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John Wall Is Likely To Get Bought Out By The Rockets This Year; Lakers, Heat And Clippers Show Interest
John Wall has been flying off the radar since suffering an Achilles injury in 2019. Over the past four years, Wall missed two whole seasons and has only played 72 games.
Wall purposely sat out last year in a mutual agreement with the Rockets to find a trade partner for him, but the team struggled and ended up retaining the 31-year old point guard. There were talks of a possible buyout for Wall last season. But likewise, it didn’t come to fruition.
This year however could end up differently as NBA insider Marc Stein reported that Wall is successfully working on a buyout with the Rockets. Stein also added that teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers would consider pursuing the Rockets point guard if he reaches the open market.
This week marked the first time in some time that I heard serious murmurs about Wall successfully negotiating a buyout with the Rockets after his season on the sidelines — provided Houston remains unable to find a trade partner on a Wall deal.
It is still unclear, with Wall presumed to be essentially untradeable when he’s due $47.4 million next season, how much of that salary he would have to surrender in buyout talks to convince the Rockets to let him become a free agent. The latest Wall-related scuttle does, however, suggest that a pathway for the sides to get there is at last materializing.
Interest in Wall from the Clippers and Heat, if he can finally make his way onto the open market, has been mentioned for months. I’ve likewise been advised that the Lakers — resistant as they remain to trading Russell Westbrook to Houston for Wall by attaching draft capital as a sweetener for the Rockets — would consider Wall as a candidate for the roster if he is suddenly available via the buyout market.
