Cap Concerns: Undesirable contracts for the Knicks to pursue — John Wall

Thanks to John Wall, I doubt I’ll ever forget where I was on Jan. 3, 2018.

My father and I were sitting just six or seven rows back from courtside at a half-empty Capital One Arena, where the Washington Wizards were hosting the New York Knicks for a lowlight Wednesday night matchup. 

To the surprise of none, a starting five featuring Jarrett Jack, Courtney Lee, Lance Thomas, Kristaps Porzingis and Enes Kanter was unable to pull out the victory that night. Wall and Bradley Beal combined for 52 points, leading Washington to a 121-103 rout. I knew it was over from the start, when Wall took a fast break route to the cup and slammed the ball home with such ferocity that I could taste it, no more than 25 feet away. He turned towards our side of the bleachers, flexed, slapped his bicep and snarled. 

And it was then that John Wall the athlete truly took shape in my mind. Lucky for me, too, because it’s been a long two years for both the guard and the NBA since. Wall went on to play just 46 of the next 197 regular season games for Washington. He suffered an Achilles rupture halfway through 2018-19, then somehow re-aggravated the injury in an incident at his home, ultimately ruling him out for the entirety of 2019-20 as well. 

Today the five-time All-Star, freshly 30, is no longer looked at as a talent teams can rely on. Wall’s set to make $40 million next season and will be closing a two-year absence when he finally steps on the court. There’s no doubt the Washington Wizards would like to get his salary off their payroll, but in order to do so, they’d have to actually pay the receiving team to take him on. 

Cue the New York Knicks, who according to SNY’s Ian Begley have informed teams they’re interested in using their cap space (up to $60 million free, potentially) to take on some of the league’s more “undesirable” contracts. If there were an “Undesirable Contract Power Rankings,” Wall would top the list. So what would a salary dump trade between Washington and New York look like?

For starters, I’ll tell you who wouldn’t be involved: Bradley Beal or 22-year old forward Rui Hachimura. The former is the franchise’s last lifeboat as they sink into the darkest depths of basketball mediocrity, and the latter is looking to me like the second coming of Kawhi Leonard, kind of. Otherwise, it’s hard seeing any other player on this Washington Wizards roster and/or draft selections being truly deemed untouchable or off-limits by general manager Tommy Sheppard. And if I’m New York, I’m starting talks at multiple first round picks. Just not immediately. 

Could New York have interest in Washington’s pick this year? Potentially. But it’d make more sense for both sides if they delayed any draft compensation until 2021, and that’s just as a starting point. The 2020 draft class is viewed by most as an enigma of sorts, and the COVID-19 outbreak hasn’t helped that — teams have been almost entirely limited to getting to know prospects through Zoom interviews, aside from the NBA’s generous grant of 10 in-person workouts at their respective facilities.

Beyond draft selection, the Knicks would be smart to try and snag forward Troy Brown Jr. from the Wizards. The 22-year-old has yet to carve out a role for himself in Washington, which can be credited to a number of things outside of his control, not his own talent nor lack thereof. His two seasons with the Wizards have been wildly unpredictable, making for a bit of a roller coaster of sorts for his start in the NBA. It hasn’t hindered him from making an impact, both on the defensive end and on offense, where Brown has seen starting point guard reps as recently as last season’s end. He finished the cut-short 2019-2020 campaign averaging 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals nightly. 

Yet the hardest part, as is the case with any deal of this stature, is going to be matching up with Wall’s monstrosity of a salary. In order to hit the $40 million threshold, New York would need to perform a special kind of acrobatics in the financial field with their team options and non-guaranteed salaries. Something like Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, and Elfrid Payton would match up closely with Wall and Brown Jr.’s salaries. It wouldn’t be a grand splash blockbuster for Washington, but it would open up an enormous amount of cap space for the team in 2021, which they could likely use to persuade Beal into delaying any trade request. 

Would the Wizards agree to this? That much is unclear. It’s unsurprising, but Sheppard and the front office have only preached Wall’s praises ahead of next season, citing his recovery and the many, many open-gym practice videos on social media. Sound familiar, Knicks fans? 

But it’s as likely that Sheppard would pounce on this deal as that he’d hesitate to pull the trigger. Beal and Wall have a history, and a chemistry, which to today’s stars is a top priority. If the point guard can come back at 80% the player he was when he went down with his Achilles injury, then there’s no reason to clean house just yet. When Wall went down he was averaging nearly 21 points and nine assists per game. And he’s just turned 30 years old, which for devastating injuries isn’t a death sentence. It’s possible Washington might wait out any dealing of Wall until they see what the finished product of his rehabilitation looks like and playing alongside Beal, who’s found a new ceiling in his point guard’s absence (30 points per game last year). 

But I feel inclined to remind readers there’s no guarantee this Knicks front office would entertain a call on Wall. Yes, the Knicks have been tied to other aging point guards like Chris Paul and Goran Dragić, but neither have an immediate track record with any (serious) injury. And Wall’s salary will stretch much further than the 2021 player option for Paul or the potential one-year balloon deal for Dragić. Still, when you’re starting from the bottom, as are our Knickerbockers, nothing should be off the table. Wall wouldn’t be a terrible mentor to whichever point guard prospect New York takes in the upcoming draft class. He’s played almost every variety and in every tier of basketball in his nine seasons, while simultaneously having the benefit of spending over a season and a half along the Wizards bench in somewhat of a coaching role last season.

At a minimum, Wall’s workout video campaign has shown us enough to know that he’s in NBA shape. And the beauty of the point guard position is that you never truly lose your vision (see Paul, Chris for reference). Even if the 30-year-old comes out and can’t be the fast break phenom who terrorized the league for so many years, it’s still safe to assume he’d be the most qualified passer New York has featured this decade. That alone makes this trade tempting for the Knicks, provided they can work the parameters of this deal to yield other benefits going forward. I mentioned it in the Al Horford article of this series: expect the Knicks to aggressively push for Julius Randle to be included in any deal where they’re taking on a long-term salary. Given that his salary for 2021-22 is partially guaranteed for just $4 million, this should be an easy swing in any trade with Washington or other teams without an immediate championship window. 

One last thing to keep in mind, albeit the most far-fetched aspect to this scenario, is Wall’s college ties to Kentucky. On his own podcast back in late October, sports commentator Bill Simmons mentioned the “real fear” around the NBA that the New York Knicks franchise could become a “pipeline” for Kentucky players. The most obvious reason being the hiring of former CAA top dog Leon Rose as president. CAA has represented a number of notable former Kentucky players, including shooting guard Devin Booker and big man Karl-Anthony Towns, two players the Knicks are keeping as close an eye on as is allowed by the NBA. Wall is a former Wildcat himself, and aside from that, is very close with a lot of today’s top talents. If — and it’s one of the biggest “ifs” I’ve ever proposed — the point guard comes back at anywhere near an All-Star level, a window will once again open up for the Knicks to pair two All-Star talents in New York and make their seemingly inevitable return to the playoffs. I mean, they have to get back in the mix sometime, no?