Guard John Wall intends to sign a free-agent contract with the LA Clippers after reaching a buyout agreement with the Houston Rockets, sources told on Monday.
According to a source, Wall, who was due $47.4 million from the Rockets after exercising the player option for the contract’s final year, decided to take $6.5 million less and sign as a free agency. That is around the amount of the taxpayer midlevel exception that Wall would be eligible for provided he is successful in reaching an agreement with the Clippers.
According to sources, the Rockets hoped to finalise a deal with Wall before the start of free agency on Thursday to give him the most alternatives when choosing his future team.
Wall, 31, and the Rockets mutually agreed not to play last season as Houston was in the early stages of a rebuild. Instead, the Rockets gave rookie guards Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green more attention as they developed, so Wall did not fit into the team’s plans while making $44.3 million annually.
In 40 games with the Rockets in 2020–21, Wall averaged 20.6 points and 6.9 assists, showing that he was still capable of playing at a high level despite missing the previous season and a half due to heel surgery and an Achilles tendon tear. He participated in practises and sat on the bench for games throughout a portion of last season with the Rockets, and he trained alone in Miami for the remainder of the time.
After beginning his career with the Washington Wizards, who selected him with the first overall choice in the 2010 draught, Wall spent the first 11 years of his career there before being moved to Houston in December 2020 along with a future first-round pick for Russell Westbrook. When former MVP James Harden demanded a trade early in the 2020–21 season, the Rockets, who at the time saw themselves as contenders, drastically changed direction.
With Kawhi Leonard returning after missing the 2021–22 season while healing from a partly torn ACL in his right knee, Wall would meet the Clippers’ need for a playmaker on a team with championship expectations.
Wall has career averages of 19.1 points and 9.1 assists. When the Los Angeles Lakers went 42-40 and were ousted in a play-in game last season, Reggie Jackson was the team’s starting point guard. He averaged 16.8 points and 4.8 assists per game.