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Washington Wizards PG John Wall has made it clear he wants a trade out of D.C. as talks surrounding Houston Rockets PG Russell Westbrook continue, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Friday night. There has been chatter about a Wall for Westbrook swap between the two sides. Now, Shams is saying Wall wants the trade to go down. Does this mean Wall wants out of Washington altogether? Or just that he wants to go to Houston in this particular deal? We’ll have to see how this develops.
As Rockets/Wizards talks on Russell Westbrook-for-John Wall stall, Wall has made it clear he wants trade out of Washington to happen, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020
These rumors had been swirling last week after Westbrook said he wanted out of Houston. The two PGs have similar contracts, so the salary work would be less taxing in the end for both teams if a deal is met. Wall is coming of a season in which he didn’t play at all. The veteran had been recovering from a torn Achilles tendon. He’s had plenty of time to recover from the injury and Wall has said over the summer he feels ready to come back at 100 percent.
So if Wall doesn’t go to the Rockets in this deal, who is willing to take on his massive max contract? I’ve already seen people on Twitter pleading the Knicks not to get involved. New York probably shouldn’t take a risk with Wall, but he is healthy and the Knicks do need a PG desperately. If they can get Wall without giving up too much, I don’t think it’s a bad move. If he’s anything close to the All-Star player he once was, you’ve got one piece of the puzzle + RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson too.