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The Houston Rockets and veteran PG John Wall are working together to find him a new home, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday afternoon. The two sides have come to a mutual agreement and will try to find Wall a new team either before the 2021-22 season or during the season. Wall plans on sitting out games until a deal is reached, per Shams.
This makes a lot of sense for both sides but there will be some road blocks. Wall is set to make $44 million this season and has a player option for $47 million in 2022-23. It will be tough to move a contract of that size. The Rockets don’t plan on buying out the remainder of Wall’s salary since it’s close to $100 million. Houston will likely need to deal Wall for a few expiring contracts that match Wall’s salary.
The other reason this makes sense is where Wall is at in his career relative to the Rockets. Houston is in the midst of a rebuild and will likely not be competitive for at least a few seasons. Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Kenyon Martin Jr., Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, Josh Christopher and Jae’Sean Tate are expected to be the core of the rebuild. If Wall is on the team and is starting, that cuts into Green’s development a bit. The No. 2 overall pick should start and get every opportunity to be the Rockets’ leading scorer this season.