NBA Trade Rumors: The Wizards Should Trade John Wall To The Kings
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NBA Trade Rumors: The Washington Wizards need to throw in the towel and trade John Wall
Remember the John Wall?
No, not the starting point guard for the Washington Wizards, the dance that came out that went viral and had everyone going wild because the Wizards were competitive? Well, those times are over.
The Wizard are currently sitting with a 4-9 record, and 5th in the Southeast Division. What’s the issue?
Here are some statistics for you to chew on:
Take it a step further, and examine the PPG leaders and…. it’s not pretty.
John Wall is ballin’. He’s averaging 24.0 PPG/8.3 APG/4.0 RPG. He’s always consistent.
Beal, fresh off a mega-extension, is averaging 17.8 PPG, but is only shooting 33.3 percent from 3 (the main reason the Wizards were forced to pay him so much money).
Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned how the next highest assist average for any qualified player on the team is 2.9, which is currently tied between Tomas Satoransky (who is playing in his first NBA season) and Bradley Beal. Then, it dwindles down to 1.7 from the Polish Hammer. Yeah, not pretty.
I’m from Maryland. The Wizards are the hometown team. I’m a Celtics fan, but I always hope the Wizards do well, but gosh. They’ve been bad. The other night they were crushing the Knicks by no less than 20 points for almost a quarter…. and only ending up winning the game by 7. It felt like a hollow victory.
My solution is this: trade John Wall.
Look, he’s the face of franchise. Beal’s his sidekick. They may not get along, but it’s the truth; and Beal and the Wizards know it. They also know that Wall is set to be a free agent in 2019, which may seem like a long ways away, but he’ll only be 29 when that day comes; and barring a terrible injury, will still be ballin’ out.
The Wizards tried to make the team more competitive by bringing in Scott Brooks and making free agent signings like Ian Mahinmi and Andrew Nicholson, but it hasn’t worked – Mahinmi hasn’t played a single minute yet for the Wizards. They need to blow things up, and free John Wall. Let him be competitive….. on the Kings.
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John Wall, Mayor of SacTown
The Kangz. Who doesn’t love a dysfunctional organization with a disgruntled superstar who doesn’t have much motivation to stick around when he’s a free agent?
Sorry Kings fans, but Willie Cauley-Stein is nowhere near as talented as Boogie. If you’re the Kings, why not reunite college teammates?
The Trade
SAC gets: Otto Porter, John Wall
WAS gets: Rudy Gay, Kosta Koufos, Picks
Before you go ballistic, check out the next few slides for the rationale.
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More of that ^…. but seriously
The Kings are tired of the trade rumors. Boogie is tired of the trade rumors. The Kings want their elite big man happy and not to leave them crying in a corner in the bottom of the Western Conference standings….. except they’re competitive. Their 4-9 record may not show it, but they’re starting to look like a competitive team….. they’re just a point guard away.
More from Sir Charles In Charge
Rudy Gay is always in trade rumors. He’s a heck of a player, and still hated on for no reason. He’s averaging 20.3 PPG with a .464/.400 slash line. The dude can play…. but he’s a free agent after this season and will look to settle down somewhere with a team that will make the playoffs consistently in his twilight years.
The Kings are not that place.
By shedding Gay’s salary, the Kings have much more financial flexibility for the offseason, and can take in Wall’s contract no problem. Lawson becomes a fine backup point, and once Dave Joerger is fired…. er…. I mean starts playing Malachi Richardson, the Kings lineup becomes Wall-Richardson-Afflalo/Barnes-Porter-Cousins. That’s a fun lineup, but a competitive one.
Boogie gets his partner in crime from his Kentucky days, and the Kings start winning. The Kings also have a young core to build around in Wall, Richardson, Cousins, and Porter. They don’t have to have Koufos clogging the lanes, and can move Cauley-Stein to the bench to terrorize other benches.
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Big man depth….but a clear sense of organizational direction
By acquiring Koufos, the Wizards have a backup big man to spell Gortat as he gets older. Brooks can stagger Morris’ minutes if he doesn’t trust his bench (typically what happens), but knows he has a reliable big in Koufos.
By adding Gay, the Wizards can still remain somewhat competitive with an older, but scoring wing to offset the losses of Porter and Wall’s scoring ability.
Now, Trey Burke becomes the starting PG, but he at least has experience doing it. Brooks won’t ask him to do much, and you’ll see Beal putting up big numbers that the Wizards always knew he was capable of and they’ll claim it was a genius move. (Seriously though, he’d be taking 25-30 shots a game.)
The Wizards could also see what they have in college standouts Sheldon McLellan and Danuel House, and not have to worry about their record.
While the Wizards’ playoff run with my boy Paul Pierce was fun, but those days are gone and not coming back anytime soon. The Wizards need to reset and build for the future and stop pretending like the Bradley Beal signing was because he’s the picture of health. It’s because they don’t have many on-the-roster options to be excited about.
The Wizards’ magic may be gone for a good while, but the night is always darkest before the dawn. Until then, they can marvel at the Kings.
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