John Wall, unsurprisingly, has exercised the option on his contract for next season. Still, don't expect his tenure with the Houston Rockets to last much longer.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and STADIUM reported on Tuesday that Wall picked up the $47.4 million player option on his contract for 2022-23, hardly shocking considering that exorbitantly high salary. Unlike last season, though, both he and the Rockets are reportedly keen on facilitating his departure from the team.
Both sides are expected to work through a resolution on Wall’s tenure in the near future. https://t.co/fGf4ByrNlC
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2022
Wall signed a four-year, $171 million extension with the Washington Wizards in the summer of 2017, shortly after leading them to a losing seven-game battle with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Injuries prevented him from living up that massive contract, though, with Wall undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in January 2018 and rupturing his Achilles tendon during a fall in the shower just over one year later.
The five-time All-Star has been treated more like salary flotsam than an actual basketball player ever since.
Washington traded Wall and a lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick to Houston in exchange for Russell Westbrook on December 2nd, 2020, the Rockets' last-ditch effort at placating a frustrated James Harden. Once Houston moved Harden, initiating a full-scale rebuild, it became apparent that Wall wasn't a part of the team's short or long-term plans.
Due to his albatross of a contract, however, the Rockets have been unable to trade Wall, instead agreeing last season that it was in the best interest of both parties for him to not play in games despite finally getting a clean bill of health.
Multiple reports surfaced throughout 2021-22 that Wall and Houston would eventually agree to terms on a buyout, freeing him to sign with any team in the league for a price more commensurate with his current value. Expect Wall to hit the open market sooner rather than later now that he's commenced with the formality of his player option, looking to sign with a contender ahead of 2022-23.
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