John Wall Spotted in Los Angeles With Paul George

Houston Rockets guard John Wall was seen in Los Angeles with LA Clippers star Paul George

Ned Dishman/Getty Images

It was recently announced by The Atheltic's Shams Charania that the Houston Rockets and John Wall will work towards finding him a new team to play for next season. The report also included that because Wall is still owed $91.7M over the next two seasons, the two sides currently have no plans to work towards a buyout, as the financial logistics would be too complicated.

According to Mitch Lawrence of SiriusXM NBA Radio, the LA Clippers have been amongst the teams that the Houston Rockets are taking trade offers from. While the report is open to skepticism, a recent John Wall and Paul George sighting in Los Angeles has fans thinking there could be some validity to these rumors.

A video of John Wall and Paul George together in Los Angeles surfaced on Friday afternoon. While it is unclear if the two were there with one another or just coincidentally, there is some history between Wall and George.

In 2017, when Paul George was seeking a trade from the Indiana Pacers, John Wall told ESPN that he was lobbying for PG to request a trade to the Wizards. Wall, who was a member of the Wizards at that time, said that "George is a guy that can guard LeBron and go back at LeBron. It's a piece that you're going to need to win. If you don't have a guy who can do that, you don't have a chance."

The friendship between John Wall and Paul George reportedly goes back to 2010 when the two were in the same draft class. Because Wall and PG are longtime friends, their outing together in Los Angeles could be merely coincidental and unrelated to Wall's looming departure from Houston; however, if it were indeed business related, it would not be the first time one had lobbied for the other to join their pursuit of a title.

Unless Wall gives back money as part of a buyout, similar to what Blake Griffin did in order to join the Brooklyn Nets, the Houston Rockets hold all the cards. If they are intent on finding a trade parter, then the Clippers would be forced to depart with several players in order to make the financial logistics work.

If the trade market for Wall became dry, and he decided to pursue a buyout instead, the Clippers could waive one of their non-guaranteed contracts in order to create room for him. If the Clippers are indeed interested in Wall, this would be the most ideal route. It would allow them to add the 5x All-Star without departing with key role players or taking on his $91M contract.

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