Washington Wizards: 5 paths Wizards can take with 9th pick in NBA draft

Cost Cutting: Washington uses the ninth pick to try and dump John Wall’s salary

Of all the possibilities mused this seems to be the most unlikely. The Wizards could look to offload John Wall’s contract with the ninth pick as a sweetener. Why would the Wizards go down this route? As Bill Clinton once said, “it’s the economy, stupid.” The NBA salary cap is tied to revenue and the COVID-19 pandemic will almost certainly shrink the two.

The Wizards might feel pinched financially and view John Wall’s contract, the largest on the team, as the fastest and easiest way to get out of an accounting nightmare. The problem for Washington is that it’s unlikely that the ninth pick would be appealing enough next to Wall’s contract to get a deal done.

The issue is twofold; first, it has a 15 percent trade kicker attached to it, and, second, Wall is currently owed $131.544 million over the life of the contract if he exercises his player option for the 2022-23 season. This is a longshot to happen but that’s why the New York Knicks exist, so NBA writers can dream up any incredibly outlandish trade possibility.

The Knicks might want a marquee player after years of rebuilding and John Wall would represent one that wouldn’t cost them all of their assets to acquire. While the front office of the Knicks might not agree to the acquisition of John Wall and the ninth pick, James Dolan presumably has a cellphone and, if history is any indication, could be bamboozled into the deal.

In the most unique of circumstances, the Wizards find themselves a team without a clear-cut direction. Will they go all-in on the present? Will they go straddle the line of contention and redemption? Will they offload a franchise icon? Or will they tear it all down? Or maybe they’ll get lucky and find the league’s next big thing. Where the Wizards are heading for years to come will be set in motion by the 9th pick of this upcoming draft.