Houston Rockets: 3 trades of John Wall to the Clippers, Spurs, and Bulls

It’s no secret that the Houston Rockets would like to get off of John Wall’s contract. Owed $44.3 million this upcoming season and with a $47.3 million player option for 2022-23, Wall will be one of the most well-compensated players in the entire league over the next two seasons.

If Wall was still an All-Star his contract would be palatable, but he hasn’t shown that form in years, and his ability to stay on the court has wavered considerably. Since 2017-18, Wall has played in 113 of his team’s 308 games.

If Wall was shooting 36.7-percent from 3-point range, Rockets fans would be through the roof, but instead, that’s the percentage of his teams’ games he has played over the past four seasons. For a rebuilding team that doesn’t yet have its eyes set on the postseason keeping Wall around won’t just cost the Rockets money.

With Kevin Porter Jr. in town and the potential of Jalen Green being selected with the second pick of the draft, the Rockets might be staring at the awkward proposition of their highest-paid player relegated to a bench role. It needs to be remembered that Wall still believes he’s capable of greatness, and it stands to reason he won’t be content with a minimized role, even if he’s collecting a maximum paycheck.

For the betterment of the team, the Rockets are going to need to find a way to move off of John Wall and his massive contract. The two sides could always agree to a buy-out, but with a total of $91.6 million left on his deal, that’s a massive chunk of change to swallow.

The Rockets must explore trade options for Wall and they might have to give up a first-round pick to do it. At the end of the day, it’s in his best interest and the best interest of the team. Here are three trades to get off of John Wall and his massive contract.

Houston Rockets trade #3 to get off of John Wall’s contract: Los Angeles Clippers

At first glance, this trade looks lopsided in the Rockets’ favor. They get Marcus Morris, Patrick Beverly, Rajon Rondo, and Luke Kennard for just John Wall and what is likely to be a late first-round pick.

However, the Clippers have been searching in vain to try and find a real shot-creator to play alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and Wall is just that. What also needs to be taken into consideration is the reality that Clippers have almost no tradable first-round picks.

Due to the Paul George trade, the only pick the Clippers can trade is their 2027 first-round pick. For a team with championship aspirations having movable assets to facilitate upgrades are a must. The final piece of the puzzle that makes this trade work for the Clippers is how it helps their salary cap situation.

Wall’s contract comes to an end after the 2022-23 season but both Luke Kennard and Marcus Morris are under contract in 2023-24 for a combined $31.8 million. This trade allows the Clippers to remain a title contender over the short term and gives them the ability to be flexible in the future.

As long as Kawhi Leonard re-signs the Clippers are championship contenders. Adding Wall is a gamble, but a starting lineup featuring Wall, Leonard, George, and Serge Ibaka is built for the modern NBA.

Houston Rockets trade #2 to get off of John Wall’s contract: San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are in one of the healthiest financial positions in the entire NBA. The team has ten players under contract for next season at only $59.3 million. John Wall and Eric Gordon are set to earn a combined $62.5 million to put that in perspective.

DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, and Patty Mills are all free agents and they may use their cap space to retain all three, but bringing in Wall might be a risk worth taking. While Wall’s injury track record has been abysmal, he is younger than those three and it’s worth mentioning that the Spurs have been fantastic at managing veteran players’ health.

The Spurs would essentially be taking a flier on Wall to add another draft pick and hope that he can turn it around. The two things that have plagued Wall in recent seasons have been his health and his shot, which are two things the Spurs are renowned for fixing.

No one would blame the Spurs for re-signing DeRozan but they may prefer to take on Wall at 31 for two more years, then DeRozan at 32 for four more years. The Spurs, even if they send no salary back, would still be under the salary cap.

From a financial standpoint, the Spurs are the perfect landing spot for John Wall. If they think there’s a basketball reason to bring him into the fold, the Rockets need to explore that trade aggressively.

Houston Rockets trade #1 to get off of John Wall’s contract: Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are all in. After trading for Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls let the rest of the NBA know that they believe they’re a playoff team. Unfortunately, that trade coincided with a slide down the standings and the Bulls failed to even qualify for the play-in.

With a looming Zach LaVine extension and Vucevic entering the end of his prime, the Bulls need to do something big if they’re going to make any noise in the Eastern Conference. John Wall might not be the star that he was, but he makes an excellent third option for the Bulls.

Wall has long been a pick and roll maestro and he and Vucevic would mutually benefit from each other’s presence. Add in the playmaking that he provides next to LaVine and suddenly the Bulls look like a surefire playoff team.

The Rockets will get Tomas Satoransky for one year at $10 million to make the salaries work. Satoransky is a capable backup point guard who will have no problem featuring in a reserve role.

The reason the Bulls won’t see a first-round pick is simple, if they’re trading for John Wall then they’re out of options. The type of team that’s going to bite on a John Wall trade is a desperate team, and just about no franchise is as desperate as the Bulls. They pushed in a lot of their chips to try and make a playoff push and missed out entirely.

The front office knows that heads will roll if they miss the playoffs again. Add in the fact that the play-in might not be around next season and the Bulls need to do something dramatic. John Wall to Chicago is just crazy enough to work.