Washington Wizards point guard John Wall has made a curious investment as his future in D.C. remains up for grabs.
Marc Stein of the New York Times reported Wall as purchased an ownership stake in the South East Melbourne Phoenix of the National Basketball League in Australia.
The Phoenix apparently have a number of current and former NBA players who act as minority owners.
The Wizards' John Wall is buying an ownership stake in the South East Melbourne Phoenix (@SEMelbPhoenix) in Australia's @NBL, @NYTSports has learned
Wall joins an ownership group headed by LA-based entrepreneur Romie Chaudhari and featuring several current and past NBA players
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 23, 2020
The influx of past and present NBA players investing in Australian basketball teams continues:
Wall joins Melbourne's own Dante Exum of the Cleveland @cavs and the retired trio of Zach Randolph, Al Harrington and Josh Childress as stakeholders in Chaudhari's @SEMelbPhoenix group
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 23, 2020
John Wall is making future investments off the court. On the hardwood, his future is uncertain?
The former No. 1 pick has reportedly asked for a trade amid rumors the Wizards had discussed a swap involving Wall and Houston Rockets point guard Russell Westbrook.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports reported Wall has been irked by Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard's hints the team is building around Bradley Beal:
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard said as much to ESPN’s Zach Lowe on Lowe’s podcast recently, then reiterated it on a Washington, D.C., radio station, saying, “John didn’t ask to be injured, but the NBA marches on.”
The Wizards had been staunch in letting other teams know Beal was not available. It’s a reversal from the days where Wall said Beal, who arrived in D.C. two years after Wall, was his “sidekick.”
According to a league source, this was inevitable.
“As soon as Tommy said it was Brad’s team, you knew it was coming,” the source told Yahoo Sports.
But despite his wishes, John Wall could be hard to move.
The 30-year-old has north of $85 million on his contract in the next two years, with a $47 million player option for the 2022-23 season. Wall is also coming off a number of serious injuries, and teams could be wary of dealing for an injury-riddled star on a big contract.
It remains to be seen whether Washington will continue shopping Wall or see what a fully healthy backcourt of he and Beal can do next year. In the meantime, Wall is upping his investment portfolio.
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