Picking The Best John Wall Trade Destination
It would be really easy for me to say that no team should want John Wall (they shouldn’t), but I need content and this is pretty low-hanging fruit.
John Wall’s once-promising career in Washington has been derailed by injuries and his massive contract makes him almost immovable. The Rockets are rebuilding and are trying to move Wall so they can make way for the likes of Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr, and Alperen Sengun.
Wall won’t be playing in any games this season, so now it’s up to the Rockets to try and find a trade that can help move Wall’s massive contract and give the Rockets a decent return package. It’s a tough and very interesting task, so I did my best to find the best John Wall trade.
John Wall To Indiana; Three-Team Deal Involving Dallas
This trade caught my eye when I was looking for John Wall trades. I don’t think something like this will happen, but again, it’s interesting.
Dallas Mavericks Receive: Myles Turner (via IND)
Indiana Pacers Receive: John Wall – Danuel House Jr. – 2023 FRP (via BKN – from HOU) – Josh Green (via DAL)
Houston Rockets Receive: Maxi Kleber – Dwight Powell – 2025 FRP (via Dallas) – TJ Warren – Jeremy Lamb (via IND)
Again, I don’t think this will ever happen, but I do think there are a lot of moving pieces here, and most of them I could see being moved shortly.
Dallas Mavericks
For Dallas, they’re getting Myles Turner, a center who should complement what Luka Doncic does perfectly. He offers some spacing on offense and elite-shot blocking. Instead of Porzingis down low, you now have two stretch bigs, only this time one of them can play defense.
In turn, Porzingis becomes a lot more expendable if you’re Dallas, which is a very good thing since Porzingis is now awful.
You’re unloading the big contracts of Maxi Kleber ($8.75 million in 2022) and Dwight Powell ($22 million 2022-23) and you’re getting a much better center. Sounds like a win to me.
Losing Josh Green does hurt, but that’s about it. Trading that 2025 unprotected FRP to Indiana will likely be inconsequential in the long run, but most importantly, you’re giving Luka Doncic some good pieces around him to contend with. If Dallas can get Myles Turner, they should do it in a heartbeat.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have tried to trade Myles Turner in the past to no avail, but I don’t think it’s smart to trade Turner at this point. Turner is their only defensive stopper down low and Sabonis’ lack of defense shines a lot more brightly when Myles Turner isn’t there to cover him.
Other than that, they’re not giving up much. TJ Warren was injured all of last year and he’s on the last year of his contract. He’s 28 and since you traded for Caris Levert as part of the James Harden mega-deal this past January, maybe you unload him.
It’s the same thing with Jeremy Lamb. Sure he’s talented, but he’s 29 years old and entering the last year of his contract. You’ll be losing two good, talented scorers, but would you be bringing them back long-term anyway? Likely not both of them, so this could be a chance to get some value back for two expiring contracts.
The return package isn’t great however and that is why I don’t think this trade will happen. Indiana already has Brogdon, Levert, Duarte, and Edmund Sumner in the backcourt. They don’t need an aging John Wall who lacks outside shooting and doesn’t bring much upside.
While Danuel House Jr. and that first-round pick would be solid additions, the Pacers don’t have room for Wall and it doesn’t make sense to get him, at all.
Josh Green is honestly the best thing about this trade for the Pacers. He was drafted in the first round last year and didn’t play much with Dallas. He has potential and he knows Rick Carlisle since the two of them were together last year in Dallas. That would be the best part of this mock trade, in my opinion.
But there’s no real point for the Pacers to be getting John Wall while also giving up so much. I don’t disagree with trading expiring contracts like Warren and Lamb, but you need to get something good back in return. Also don’t trade Myles Turner. Just don’t do it.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets aren’t giving up that much in this trade. John Wall is on the way out, Danuel House doesn’t fit their rebuilding timeline, and that first-round pick they’re giving to the Pacers isn’t even theirs, it’s from the Nets. So they’re not giving up much, but the return package isn’t that worthwhile if you ask me.
You’re taking on $8.75 million from Maxi Kleber in 2022 and a combined $22 million from Dwight Powell over the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Both of those guys are aging and serve only to eat up cap space and take away shots from the young guys. Not worth it to get them.
The pick from Dallas is nice, but adding two aging contracts isn’t that smart when you’re trying to rebuild. Jeremy Lamb and TJ Warren are expiring contracts, but they are there only to take away shots from the rookies. So if this trade happened, the Rockets would be killing their rebuild in more ways than one.
Again, giving up John Wall is a good idea. But you have to be able to get something worthwhile out of it. Otherwise, just continue to pay him to sit around and do nothing.
If we’re being honest, really only Dallas would say yes to this trade. The Pacers don’t need John Wall and they would be giving up too much in this trade. The Rockets are trying to keep their salary low while not adding too many veterans who take up shots from their rookies. This trade wouldn’t make sense for them either.
I do think Wall would be moved in a 3-team deal like this, but 2/3 teams shouldn’t be accepting this and that’s why I don’t think it’ll happen.
John Wall To Philadelphia; King Involved In Three-Team Swap
As soon as John Wall was available, I know a lot of people thought a trade involving Ben Simmons would happen. The money would work out for both sides and with Simmons desperately wanting out, maybe both sides could come to a deal. A straight-up swap between the two players wasn’t likely, but I do kind of like this three-team trade that I saw.
The Kings are involved in this because they have been in the Ben Simmons sweepstakes and while I don’t think Ben Simmons is going to end up in Sacramento, it’s not exactly a stretch or anything like that. This is a semi-realistic trade that I could see happening if it was slightly altered.
Houston Rockets: Buddy Hield – Marvin Bagley (via SAC) – 2022 FRP – 2026 FRP – 2023 2nd RP (via PHI)
Sacramento Kings Receive: Ben Simmons – Matisse Thybulle
76ers Receive: John Wall (via HOU) – Damian Jones – 2022 2nd RP – 2024 2nd RP (via SAC)
As I said, it’s semi-realistic. But a variation of this trade could very well happen and there are a lot of parts to this trade that I think that all parties would walk away happy with.
Houston Rockets
The Rockets are only giving up John Wall in this trade, which doesn’t seem that likely. Wall will likely be traded with a pick or something and the Rockets will likely have to still pay most of his salary for a team to take him on. So I doubt he gets traded on his own because nobody should take Wall’s massive payload with no sweetener.
In return for Wall, the Rockets are also getting an incredibly unrealistic package in return. The Rockets are getting Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley from the Kings. Hield is forgettable, but I am intrigued by the Bagley pickup.
Bagley has been a bust to this point, as injuries have slowed down his development and he just hasn’t panned out as a #2 overall pick. Him going just one pick over Luka Doncic will always haunt Kings fans and he’s likely going to become a Restricted Free Agent this summer.
With that being said, Bagley is still just 22 years old and maybe he can pan out with the Rockets. His fit with the likes of Christian Wood, Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, and Daniel Theis is very interesting and I doubt he’d get more than 10 minutes per game. But maybe a chance of scenery could work wonders for him.
But even on top of that, the Rockets would be getting two unprotected first-round picks and a 2nd round pick from the 76ers, for free. That doesn’t make much sense to me, but if the Rockets got this trade offer, they should be completing it in a heartbeat.
Again, not very realistic, but Rockets’ fans can dream. All 4 of them.
Sacramento Kings
So let me get this straight. The Kings are giving up the bloated Buddy Hield contract and a draft bust in Marvin Bagley. They’re also giving up two 2nd round picks. In return, the Kings are getting what exactly?
Nothing much, just Ben Simmons & Matisse Thybulle. No big deal.
If this happened, the Kings would suddenly not be the dumbest franchise in the NBA. This is why this trade is unrealistic. Not only are the Kings getting way too much back for what they are giving up, but they also wouldn’t be smart enough to do something like this.
Ben Simmons is perfect for the Kings. He isn’t going to be their #1 option, but he gives them some much-needed defense. He can play power forward and he fits perfectly with what the Kings need. He can handle the ball some and play in the high post. Sacramento could use Simmons and vice versa, they’re a perfect match for each other.
With Matisse Thybulle, it’s the same thing. Thybulle is an All-NBA defender who gives the Kings some much-needed defense. In this scenario, the 76ers now have Simmons, Thybulle, and 2021 lottery pick Davion Mitchell. That’s a pretty big upgrade defensively.
Unfortunately for the Kings, this will never happen. They would be giving up pennies on the dollar and they got a check for $10 million in return. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in the NBA, but Kings fans can certainly dream about this scenario, where their biggest problem essentially gets solved instantly.
Philadelphia 76ers
Again, this trade isn’t realistic and there’s no way in hell that they would ever do this. Trading Ben Simmons isn’t the bad part of this trade. It’s everything else they’re giving up on top of Simmons.
They’re giving Matisse Thybulle, their young, All-NBA caliber defender away to the Kings. They’re giving the Rockets two unprotected first-round picks plus a 2nd round pick and in return really not getting anything worthwhile.
For all that they’re giving up, you’re getting John Wall, Damian Jones, and two 2nd round picks. If this actually happened, I would not stop laughing.
John Wall is not the answer for the 76ers. In fact, he’s a lot worse than Ben Simmons. Wall also can’t shoot, he’s older and more injury-prone, but most of all, he just can’t play defense. At the very least Ben Simmons was the runner-up for the DPOY award. John Wall can’t do that, so this would be a major downgrade for the 76ers.
On top of getting a downgrade for Simmons, you’re not even getting any first-round picks back. I know the 76ers would never do this in 1,000,000 years, but this would top the list for worst trades ever.
Worse than the St. Louis Hawks trading away Bill Russell (#2 overall pick) for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan.
Worse than the Bucks sending Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith, and Brian Winters.
I know those are some of the worst trades of all time, but in this day in age? With the Internet and Twitter being how they are, this would get flamed for days on end. Thankfully it’s only a mock trade and the 76ers would never do this.
I said this trade was interesting, not good. I do think a 3-team trade involving these 3 teams could happen, but things would of course be a lot more balanced.
John Wall Heads To The Clippers
There aren’t many good two-team trades for John Wall and while I highly doubt just two teams will be involved in a potential trade, John Wall to the Clippers has been rumored since he has become available. The Clippers are likely not going to be contenders without Kawhi Leonard this season, but maybe they can add Wall for a title push in 2023.
The Clippers really have a revolving door at point guard. Reggie Jackson is solid, but not the answer. Rajon Rondo and Patrick Beverley didn’t work out as the starting option and I don’t think current starter Eric Bledsoe will work out that well either. So while Wall isn’t great, I would prefer him over anything the Clippers currently have on their roster.
The only downside to a trade involving just these two teams is that the Clippers don’t have much expendable young talent to give back to Houston, which is a big reason why the Rockets want to trade Wall in the first place. So the Clippers might have to give up one of their few good young players to do this trade, which might turn them off from doing a John Wall trade in the first place.
Trade between these two teams would be very interesting, but this is what I imagine it would look like;
Rockets Receive: Serge Ibaka – Eric Bledsoe – Luke Kennard – Keon Johnson (R)
Los Angeles Clippers Receive: John Wall
Houston Rockets
Again, this trade package in return for John Wall isn’t exactly sexy or anything. It’s mostly old guys who are getting paid more than they should.
Serge Ibaka hardly played at all last year due to a back injury and while he’s still talented, he’s 32 years old and getting paid $9.72 million in 2022. Not ideal, but he’s not exactly going to play for the Rockets or anything.
The same thing applies with Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe isn’t the same player he once was and his contract for 2022 is awful. He’s getting paid $18.1 million in 2022 before his contract in 2023 is only partially guaranteed. Bledsoe is 31 years old and also isn’t going to be in the long-term plans for the Rockets. Mainly just salary filler for this trade.
Luke Kennard is interesting, but the same thing applies to him too. While I do like him as a player and he is just 25 years old, he’s just getting paid too much. The Clippers stupidly gave Kennard a 3 year / $41.2 million rookie extension. The extension could reach 4 years / $56 million if the final year were to be picked up.
Spoiler Alert – it won’t be picked up. Kennard isn’t worth the money and if he were to be traded to Houston, he wouldn’t do much of anything. The main part of this trade that the Rockets should be excited about is Keon Johnson.
Those first 3 players (Ibaka, Bledsoe, Kennard) shouldn’t excite any team. But a 2021 first-round pick is certainly is enticing, especially a player like Johnson. The Rockets don’t exactly have great wing depth right now and Keon Johnson is an incredibly versatile defender. Scoring isn’t his forte, but he’s another intriguing young talent that fits in with the Rockets’ future plans.
If the Clippers added in Keon Johnson, I would 100% do this trade. Not only are you not giving up a pick in this scenario, but you’re also getting a solid rookie with potential for the future. I like the sound of that and so should Houston.
Los Angeles Clippers
For the Clippers, you’re not really giving up much outside of Keon Johnson. I loved the Serge Ibaka signing last year but he didn’t even play in the playoffs due to a back injury. Luke Kennard and Eric Bledsoe are both bad contracts, so in reality, you’re not giving up too many impactful players.
With Kawhi out for most of 2022 and likely knocking the Clippers out of contention for this season, maybe it’s time to play the long game. Maybe it’s time to prepare a roster for 2023 when you absolutely know you will be contenders again. I think Kawhi will still be an elite player when he returns and John Wall is a fine 3rd option.
I think that the Clippers should do this. I know Keon Johnson is a good player but it was either him or Terance Mann and I just have to go with the player who I know can succeed. I don’t expect much from the Clippers, which is why it’s the perfect time to build for 2023.
You have Kawhi coming back, that new stadium is cool, a championship could very well be on the horizon for LA. Let’s just see how they mess things up this time.
This trade might have the best chances of happening. Although I do think a three-team trade is the way that John Wall will go, I have to say, this trade is the most realistic. I’m hoping that the Clippers don’t cling onto to championship aspirations for this season, let Kawhi recharge his batteries for 2023 and then wreak absolute havoc on the rest of the league.
I know I’m putting things really simply but it’s not that hard. Don’t screw this up Balmer. Not again.
Where Is John Wall Going To Go? Leave A Comment Down Below!
Follow My Instagram To Never Miss A Post: @hoopnotions
