JUNE 28: The Rockets have officially announced their buyout agreement with Wall, issuing a statement thanking him for his professionalism and wishing him the best. The point guard is now on track to clear waivers on Thursday.
JUNE 27: John Wall is finalizing a buyout with the Rockets and will become an unrestricted free agent, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Wall’s agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports is meeting with Rockets GM Rafael Stone on Tuesday to complete the buyout, sources told Haynes.
Wall intends to joins the Clippers once he clears waivers, though other teams are also calling, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
There had been momentum toward a buyout or trade after Wall picked up his $47.4MM player option for the 2022/23 season last week. The size of Wall’s contract made it very difficult to find a suitable trade partner.
Wall is giving back $6.5MM in order to part ways with Houston and sign with the team of his choice, Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets. That’s approximately the same amount as a taxpayer mid-level exception, which suggests that’s likely what he’ll get from the Clippers, MacMahon adds (via Twitter).
Wall has played in just 72 regular season contests since the 2017/2018 season. He put up solid numbers during 40 games with Houston in ’20/21, averaging 20.6 PPG and 6.9 APG, though he shot a career-worst 40.4% from the field. His production peaked in ’16/17, when he averaged 23.1 and 10.7 APG for Washington. His career was sidetracked by heel surgery and a ruptured Achilles tendon.
Last season, the rebuilding Rockets, who were intent on starting a young starting backcourt of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., reached an agreement with Wall to allow him to remain away from the team. Wall collected $44.3MM during his agreed-upon exile.
Clippers bound!!!
This is my guess too. Wall, George, Leonard, Powell, and a ton of other vets.
He gets to listen to offers, but Clippers seems the most likely. Say what you want about Rich Paul, but he sure delivered the $ for Wall!
Unreal that the Fertita Rockets spent $128 mil for him to play half of one season. For the Clippers’ sake I hope he stayed in shape!
The Fertita Rockets didn’t spend a dime on Wall, just swapped a horrible contract for an equally horrible contract and got a protected first-rounder in the process.
Are the Lakers in play here suddenly because Kyrie didn’t work out? So they shift to Wall and right away, here’s step one… The buyout. The timing seems to suggest it, unless a total coincidence.
Total coincidence. Wall with Westbrook would be terrible
Wall would definitely not work with Westbrook but I think Westbrook would come off the bench in that case. It’d be Wall with Monk, who’s a good shooter, or Wall with another shooter. But doesn’t matter, looks like it’s the Clippers all along and didn’t even consider the Lakers.
Imagine going back to Washington.
Wall Beal Kuzma KP ????
Can’t see it happening but would be cool
Kangs!!!
Why would anyone in his position want to play for Sacramento?
My best guess
$40 million buyout (Wall gets only $40 million)
Rockets owner saves $7 million
If I am correct, will someone pay him $6 million MLE?
There is zero chance that Lakers offer 2027 first round pick for John Wall.
How much is he gonna make on top of that? LoL…..he will be the highest paid player in the nba this season when both added together.
The usual suspects ………. HEAT, LAKERS, CLIPPERS
The CELTICS sure could use a starting PG.
Marcus Smart?
Not one who plays very little defense and cannot shoot.
If you think the Celtics want Wall, you don’t follow basketball closely.
who are the celtics getting as a backup point guard that is better than john wall?
You think Wall is going to take White’s minutes now?
Given overall lack of depth and severe lack of ball handling … Wall would actually be a nice piece for Boston.
No way Boston. Smart better, White more useful, though nobody has seen him play.
Why aren’t the Sixers interested?
Bc he can’t shoot
Tyrese Maxey
Still think its ridiculous they didnt let him play last year. He would have been a great compliment to Green and Porter for his defense and playmaking, which they still could use. That being said, I guess they lucked out with Jabari Smith, so it worked out for them
If the Heat trade Lowry, or lose Oladipo, he would be great. Dallas could be a good spot for him. New Orleans, Portland, Atlanta, Brooklyn, and Phoenix all make some sense as well, and Washington makes sense too, even though they drafted Johnny Davis
Agreed. Wall could’ve played 20 mpg w Porter/Green still getting plenty of reps
Newest pg of the la clippers !!
What’s he gonna cost going forward … __yr??/$__,__,__??
Irving is not seriously interested in playing for Lakers.
Now Lakers can target Wall and Beal.
How can they sign Beal if they are way over the cap?
Westbrook and 2 Firsts for Beal
Possible but unlikely
Sillivan no.
With what cap space or trade assets in Beal’s case?
If nothing else he is well rested.
Clippers and Celtics make the most sense to me. Would be cool to see him back in a Wizards uniform and too.
Only thing clippers lack is a back up C which they can address with mid level exception
They gonna run through the west
Sounds like they will be using their TPMLE to sign Wall.
Regarding backup C, depends on Hardenstein
Kings will sign him. I’m Lawrence Funderburk, I know these things
With no “e”!
Wall is a better shooter and better defender than Westbrook
Incredible insight as usual sillyvan
Nobody is getting involved at this point. Like in every other major buyout for years, the teams/agents negotiate the new contract and the buyout agreement together, and the guy isn’t released until both are essentially in place.
Maybe LAC agreed to pay more than minimum (the TxMLE amount) when nobody else would. Anyway, they’re the winner (to the extent getting Wall is a win).
It’s most definitely the “sexy” pick , the clippers were “play in” without PG or K. Leonard
They return both guys and are now bar none the deepest team in the NBA
Wall gets bought out but Laker fans still think they can get positive trade value for westbrook lmao
We’ve been saying for weeks that the Lakers are stuck with Westbrook this year. The only possibility is at the trade deadline where a team that was hopeful for great things has a couple guys on 3-year deals or whatever, and it’s not working out so they’ll take back Westbrook who’s in his contract year.
Lakers would go for that to get over the top perhaps, depending on the two guys. Other than that scenario the Lakers will ride out this Westbrook contract year. They’re not attaching anything to dump him. Fact is they don’t have anything to attach lol.
Nobody suggesting a Westbrook trade that knows what they’re talking about. That includes sillivan every four days.
Couple times a day
Lakers aren’t riding out half a season to trade him for a couple 3 yr contracts. Just ride out another half season and do whatever you want.
If the Lakers are rolling by the deadline and someone offers to take Westbrook, they would do it in a split second. Just my opinion, but they would do it in a heartbeat.
*Every four hours. Fixed.
Lakers fan can thank LBJ for Westbrook. The king has destroyed another organization.
Wall is no fool the Clippers are the one. Reggie Can be the 6th man.
Rockets pay Wall $43.44 MM to NOT PLAY in 2021-22.
As a result of Wall’s “generosity” he has agreed to NOT PLAY for the Rockets in 2022-23 for a paltry $40.9 MM. Why not expand that level of management genius by paying me to not play for the Rockets for the 2022-23 season and multiple seasons beyond. Multiple copies of my contract offer to NOT PLAY for the Rockets have been sent out by me (No Agent – I represent myself) via Certified Mail to:
Tilman Fertitta, Rafael Stone and Steve Silas.
Be forewarned, I am a REAL BARGAIN as compared to John Wall and I assure you all that I am fully prepared to NOT PLAY for the Rockets at a substantial discount.
I actually threw up in my mouth
Jackson do you already have a 40 million contract that the Rockets took back in a trade? Who did the other team get when they gave you up and traded you to the Rockets with that contract of yours that you signed a couple years ago?
What were your credentials and your resume and statistics which supported that contract your former team gave you at such a high dollar amount?
I am a “Free” Agent. With the 2022-23 money the Rockets are paying Wall NOT TO PLAY now down to a paltry $40.9 MM, I’m ready to step in and fill that financial void for this next season and for many additional seasons beyond to NOT PLAY FOR THE ROCKETS !! I can honestly state that I can NOT PLAY Basketball even better than Wall and my on court absence would be even more beneficial to the Rockets than Wall’s absence.
How is this not tampering, but the Heat getting Lowry after trying to trade for him for 1.5 years is?
Not that I care about that stuff, but I’m just wondering what the difference is
I’m more worried how a team can pay a guy 70 million for nothing.
Randy I guess they thought it was better then the guys they had under contract that they gave up to the Wizards. Or whoever received the Rockets guys in that multi team trade?
So the Rockets are saying they’d rather pay wall 70 million to stay home or go away than Russell Westbrook 90 million to play?
Players negotiating buyouts are generally given permission to talk to other teams before finalizing the buyout (it’s a win-win, since the player is more likely to give more money back to the team if he knows there’s another offer waiting for him).
More than permission. Encouragement.
So what was the difference with Toronto moving on from Lowry? Obviously the buyout, but it’s still confusing. I personally dont care about any of that type of stuff, but I also dont get how it was tampering
Likely because you don’t want to get it. LOL. A player under contract with a team can’t negotiate with other teams unless he gets permission from his team. A rising FA (who is treated as not under contract with any team) can’t negotiate with other teams until the FA starts. MIA obviously and openly negotiated their contract with Lowry prior to FA starting.
Felt more like they had a deal with Toronto already mostly intact, and then Lowry agreed to come when FA started, and they completed the trade…Lowry and Jimmy Butler are incredibly close. Jimmy is Lowry’s kid’s godfather…is it out of the realm of possibility that he wanted to go to Miami, and came to a quick decision?
The issue there was the NBA wanting to enforce its rule that sign-and-trade talks can’t begin until free agency officially begins — that’s not something a team can just give the player permission (or encouragement) to circumvent.
It all seems a little arbitrary, since we know every team jumps the gun, but the league seemingly didn’t like how it looked that there were sign-and-trade deals in place right when free agency opened.
I understand that, but shouldnt there be extrnutatong circumstances where there are a lot of assumptions being made there? Why isnt it plausible for the 2 teams to come to an agreement after FA starts super quickly b/c they’ve been talking about it for 1.5 years already?
There was an investigation that lasted nearly four months. I assume if that investigation revealed everything was above board, the Heat wouldn’t have lost that second-round pick.
I also don’t think it’s realistic to believe it came together after free agency started when tweets like this were being put out 24 hours in advance (for what it’s worth, I think this could be said of a lot of deals!): link to twitter.com
Yabut arrnt those details obvious though? And we knew Toronto needed shooting at the guard spot, and they were interested in Achiuwa previously…I know there was an “investigation,” but to me it seems more like David Griffin cried about it every day for months until they acquiesced him. Again though, I personally dont care about the tampering/not tampering situations. I just think there is a lot of hypocrisy there, and it definitely seems like there is a major bias out there against the Heat, mostly /c everyone hates Pat Riley. It doesnt bother me about losing the asset b/c they’ll go after undrafted guys regardless; just trying to understand all the stuff surrounding it, so thanks for all the feedback/info as always
The hot stove is screaming hot already. Going to be another offseason for the books.
The new Trio will rest 3 out of 7 days regardless of schedule. Or not play at all
Lakers need to get rid of Russ for anything now.
John Wall and Kemba Walker both about to hit FA and sign deals for like 6mil. Meanwhile they have Russ on nearly 50mil.
Ring the Hornets take Hayward, Ring the Pacers take Heild, whatever it takes
Hayward and Rozier for Westbrook and picks. Don’t forget Kupchak is the GM in Charlotte
And picks??
And picks !!!?
What picks? The Lakers are not idiots. He’s in a contract year. They’re not attaching picks. They have to ride this one out.
They’re not going to handicap their future even further. Trading deadline Maybe. Add picks.., absolutely definitely not.
Are you Jimmy FitzSillivans??
Brother Simmons>Russ, I’ve known you at least 8 years. You don’t think as wise as you are and up on basketball the latest info every day, that the Lakers have not tried to get rid of Russell Westbrook “for anything” the last year?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that’s been the M.O. for a year. You think it’s just starting now with urgency?
The most random people seem to worry about the Lakers and daughter Buss.
John Wallet
Perfect fit for Wall and clippers…they need each other
I’m a Kentucky fan, and I was hoping Wall would have a better career than he has. Frankly, he hasn’t had much of one, at all.
“Wall has played in 72 regular season contests since the 2017/2018 season.”
At some point, if an NBA player is going to get paid like Wall (and Irving, et al.. too many max players out there), they need to actually play to earn it.
Anybody that throws a ton of money at John Wall is an idiot, and the NBA has plenty of those in the front offices. Vet’s minimum at best should be it.
There are hundreds of younger, healthier, and arguably better players out there who can’t get into the NBA as it is.
Wall was potentially a great player, but he’s hasn’t proven much of anything in 1o years.
He is a 5 time NBA All Star that was sent home healthy because he would have helped Houston win more games than they wanted to win.
He might not be the best player of all time, but he has had an excellent career that will likely end in the HOF.
I’m with you on a very good career -derailed by injuries- but unless this second act is something really special, John Wall is not a HOFer.
Wall is toast. Lost any quickness, no lift or lateral movement, horrendous shooting. Finished.
So Wall’s best position is DNP? Mine too !!
This guy is actually great with kids ……
If Wall and Kawhi stay healthy that team is staaaacccked;
Wall/Powell/George/Leonard/Zubac
Jackson/Kennard/Mann/Morris/Covington
We said that last year too. Lot of those guys were on the team last year. How did that work out?
I had the Lakers AND the Clippers in the top four of the West for last year. Injuries happen, fit or lack thereof, happens. Easier said than done to mesh up a bunch of All Stars and make it happen in the standings.
There’s more quality beyond that. They’re a title favorite.
Clips have not disappointed me yet— because I have generally picked other teams! Ha
Much of their talent is coming off injury, so there still may be surprises.
He’s been sitting for two yrs Plus. He should be healthy and ready to go. Not going to be the old Wall. But a healthy Wall is still a good player. So this would be a great pickup by Clippers. They need a ball handling guard that can pass. He fits that like a glove. Plus competing for a ring. Has to pump him up.
Agreed, hopefully this year has given him a chance to heal that tricky injury issue. He was still a 20-6 guard for Houston I hope he does well. Always showed respect to Hou(with exception of refusing to play off bench, which I can’t argue with him on from his side, just not right for a rebuild).
The hope of a ring would motivate him. But I’m sure the disrespect shown by Harden would motivate him more. He pretty much said Wall and Wood aren’t good enough to play with me in his last Rockets presser.
Be funny if Wall blows up and helps PG & Kawahi to a chip. All three fit have to be in the convo this year to win a ring together. Strong two way team!