John Wall To Sign With Clippers After Rockets Buyout, And Basketball In LA Just Got A LOT More Interesting
Carmen Mandato. Getty Images.[ESPN]
After agreeing to a buyout with the Houston Rockets, guard John Wall plans to sign a free-agent deal with the LA Clippers, sources told ESPN on Monday.
Wall, who was due $47.4 million from the Rockets after exercising the player option for the final year of his contract, agreed to take $6.5 million less to become a free agent, a source told ESPN. That is roughly the amount of the taxpayer midlevel exception, which Wall could receive once he is able to negotiate a deal with the Clippers.
Hmm…John Wall, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George as the Clippers' new Big 3? I know a lot of people are down on Wall, which is fair. He made an ass load of money to NOT play last season, appeared in only 40 games the season before, missed the entire 2019-20 campaign, and was in action for just 73 contests in the two years before then.
So you can either look at it like Wall is super fresh, or that he'll be so rusty that he'll be a shell of whatever he used to be. I'm actually more inclined to go with the former option. He was in an untenable situation in Houston, and for his entire career with the Washington Wizards, was pretty much set up to fail. I know some of that is on Wall not elevating his teammates enough, but other than Bradley Beal, who'd he ever really play with? I'd venture to say Kawhi and George are the two best players Wall will ever have suited up with.
That's not to say Wall is a perfect player. His jump shot has always been an issue. Perhaps all this time away from the game has given him time to fine-tune that clear weakness. BUT let's cast that aside. Say Wall is still the same shooter who, for his career, hits 43.1% overall and 32.3% from 3-point range. We're still talking about a guy who can easily average double-digit assists, can disrupt passing lanes with his quick hands and lateral agility, and be another dynamic playmaker for the Clippers at a major bargain.
The truth is, there's so much unknown for the Clips. They're getting a potential new lead guard in Wall who's played sparsely of late. Kawhi missed all of last season recovering from a torn ACL. George was banged up, too, playing only 31 regular-season games. Even with that understanding, I feel like among the two Los Angeles NBA franchises, the Clippers are in better position to compete than the Lakers right now. For all of Wall's flaws, he seems to have more self-awareness and willingness to adjust his game than, say, Russell Westbrook.
Kawhi played mostly off the ball during his San Antonio heyday, and while he's evolved his game since then to be more of a creator for teammates, it's not his forte per se. When Kawhi was down last season, George actually had a career-best average of 5.7 assist, albeit on a small sample size. Both of them will benefit from having a pure ball-handler and catalyst like Wall in the fold.
Still only 31 years old, Wall won't have as much of a burden on his shoulders to carry the Clippers. I also don't think it's a stretch to say Tyronn Lue will be the best coach Wall has ever played for — and Lue played Wall's position in the NBA. The match here seems excellent.
Seriously, would you rather have Year 20 LeBron, Anthony Davis and Westbrick, or Wall, Kawhi and PG13? Might sound crazy, but give me that second trio. The pie-in-the-sky Kyrie Irving trade scenario was the Lakers' only real chance at anything good this offseason. Turns out, Kyrie is staying in Brooklyn. Ruh-roh.
Hate on it all you want…I feel like this Wall-to-Clippers signing is the ideal scenario for Kawhi's load management plan, not to mention a great way to keep Wall fresher for a potential championship run. Does that sound unrealistic? Well, the Clippers are +700 to win the championship. Not sure if that number will drop after Wall signs. Either way, bookmakers are expecting them to bounce back in a huge way this season. Look out!!
Some fun John Wall highlights to cap things off here…you can be forgiven for forgetting how SICK he is when he's actually playing since it's been a minute. I didn't think there was a way out for him in Houston. Now I'm rooting for a John Wall redemption arc more than I ever expected to!