John Wall Reportedly Will Agree to Rockets Contract Buyout, Become Free Agent

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The Houston Rockets and veteran point guard John Wall have agreed to a contract buyout, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Wall is now an unrestricted free agent.

The news comes after The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on June 21 that both parties were “expected to work through a resolution on Wall’s tenure in the near future.” That came after he opted-in to his $47.4 million player option for the 2022-23 season.

Wall joined the Rockets in a trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Washington Wizards ahead of the 2020-21 season. He missed the entire 2019-20 campaign with a torn Achilles and returned to the court in 2020-21.

The 31-year-old appeared in 40 games for Houston that season, averaging 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals while shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 31.7 percent from deep.

Wall and the Rockets agreed to shut him down for the second half of the 2020-21 season to keep him healthy and protect his trade value. A deal never came to fruition, though, and he was essentially paid to just stay in shape in case he was traded.

With the Kentucky product out of the lineup for the 2021-22 season, Houston opted to focus on the development of some of its young players, including Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., in hopes of building a solid squad for the future.

Green, the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, had an impressive rookie season, averaging 17.3 points per game, while Porter averaged 15.6 points per game in his third NBA season.

While Wall hasn’t played close to a full season since 2016-17, he can still be an effective, serviceable player for whichever team he joins next.

That said, he likely won’t receive a long-term contract with any NBA franchise at this point in his career.