

[Clyde Frazier]

This is nuts. If he's healthy and doesn't want to give back any money, he should be playing. Just because they want to develop guys doesn't mean he can't play. Give him a reduced role and he could contribute. Stern wasn't perfect but I have to agree he wouldn't let this happen if he were still commissioner.

[tigerae]

This is nuts. If he's healthy and doesn't want to give back any money, he should be playing. Just because they want to develop guys doesn't mean he can't play. Give him a reduced role and he could contribute. Stern wasn't perfect but I have to agree he wouldn't let this happen if he were still commissioner.

Yeah, this is ridiculous. The Sixers and any other team can fine their players for not wanting to play but if it happens the other way around it's just fine. It should be a breach of contract which forces a full buyout so he can then go to another team of his choice or have the league or the player's association can fine the Rockets for each game he can play but doesn't play.

This can basically ruin his chance at any future career. Not playing professionally for a full year or longer can have a huge impact on his body. Simply unacceptable.

[basketballwacko2]

This is nuts. If he's healthy and doesn't want to give back any money, he should be playing. Just because they want to develop guys doesn't mean he can't play. Give him a reduced role and he could contribute. Stern wasn't perfect but I have to agree he wouldn't let this happen if he were still commissioner.

Yeah, this is ridiculous. The Sixers and any other team can fine their players for not wanting to play but if it happens the other way around it's just fine. It should be a breach of contract which forces a full buyout so he can then go to another team of his choice or have the league or the player's association can fine the Rockets for each game he can play but doesn't play.

This can basically ruin his chance at any future career. Not playing professionally for a full year or longer can have a huge impact on his body. Simply unacceptable.

I don't understand why he's not playing, has he become a negative influence in the locker room to the point that they will pay him to stay away?

Is it possible to negotiate with him for a change to his final year lets say he makes his final year only partially guaranteed? This was done when Ty Lawson got traded a few years ago. He's due $47,366,760 for 2022-23 so let's say he agrees as part of a trade to "Un-guarantee" $40 million of it. Then the risk is not so bad that a team can't take a chance on him.

Who might be willing to trade for him and what would they have to give in salary to match. By my calculation 125% of that is $37.9 million roughly. Who has $37.9 million of contracts laying around that they could send out for Wall?