There's a reason the Houston Rockets pursued John Wall once they realized Russell Westbrook wanted out of Clutch City.
According to Fred Katz and Kelly Iko of The Athletic, the Rockets “singled out” Wall as the most intriguing option on the trade market since the franchise had no interest in a major downgrade at the point guard spot.
During the course of Houston’s trade talks around the league, John Wall was singled out as the most intriguing option on the market. The Rockets had no interest in a major downgrade, as that would defeat the purpose of smoothing things over with Harden and might also signal a rebuild. They may be parting with a former MVP (Russell Westbrook) in the trade, but they still consider Wall a high-upside acquisition — as long as he can stay healthy.
Wall isn't a triple-double machine or explosive scorer like Westbrook. However, he's still one of the better point guards in the NBA when healthy and the Rockets are hoping that the former No. 1 overall pick can shock the world and regain his All-Star form despite coming off an Achilles tear.
The 2018-19 season is the last time Wall played in the NBA, as he missed the entire 2019-20 campaign rehabbing his Achilles tear. The new Rockets guard averaged 20.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game for the Washington Wizards in 2018-19.
However, Wall was only able to play in 32 games that year because of a heel injury that ultimately required surgery.
Is Wall a good jump shooter? No. However, he can get to the rim at will, finish in heavy traffic and find open teammates due to his stellar passing skills. Those are three traits Westbrook brought to the Rockets in 2019-20 and it helped the team win 44 games in the regular season.
The only reason Westbrook's trade value was low is he struggled in the NBA bubble after contracting COVID-19 and playing through a quad injury.
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