Jonathan Feigan: Rockets view John Wall as their starting PG for least few more years

Some people here talk like Wall is a cancer or some kind of G-league scrub. He isn't an earth shattering franchise player for sure. He obviously can't carry a crappy team. Nor do I have any confidence in him leading a good team to a championship run. But he is not a bad player. Just a grossly overpaid above average starter--when healthy.

It's funny how people judge you by how much you make rather than how you actually perform. It's not his fault the Wizards gave him the supermax contract. If he was paid around 15-20M a year, people wouldn't be complaining so much.

 

Ok, but he’s not. Every player would be seen in a much better light if u cut their salary in half. In the NBA, u are typically judged based on your performance relative to how much u make, especially with there being a salary cap.

 

Why is the player blamed when the blame should be on the management that is so dumb to give him the money?

 

So teams are offering a ham sandwich for Wall. Not surprised. No one’s touching that contract with a 10-foot pole.

 

I think trading John Wall is a very low likelihood move. If someone comes around wanting him, even with a bad offer where we can basically divest of him for nothing, I don't see a scenario in which this FO doesn't jump all over it. They could probably find a taker for him if they packaged a bunch of FRPs, but I don't see our FO doing that.

 

"Rockets view Wall as starting PG for at least the next few seasons"

 

Who said management doesn’t get blamed too? Ryan Anderson and Morey both caught heat. Ryno for not living up to his deal, and Morey for giving it to him. That’s how it works.

 

Silas and Stone are brain dead on analytics.

 

How I reacted to this announcement.

 

Do not believe Soukop referring to Wall.

 

@ROXTXIA should have a newsletter with the dialogues

 

is Wall a top 4 pick?

asking for a friend

 

Just move the team already. We're the new Pistons.

 

This is the right answer. Nobody wants damaged goods Wall at that price tag.

 

Write through the pandemic.

Write through the misery, Jonathan.

The Good Wall Hunting (Hurting).

Writing on the Wall.

 

Well, the Pistons won one with D alone and without much Offense.

This was probably the most unique case beating Kobe, Shaq and 2 former Allstars to do that.

 

Yep, but i mean, i'd trade him for a ham sandwich too if available, hopefully it is.

 

For me, Wall's play isn't cancer, but his contract is. The Rockets are probably right about Wall being their point guard for the foreseeable future, but a big part of that reason is their inability to move him without throwing assets along with. Assets that could be used to obtain younger players.

His crappy contract does more than just make Wall a undesirable asset, it hinders the team from spending elsewhere. I think that is the part that some people latch onto and assess to be cancerous.

About the only way he goes is if another highly paid player with a undesirable contract becomes available in a swap like scenario, akin to the Wall / Westbrook deal. Maybe Wall for Aldridge?

 

It was a given (or should have been) with the fans that either Westbrook or Wall were going to be with the franchise for the long haul given their contracts, and where the team was going post Harden.

I'm SOOOOOOO glad that it's Wall that is here instead of Westbrook for this next era or retooling/rebuilding.

Of course every contract is tradeable to a certain extent, but those two player contracts are in a league of their own which is why Wall was about the only player in the league that you could have traded Westbrook for. A few points of note:

A. The Rockets are going to soon be looking at minimal salary on the books next season. Without Wall's contract, they could be looking at facing salary minimum penalties
B. If you are accumulating assets for a rebuild you cannot give away anything to move a contract. Every single pick is like gold. You need every chance you can to strike gold with a young talent or to make a trade.
C. Tillman will want to still sell the team at the start of every season in order to sell tickets. Wall is still a big name you can use in team marketing, and help gin up some excitement at the start of the season for fans or corporate season ticket holders.


Assuming that Wall is the face of the franchise during the rebuild would be something I think fans should get used to, and embrace to a certain extent. Even if you do want a full rebuild, there is still value in having Wall with the team in his role to help young players, and help make some of the games fun to watch.

 

It's not that Wall isn't a good player but rather in Wall's stage of his career and his salary makes him a bad fit for the Rockets' future plans to develop young talent that have a long term future. He's a ball dominant veteran guard on a team that is in complete rebuilding mode. He's much better suited on a team like the Bucks that are looking to win now and need a solid 3rd option veteran guard type guy.

Both Dipo and Wall are just bad fits for the team. Someone like EG isn't because he's a better off ball player than either of them. It's not like this team doesn't need any vets. In needs at least one or two to be a good role model for the young guys but that should be a player that doesn't dominate the ball.