John Wall reportedly wanted to be traded from the Wizards.
Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard is throwing cold water on that, though.
Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington:
Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard: "There's no plans to trade John. Obviously, it's unfortunate at this time of year... I was with John this morning. I watched him work out."
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) November 23, 2020
Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:
Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard said John Wall hasn't requested a trade. He says he and Wall and Beal have always been on the "same wave." Sheppard says he talks with Wall every other day: "There's no issue with John and I, with John and the Wizards."
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) November 23, 2020
I don’t know precisely what Wall said privately. Sometimes, there’s a semantics game about “requesting a trade” vs. “wanting a trade” in order to avoid a fine. Sheppard could also play semantical tricks to present to presented a more-unified front. Sometimes, general managers just lie in order to downplay tension.
But beyond that… Wall has arguably the worst contract in the NBA. He’s due $132,932,520 over the next three years. He hasn’t been healthy in years, including missing all of last season. He’s now 30, likely in his athletic decline.
Washington couldn’t trade him without including sweeteners and/or taking on other bad contracts. Probably both.
On the bright side, Bradley Beal seemingly wants to play with Wall again. The Wizards have a starting spot reserved for Wall if he’s healthy. However he felt a few days ago, Wall could return to a reasonable situation for himself in Washington.
At some point soon, it’d be nice to hear directly from Wall on all this.
