As first reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, the Houston Rockets and veteran point guard John Wall have agreed to a contract buyout that will allow the five-time All-Star to be an unrestricted free agent when the NBA’s 2022 market opens on Thursday, June 30.
According to Haynes, Wall will give back approximately $7 million to the Rockets of his $47.4-million contract for the 2022-23 season. He will recoup some or all of that in free agency, when he will reportedly sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wall’s original contract, which was one of the NBA’s most expensive, was given to him in 2017 by Washington — prior to a series of debilitating leg injuries. Though Wall did return to the court with the Rockets in 2020-21, that bloated, super-max deal for a player who had medical concerns and was at least somewhat past his prime proved difficult to trade.
