5 Best point guards the Pelicans can sign in free agency
By Will Eudy
3. John Wall
Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game of basketball. While some NBA players may have a gradual decline in quality of play due to natural aging, others experience a more sharp fall off due to injuries. The latter is the case for the former number-one pick from the 2010 NBA draft, John Wall.
When he came into the league, Wall was a speedy and bouncy athlete that could get by almost any defender in the entire league. While never a master of efficiency, Wall’s incredibly quick first step gave him an edge in slashing through defenses. In five of his first nine seasons in the NBA, Wall was an All-Star with the Washington Wizards.
But injuries started to add up for him in his ninth year. He suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in 2019 that caused him to miss the entire 2019-20 season. When he finally returned from recovery, Wall was traded to the Houston Rockets, where he would have an excellent bounce-back season in 2020-21.
As part of a mutual agreement with the Rockets, Wall sat out the 2021-22 season while the team developed their young talent. After that season, he moved on to the Los Angeles Clippers, where he showed he still has something left in the tank. In 34 games with Los Angeles last season, Wall facilitated for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard while averaging the fewest turnovers per game of his career.
If the Pelicans are looking for a low-risk, high-reward option, Wall would seem like the obvious choice.