dlts20 wrote:That's almost the point. Wall is not coming in like Oladipo. I could understand them saying no if he were returning with 8 games left and everyone is in playoff form but everyone will have been off for months and will be going cold turkey just like John
Sure, the situations are different but not like you're describing. What the other players are or aren't has nothing to do with John. Pushing him and having him back too early and risking him missing next season strikes me as something that at least warrants considering caution. I don't know if he should play or not but if they don't, I'd suggest it's more than just insurance money that could be a factor. Other players being in shape or not is on them but it doesn't change how long it takes to fully recover from this kind of thing. Oladipo tried to play his way into shape and ultimately got hurt. Durant at least was pushing for a title.
But we can look at other examples if you want. Gordon Hayward missed a season and then came back for training camp the following season, when all the other players were just as "rusty." Hayward didn't get seriously hurt again, thankfully, but he was able to take things more cautiously in a regular season where the Celtics were already very good and he definitely didn't recover his form until closer to the end of the season. It had nothing to do with other players coming into camp after a layoff or anything - he just took time to recover. Derrick Rose would routinely come back after a season missed and then get hurt. These aren't factors in the way you are presenting them. It's entirely likely that this is a long recovery process and bringing John back would (a) risk his health in future seasons when the Wizards have him under contract for a fair while yet, and (b) hurt the Wizards chances at actually winning something because his play very likely won't be to his same standards, or even the standards of a regular NBA rotation player but he'll be dominating the ball anyway.