Earlier this week it was reported that John Wall and the Houston Rockets have agreed to have the team help him to find a trade to another team. The plan is that he will practice with the team but he will not play in the games. This arrangement comes as little surprise considering the Rockets are looking to move into full rebuild mode following the James Harden trade last season. This includes their young talent which includes the 2nd pick overall in this year’s draft Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr. Both of which can play Wall’s position of Point Guard.
Wall will be looking to be traded to a contender where he has an opportunity to compete for a championship. The biggest issue for him is his salary. He is scheduled to make $91 million dollars over the next 2 years. The breakdown being $44 million this year and a player option for $47 million in the last year. Wall has battle injuries throughout his career including missing the entire 2019-2020 season. Last season he played just 40 games.
The one trade that would make sense for both Wall and the Rockets would be trading him for Ben Simmons in Philadelphia. This would pair Wall with Joel Embiid and it would make a pretty good pick and roll combination. Last year Wall averaged 7 assists and that will only go up with Embiid. It also helps the Sixers because even though Wall’s not as fast as he was when he was younger, he still has the aggressiveness to put pressure on the opposing defense by driving downhill.
The trade would also give Simmons a fresh start and he can play the Forward position from the elbow down and they can run the offense through him. This can even use him similar to how NIkola Jokic is used in Denver. Simmons possesses great passing ability and does most of his damage in the point which can benefit the guards who are slashers and like to operate on the perimeter. With Simmons not bringing the ball up you also can have him on the court in the 4th quarter. I say this because I believe psychologically he won’t feel the pressure of being the only ball handler on the floor and will begin to make his free throws at a respectable rate. In addition he can give the Rockets that in-between option where he is only 25 but has some experience so he can help bring the team along and maybe even help speedup the development process. This would be great for the Rockets as well so the team can develop into teams such as the Grizzlies and Hawks and become competitive within the next 2 to 3 years. It would be interesting because Philly likely asks for a second round draft pick to get back some draft compensation.
This will be an interesting story going into this season which starts in just 28 days!!!
I expect a trade partner will be found just before the All Star Break.
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