That was 10 years ago now and back when the Knicks were completely stupid and it hasn't happened since. I wouldn't hold my breath.
John Wall for Westbrick and picks. I'm rooting for the Lakers to fail so they make this desperate trade. If they want to add in a 2025 or 2027 FRP for EG, I'll gladly take that too.
Let's not be gullible. Teams leak these tidbits to the media to place the blame on the players all the time and absolve themselves of any blame in the situation. Look at what the Texans did to Culley. "Sources" claimed he was fired because he didn't want to fire OC Tim Kelly but in reality Culley had limited control of the coaching staff hires. The fact is that John Wall is under contract. If the Rockets wanted him to play off the bench, John Wall has no choice in the matter. He would have to play or face potential fines. This is what the Sixers did with Ben Simmons. They stopped doing it because Simmons claimed mental health issues, but they could resume fining him if they can't trade him. Rockets could play hardball if they really wanted him to play and John Wall was refusing to play. This is not the situation though. The Rockets don't want to play John Wall which is why he continues to sit. Also, John Wall is not demanding to start. All he did was state that he would like to compete for the starting job. I always thought sitting John Wall for KPJ's development wasn't a good idea. It made sense if there was a trade coming, but since no one is interested in trading for Wall with the contract he has the Rockets should play him. KPJ should be made to compete with John Wall for the starting spot. Also, John Wall is an older vet that needs rest so there would be plenty of opportunities for KPJ to start games (e.g. on back-to-backs). And, with the threat of players catching covid, John Wall could help out. Just starting KPJ at PG puts too much on his plate too soon and makes him look bad when things are not going well. They could've started John Wall to ease KPJ into the position.
believe what you will, the situation is well published. if Wall wants to play all he needs to do is leak his willingness to play at the Rockets' discretion.
I agree with most of this, except for the "John Wall is an older vet" he's literally 31, that's prime age, not "older vet" age.
He should give the team the best chance of winning and should get Jalen Green more active in the offense. Also, showcasing him a bit may increase trade interest somewhat if Wall plays well.
I disagree with pretty much everything you said: 1. I’m really not sure if playing John Wall gives us more chance of winning. He was our tank commander last year for a reason. Plus, what’s more important at this point for a WC bottom dweller? Win some more games but ain’t going anywhere, or develop young talents? 2. By “competing for a starting role ”, he’s probably gonna hog the ball even more. I highly doubt Jalen will get more involved if Wall plays. 3. Every team knows who John Wall is and what he can/ can’t do. His trade value is close to none with that ugly contract. Playing him ain’t gonna increase it. If anything, if he gets injured again, we can forget about trading him ever again.
Hellyeah you guarantee him a starting spot... until you don't... Throw his butt out on the court, hope he catches some lightning in a bottle for a few games - and hopefully intrigues some fringe team to do something stupid... We should be showcasing Wall right up to the deadline... As I said before, it's hard to sell a car when you got it up on blocks...
If Wall is not moved by the trade deadline, which is the likely outcome, I have a very hard time thinking he will let the whole year be wasted. If he's ever going to be open to a buyout, that would be the time.
Most people would, and should, do the same. It's a job with a limited window for major earnings. Every player who gets the opportunity should try to maximize their earnings. I've always thought taking less money to try to get a ring was pretty silly, unless you're a player like Lebron who has plenty of other revenue streams and much of your legacy depends on titles. History doesn't care much about average players who happen to be on a championship team. Grab that cash when you can! I have no problem with Wall not opting out of the last year of the contract. I just hope that the Rockets are able to take advantage of it once he gets into that final year.
See i dont think Wall wants a buyout - period. Personally, I wouldnt if i were him... A) He takes a buyout... for whatever %... then he has to go and find a contending team to play for on the min or whatever.... and he's a low risk high reward short term asset for a team that really has no great financial investment in him... who knows what role he may play, or how it may affect his future earning potential if he doesnt shine and gets relegated to support role - or even if they decide he's not fitting in.... akin to when we got Melo on the cheap... That just seems like a quagmire of time and effort for no real great additional financial reward... B) Sit and wait for someone that really wants and values what he brings to the table... wait for a team thats willing to take his huge contract - cause thats the team thats gonna really value him. If a GM makes that move then they are prob looking long term with him and he can prob finagle an extension or whatever... and by avoiding the min he's not lowering his perceived market value by taking a lower level contract (which would essentially be resetting his value)... Going to a new team always has a degree of risk... if you're Chandler Parsons and you go to that new team with a fresh new fat contract and flop - you got 4 years or whatever to recoup your value before your next contract... If you go to that new team for the min (having taken a buyout) and you flop - then you may be signing a series of 1 year contracts for years to come trying to work your way back up to a fat contract and Wall doesnt have that kind of time at 31... Wall's best situation is to get on the court, be the centerpiece and try to at least create the perception that he's still a max player... and it's in the Rockets best interest to give him that opportunity - and hopefully get him moved... at least up until the trade deadline...
^ This. Simply put, Lakers don't have much to offer. The 2028 unprotected sounds sweet for the org, but for a GM, selfishly, that pick is so far off, Stone might not even enjoy it in his tenure. I'm also a bit tired of ESPN / national media wracking their brain tirelessly to try to fix the Lakers. I'm like who cares, they made their bed, so go lie in it. LAL should not be starving for championships. They just won a 'ship two years ago. I also don't care about Lebron's legacy, if he's the goat, he can GOAT his way into a trophy with Westbrook.
This. These trade discussions are so one-sided on trying to doctor the Lakers into relevance that they really lack any real objective analysis. It might as well be the Lakers Fansite Random Trade Thread. For Houston a Wall for Westbrook trade only makes sense if there are substantial assets involved. A 2028, if completely unprotected, and pick swaps could actually be pretty good for Houston, but you are competing against what a Wall buyout means potentially for Tillman which could be millions of dollars back in his pocket like right now this year while the Landry's org. is dealing with massive losses due to Covid. A Wall buyout, if it saves real money, is actually pretty valuable to Tillman, and even if he never says a word to Stone about it, Stone isn't an idiot, and he wants to be Houston's GM for a long time. It doesn't have to be mandated from Tillman for it to be enticing for Stone. Where a Lakers deal does make sense with maybe not so great draft pick assets (maybe just one 2028 1st. Top 3 protected) is if Stone is able to basically pre-secure a really really good Westbrook buyout for Tillman. So any of these trades from ESPN talking heads really need to do a better job of understanding the context around trading Westbrook, and what is the reality of it instead of just juicing up the Lakers fans boards with dream theories.
Send Wall and Tate to Boston for Horford and Josh Richardson. Boston needs a point guard and Tate would be a sweetener of sorts. We get back two players that are serviceable in the short term but are also easier to trade in the long run. Horford's salary next year is only partially guaranteed ($14.5 million out of $27 is guaranteed) and Richardson's deal is a reasonable $11 million this year and the next. Let Brad Stevens cling onto the hope of keeping both Tatum and Brown by giving them a point guard to play with.
This. I don't know why everybody thinks Wall is going to unlock Green or make him better. It just makes zero sense if anybody knows how Wall has operated and what he needs to do to get another team to be interested in him.
