8 Teams That Could Trade for John Wall

The Rockets PG has asked for a trade, but with a burdensome contract where could he land? Here are eight teams that (creatively) could acquire him from Houston.

John Wall Rockets Pacers 2021
USA Today Sports

Apr 14, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; John Wall #1 of the Houston Rockets reacts to a call during the second quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Carmen Mandato/POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports

John Wall Rockets Pacers 2021

John Wall trade speculation ain’t what it used to be.

Years ago, when the former Wizards point guard was playing at an All-Star level and earned an All-NBA nod during the 2016-17 season, Wall’s availability would’ve made major headlines across the league. Trade machines would’ve been flooded with amateur GMs trying to figure out how to get the five-time All-Star on their favorite team while fans and the media would’ve loved dissecting the dynamics of why Wall and Washington wanted a divorce.   

Now it feels like the most appropriate response to the idea of Wall, currently a member of the Rockets, being traded to a second team in as many seasons—as was reported Tuesday by our pal over at The Athletic, Shams Charania—is a yawn.

That’s what happens when your star has diminished because you haven’t been healthy in years—Wall’s played in more than 41 games once since the 2016-17 campaign, missing a huge chunk of time thanks to knee and Achilles injuries. Plus he just happens to have the most burdensome contract in the NBA that’s going to be absurdly difficult to move.

After spending last season balling for the woeful Rockets who won’t be contending for several seasons to come, it appears the organization no longer requires the services of the extremely expensive point guard. Not when it has a backcourt full of exciting young talent like No. 2 pick in this summer’s draft Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. who need all the minutes they can get.

Reportedly, Houston and Wall are in agreement that it would be best if the Rockets can find a trade partner and ship him somewhere else, preferably you’d imagine, to a contending team. The Rockets and Wall are apparently cool with him sticking around the team and waiting for the right trade to develop—he just won’t suit up for games. So don’t expect any of the shenanigans we saw from James Harden last year when he tried every trick in the book to get the hell outta Houston.

But making a sensible trade—hell, any trade—featuring Wall is going to take a herculean effort because of the astronomical money he’s owed. If it happens—and not necessarily when it happens—the trade will be way more complicated than most fans and even keen NBA observers can reasonably fathom.

What Will He Bring Back?

John Wall Rockets Timberwolves 2021

Where Could He Land?

John Wall Rockets Heat Miami 2021

The chances of trade with the Sixers ever happening, centered around Ben Simmons, are slim to none. Even though Simmons doesn’t want to stay in Philly, the Sixers need a point guard, and the salaries are relatively close. But we all know there was some drama around a proposed Harden deal last January since Daryl Morey is now running the show in Philly and Houston, reportedly, wasn’t too keen on doing business with its former exec. Also, Morey’s asking for a ransom for Simmons. While Philly technically is a match, does adding Wall really make them that much better in the East? I say no. You know they’d rather wait to see what happens with Damian Lillard so we’ll move on to other teams reportedly already making inquires.

Los Angeles could use some depth at point guard, but the Clippers are incredibly capped out and will have a helluva time trying to fit Wall onto the roster as a taxpaying team. Clearly the Clippers could use all the firepower they can assemble since they likely will be without the services of Kawhi Leonard for most, if not all, of the 2021-22 season. Considering their financial restraints, LA must get ultra creative to bring in Wall and recruit other teams to make the math work. Luke Kennard and Eric Bledsoe are obvious candidates to get moved, but their combined salaries fall way short of Wall’s.

It’s hard to envision the Heat making a move for Wall. There are no obvious trade candidates on the Heat roster that would allow them to easily bring him in—those closest in salary to Wall (Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry) are obviously not available. Pat Riley’s been known to work his magic, like he did in free agency to get Lowry, but this would take some incredible financial gymnastics.  

Dallas swung and missed trying to snag a point guard in free agency. I don’t think teaming Wall up with Luka Doncic in the backcourt elevates the Mavericks to super contenders in the Western Conference, but it would represent an upgrade and give Doncic another excellent offensive player to cook with. Trading Wall for Kristaps Porzingis and some other assets could technically be a problem-for-problem swap, but it feels unlikely that Dallas and Houston would do that, especially since they’re in the same division.

Learning from Wall wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for Cade Cunningham so maybe Detroit takes a swing and brings in a mentor for the No. 1 pick in July’s draft. Since nobody on the roster makes more than Jerami Grant’s $20 million, Detroit would have to stack a lot of names to come close to Wall’s salary and you would think some of their good young players like Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey are off limits in order to acquire a player who doesn’t figure to be part of Detroit’s long term plans.

🚨 Small market alert.🚨  Two names to keep an eye on getting moved at some point: Kevin Love and Collin Sexton. While Love appears to be an obvious buyout candidate, his agent recently threw cold water on that speculation. So maybe he’s really going to stick it out with Cleveland with two years and $60 million left on his deal. Sexton has been a rumored trade candidate for more than a minute—the Knicks have been a popular destination for those speculating on a landing place—and Cleveland could conceivably stack enough assets in order to attain Wall. But in the grand scheme of things, why?

🚨 Small market alert.🚨  New Orleans is a mess and making a move for Wall wouldn’t come close to fixing things after it essentially replaced Lonzo Ball with Devonte’ Graham in free agency. While Wall would represent an upgrade at the position, it’s hard to fathom New Orleans taking on that kind of financial burden.

🚨 Small market alert.🚨  ​​​​​​​Only because Oklahoma City could clear enough cap space, but as Zach Harper from The Athletic adroitly pointed out Tuesday, OKC’s probably going to want draft picks and Houston doesn’t want to attach any in a Wall trade. And if you think Wall wants to play in Oklahoma City at this point in his career, you’re lost.

Latest in Sports