Chris Paul vs. John Wall: who is worth more?

[ecuhus1981]

I would like to establish a fundamental valuation of these two formerly great players, who happen to currently be onerous assets. Many trades have involved these two on the T&T board (particularly many of mine! ). Both are due huge money long-term, Chris for 3 more seasons, John for 4. I honestly feel that their values are near-equal, and it's simply a matter of who fits better where. For a team like WAS who has not given up the chance to contend this season, swapping for a PG who will play makes a ton of sense. For OKC, they've already thrown in the towel on this season, so swapping the two merely enhances their lottery chances.

Chris is a 34yo 6' fireplug coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career, from both a statistical and health standpoint. However, he is currently healthy, and some believe that away from the Rockets' system that didn't capitalize on his on-ball strengths, he could thrive and regain his All-Star form. He never was a blur or a brute, his game was always thinking a step ahead. You'd think that under the right conditions, his game should age well.

John is a 28yo 6'4 athletic marvel, who missed all of last season and will miss all of this season. When he returns, he could have much of his prime left in the tank, but how much of his athleticism will remain? His game is highly reliant on getting separation with his elite speed and leaping ability. Without that, unless he adds elite footwork and shooting ability to his game, he could be a shell of his former self.

Now, vote and reply to let me know your thoughts!

[Stillwater]

cP3 by a little because Wall will never be the same player

[Colbinii]

Paul by a lot because he is still a top 25-30 player and Wall cant walk.

[HartfordWhalers]

Format of the answers is weird.

[psman2]

I think it is clearly CP3. If you are a win now team CP3 clear wins since he is healthy. If you a rebuilding team I would take CP3 because his contract is shorter and I would rather have him passing to my young guys over Wall standing still and doing whatever he is capable of after rehabbing from his injury.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I said Paul by a little. Wall could come back and be good, Paul is good now but he has injury issues himself and his contract gets bigger as he declines into really old age.

[giberish]

I'd go with Paul by at least a moderate margin.

Paul's older, declining and likely to miss a bunch of games. I'd expect his on-court value to be about $20M/$15M/$10M over his remaining contract. So that's roughly $45M - about $80M under his contract. Granted he might do better and only be overpaid by $60-70M over his contract but I don't think he's likely to be much better then that.

Wall is tougher to project. He'll have very little value for this year. Then there's the question of just how good he'll be after he's healthy again. He really didn't have the sort of game that looked to age well (poor man's Westbrook and Westbrook is dropping off noticeably already). His defense has declined a bunch and his poor off the ball offense makes him tough to pair with any other good offensive players. Maybe those were due to playing hurt and a full recovery would change that, but I couldn't count on that. I'd expect his on-court value to be about $0/$15M/$15M/$15M over his deal, for $45M total. Compared to around $170M owed he's overpaid by $125M. Even if you're more optimistic then I am it's tough to see him as better then a $25M/yr player when he's back, leaving him $95M overpaid.

[nate33]

Paul has more value to most teams, certainly to teams that are trying to win this year.

But if you are a team that doesn't care about winning this year, then Wall is more valuable. Wall will be the better player in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The guy isn't dead. He had a partial, not full, tear of the Achilles and is going to have 18 months to get it healthy again. Meanwhile, Chris Paul has struggling to stay on the court these past 2 years, and it's only going to get worse these next 3 years. He's a great competitor, but those hamstrings just can't handle the load anymore.

Oh yeah, and the Wizards are already punting on this season. They're not trying to win and therefore value Wall more than Paul. So stop trying to propose that trade with the Wizards, it's not going to work. OKC is going to be expecting incentive in the trade, and the Wizards won't give it.

[Dat2U]

Paul is 34 yrs old, I don't see how anyone can say Paul by a considerable margin.

Obviously Wall is out... so the fact Paul is relatively healthy at the moment makes him the win now play.

A year from now after Wall has come back any suggested advantage the Paul has could likely flip... especially if he has another similar decline next season.

[Mamba4Goat]

I have Paul by a lot. Can play this year and has one less year.

[expatbayern]

Wall has more value to the Wizards, because it's possible he'll never make it back and his contract will be paid off by insurance. That would be longer be possible if traded, so he doesn't have that value to other teams.

So Wall for Wizards > Paul > Wall for anyone else

[pacers33granger]

Paul has more value but I'd bet on Wall if I were most teams and had to choose one. Then again, I think Paul is one of the most overrated players of the past decade, he's 34, and a known jerk.

[gambitx777]

Wall has a much better chance of returning to all star level form. That CP3 does at this point. 80% of 100%, focused and willing John wall is still an all star level player in the east. I don't think CP3 is going to be much better than he has been and will probably continue to deminish. Wall isn't out of his athletic prime yet, and while suffering a serious injury can still come back and be effective, and hes much younger. So, I'd say Wall.

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[youngcrev]

Achilles tear, about to miss a full season, and has an extra contract year at 47 million dollars....

It's easily Chris Paul. He's still a good player. I think someone will end up moving some of their own bad contracts for him. John Wall is untradeable right now.

[basketballwacko2]

Paul by a lot because he is still a top 25-30 player and Wall cant walk.

I'd agree on that Paul did miss 24 games last season and his numbers were down, but he did play with Harden. So 15.6 points, 4.6 rebs and 8.2 assists. He's still better than a lot of point guards. The big difference between Paul and Wall is that Paul will play in 2019-20 and Wall will not, and Paul has a shorter contract.

[penbeast0]

For anyone not tanking, Paul. For a team not contending this year, Wall, even with the extra year, but it's a lot closer. Overall, easily Paul. But again, as Nate said, it depends on your team's circumstances.

[wolves_89]

The question is a little misleading in that it seems to indicate that Paul/Wall could bring back value in trade, something that is not happening. I think it would be more realistic to phrase the question as who would cost less to move since both are extremely negative in terms of value and would require significant assets attached to get any team to take them. In that context, Paul would cost less for OKC to move since he has a year less on his deal and he will actually play next season.

[poomaster]

Wall is a 50 million cap dead weight for the next 4 years. He is done with basketball, anyone hoping otherwise is living in lala land. Look at his injury history , age, a torn achilles and consider how much he relied on athleticism to be effective.

This will go down as probably one of if not the worst contract in NBA history.

[BigRedDog]

Wall is a 50 million cap dead weight for the next 4 years. He is done with basketball, anyone hoping otherwise is living in lala land. Look at his injury history , age, a torn achilles and consider how much he relied on athleticism to be effective.

This will go down as probably one of if not the worst contract in NBA history.

agreed. cant see how anyone could think this is even a close comparison...

if your team has wall right now you literally have zero future... hes unmovable, unplayable, and unlikeable.

Chris Paul can still win a lot of freaking games and possibly contend for a title.

I'd much rather have Chris Paul on John Wall's contract than John Wall on Chris Paul's contract. So when you factor in contracts this is just a landslide.

[gambitx777]

John wall didn't get a leg removed. Hes still a highly skilled, high BBIQ point guard. Yeah he was highly dependent on his speed but that's not all he has hell. if he goes all in with rededication to his craft and his body I think he can be a positive basket ball player again. Chris Paul is in the twilight of his BB life span, there isn't much left for him to do, he's just in decline. Yes a lot of ifs for John. But positive ifs are better than negative inevitabilies that are fast approaching .

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