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Report: John Wall still reluctant to accept smaller role with Rockets

Ben DuBose
·3 min read
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It appears that nothing substantial has changed to this point between John Wall and the Houston Rockets, other than the five-time NBA All-Star going public on Saturday regarding his desire to resume playing.

Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Sunday’s conversations between Wall, general manager Rafael Stone, and head coach Stephen Silas have not yet led to the veteran floor general accepting the type of role that the Rockets want in order for him to be in the team’s rotation.

Feigen writes:

He has been such a good, engaged, supportive teammate — it was easy to see him advising Porter after timeouts on Saturday, even as his restlessness has become increasingly apparent through the week — that filling a sixth-man role would add to his reputation as the sort of player a contender could use.

So far, he has not accepted that limited role. He has wanted to play throughout the season, an individual with knowledge of his thinking and the conversations with the Rockets said. But he did not want to give himself a demotion because the Rockets find themselves working on the team they will become after he has moved on.

Sunday’s conversations with Stone and Silas did not change that. Neither will his desire to play make it easier for the Rockets to find a trade.

Feigen suggests that Wall accepting that type of role might make it easier for the Rockets to ultimately find a trade suitor for him.

From Wall’s perspective, he posted a workout video on Instagram on Sunday afternoon with the message “Born ready, been ready” and a hashtag, “#FreeMe.” That suggests that in his view, Houston is preventing him from playing. Since both Wall and the Rockets seem to be on the same page regarding a trade or contract buyout not being feasible at this time, due to his bloated contract, the resolution that Wall wants appears to be playing in Houston, where he remains under contract.

The timing of Wall’s latest request certainly isn’t ideal. The Rockets are coming off back-to-back wins over Chicago and Charlotte, and third-year guard Kevin Porter Jr. averaged 18.5 points (38.5% on 3-pointers), 10.5 assists, and 7.0 rebounds in those games. After struggling with a thigh contusion since Nov. 7, Porter took a week off to finally allow it to heal, and he’s responded with a fantastic stretch of basketball.

Media reports in September had noted that the team’s thinking on Wall was heavily influenced by a desire to give the 21-year-old more playmaking duties at point guard. Now that the Rockets are starting to reap some rewards from that strategy, it’s unclear why they would go back on their original plan. Feigen suggests that the team would like to use Wall in a similar role to current veteran backup DJ Augustin, but Wall appears to be objecting to that template for the time being.

All it takes is one phone call to change things. But between Feigen’s report and Wall’s Instagram post, the clues after Sunday’s meeting between the player and team brass suggests that a mutual agreement on an acceptable role for Wall to resume playing remains elusive.

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