Remember Wall? He also wants to go back to playing in the NBA.
Recently, Wall appeared on a podcast and said, "Whether I can play, I can't play, or I can play like Haslem, anything, I just want to wear the NBA jersey again because I know what the game means to me, I know how much gas I have left." ”
Wall was the No. 1 pick in 2010, he was very beautiful when he first entered the league, averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game in his rookie season, and was selected as a five-time All-Star in his career, and led the Wizards to the playoffs many times as a star of the game.
However, since leaving the Wizards, Wall has had a pretty bad time in the past few years.
Back in the 2020 offseason, Wall was traded to the Rockets by the Wizards, and then he played a total of two years with the Rockets, and Wall's performance in these two years:
- In the 2020-21 season, he played in 40 games, 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists, shooting 40.4% from the field and 31.7% from three-point range
- In the 2021-22 season, Wall did not play a game due to the Rockets' rebuild
By the summer of 2022, Wall became a free agent and then joined the Clippers on a two-year, $13.28 million contract (team option for the second year).
At that time, it was believed that although Wall was not at his peak, he still had gas in the tank, and at the same time, the Clippers lacked a point guard and had the possibility of competing for a championship, and this signing could be said to meet the needs of both parties.
However, the results were very disappointing.
During his time with the Clippers, Wall played only 34 games in total, including only 3 starts, and played an average of 22 minutes per game, averaging 11.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
Wall's unit time data is actually very good, and there have been many highlights, such as scoring double-doubles in the first five games, 15 assists in a single game in the seventh, and 26 points in a single game, 23 points in a single game, and 12 points and 12 assists in a single game.
However, his shortcomings are more obvious than his strengths, first of all, although he is only a substitute, Wall's style of play is still a ball-handling superstar, with a ball possession rate of 25.9%, as a comparison, Harden's ball possession rate with the Clippers this season is only 20.2%.
In addition, Wall's offensive efficiency is very poor, with a low shooting percentage of 40.7%/30.3%/68.1% from three, a true shooting percentage of 49.7%, and a lot of turnovers, reaching 2.4 times.
As well as on the defensive end, Wall's performance has completely lost the level of the best defensive lineup, and the shooting percentage of opposing players has not decreased, but has increased from 46.0% to 48.3%.
The damage that Wall did to the Clippers can also be seen in the data: when Wall is on the floor, the Clippers score only 105.0 points per 100 possessions and lose 6.6 points against their opponents, while in the absence of Wall, the Clippers score 114.0 points per 100 possessions and outscore their opponents by 2.5 points.
So, don't look at Wall's average of 22 minutes per game to get 11+3+5, his data is piled up inefficiently by the ball, so before the trade deadline, the Clippers waved Wall to the Rockets, and the Rockets immediately cut him.
Speaking of which, there is another story here, before Wall was hidden by the team in the second year of the Rockets, which led to conflicts between the two sides, after leaving the Rockets, Wall repeatedly criticized and even slandered the former teammates of the Rockets on the show, so the Rockets cut him without saying a word after getting him.
Then this season, Wall, who became a free agent again, publicly searched for a home several times, but no team was willing to give him a chance, so we didn't see Wall in the NBA for the whole season.
This time, Wall is looking for a job publicly, and there is a high probability that there will be no results, and as for the reason, it is actually very understandable.
Although Wall is famous and has been brilliant in the past, after experiencing a major Achilles tendon injury, Wall is no longer the Wall he was back then, he has no shooting, no defense, and possession of the ball, his mouth is quite big, and there is no possibility of becoming Haslem, just ask, which team dares to give such a player a chance?
It is worth mentioning that Wall is only 33 years old now, George is a year older than him, he was also selected as an All-Star last season, and it is still possible to sign a maximum salary this offseason, but Wall has been without playing for a year and a half, and the chance of returning in the future is very low - unless the Wizards give him a short contract, after all, Wall has played for this team for nearly 10 years.
Interestingly, Wall also said on this show that he is the best player in the history of the Wizards, and believes that the Wizards should retire their No. 2 jersey: "Washington will always be my home." I've built connections with the fans and the community who will always have a special place in my heart, but my jersey definitely deserves to be hung over the stadium. ”
The idea is very good, however, during his time with the Wizards, Wall never led the team to 50 wins or reached the division finals, and in addition to 5 All-Star awards, he only had 1 All-Star 3-time, 1-time All-Defensive Team 2-time, 1-time slam dunk championship and 1-time Rookie Game MVP. The likelihood is very low.
Fortunately, Wall has made a lot of money, he is the first player to get a super maximum salary, and he has earned a total of $240 million in his career - this time looking for a job, it shouldn't be a lack of money to spend, right?