NBA Rumors: Heat, Clippers interested in John Wall if bought out
By Jack Simone
John Wall has yet to suit up for the Houston Rockets this season. There were some rumblings, but those died out pretty quickly as talks stalled between Wall and the team.
He wanted to return, but his one request was that he wanted to start. Unfortunately, the Rockets weren’t interested in that, and so no movement has been made on the situation.
The veteran point guard was traded from the Washington Wizards to the Houston Rockets last offseason, and now it looks like his time in Houston is already over.
At the start of the year, Wall and the team decided that it was best for Houston to look for a trade. While that idea has become increasingly unlikely, there are some teams who could be interested in Wall.
NBA Rumors: Heat, Clippers interested in John Wall if bought out
According to recent NBA rumors from Marc Stein (subscription required), the LA Clippers and Miami Heat would be interested in John Wall if he were to reach a buyout agreement with the Houston Rockets. (h/t Bleacher Report, HoopsHype)
Obviously, with Wall making upwards of $40 million, a trade for the point guard is extremely unlikely. The Rockets would have to buy him out for either of those teams to be interested.
Miami is sitting pretty atop the Eastern Conference right now, but they could use an extra point guard. Kyle Lowry has been great, as has backup Gabe Vincent, but they don’t have much depth at the position besides those two.
As for the Clippers, they are in a weird spot. Both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are out for a long time, but adding a point guard for when they both return would certainly help. Right now, they’re rolling with Reggie Jackson and Eric Bledsoe.
As mentioned, Wall has yet to appear in a game this season, but he played pretty well last year. In 40 games, Wall averaged 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 6.9 assists while shooting 40.4 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from deep.
The only issue with a buyout is that Wall would likely have to leave a large sum of money on the table. Whether or not he’s willing to do that is unknown, but considering it hasn’t happened yet, he’s probably not too keen to do so.
Maybe Wall will change his mind by the deadline. If he does, seeing him end up in either LA or Miami would surely be very entertaining.