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NBA Rumor: John Wall to the Detroit Pistons, Really?

By Stuart London

Houston Rockets guard John Wall (1). Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Houston Rockets guard John Wall (1). Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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John Wall Detroit Pistons
Rockets guard John Wall (1) shoots the ball as Detroit Pistons forward Saddiq Bey (41) defends. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Five reasons John Wall would not fit on the Detroit Pistons

  1. He is owed $91 million (!) over the next two years. How on earth, salary cap-strapped Detroit would fit him in is honestly impossible to conceive. Next year, they could do it, but it would suck up all of their available cap space.
  2. How motivated would Wall be to play? The point of him moving out of Houston is that, at age 31, his few remaining quality years should be spent on a contender. Las Vegas currently has the Pistons at 25 wins for this season. There does not seem to be a reason for him being with Detroit either.
  3. How much help does Saben Lee need? Counting Cade Cunningham and Rodney McGruder as swing players who can play the point, Detroit is already bringing  SEVEN point guards to training camp: Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, Lee, Frank Jackson, Cunningham, McGruder and the newly signed Derrick Walton Jr.
  4. Any chance of Jerami Grant or Cade Cunningham being able to establish themselves as team leaders gets squashed if John Wall is here. Wall becomes the alpha dog because … he is John Wall and who are you?
  5. Wall is simply not the player he was. Much like former Piston’ Derrick Rose, Wall has had several injury-plagues years. Like Rose, he has come back to be a good player, 20.6 points and 6.9 assists last season, but the ‘eye test’ shows he is not the five-time All-Star anymore. Oh, and he is still not a good outside shooter, 31.6 Percent on threes last year.

Why John Wall is not the answer. light. Related Story

Detroit being interested in Wall is kind of a head-scratcher. The Pistons are a little farther along in their rebuild than Houston but, basically, they are in the same overall position as the Rockets, a young team that is not looking to be a playoff contender for a couple years, while its core develops.

But Lawrence is not some guy in his mother’s basement making stuff up. Before being at SiriusXM, he covered the NBA for the New York Daily News. Someone, it appears from the Houston side, told him the Pistons have made offer.

Let’s look at why?