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Once an All-Defensive and All-NBA guard, John Wall has suffered a number of setbacks during his 10-year career in the league. However, the five-time All-Star only just turned 31 on Monday (September 6) and showed that he still has a lot to give to the Houston Rockets in the 40 games he played last season.
In a losing campaign, Wall led a young Rockets roster with 20.6 points and 6.9 assists a night. While his offensive box +/- was positive, Wall's struggles with injuries curtailed both his and the franchise's progress. Returning to the All-Star form that he showed in Washington will require Wall to get his body healthy in the offseason and form a stronger partnership with Houston's other star, Christian Wood.
3 ways John Wall can return to his former All-Star numbers
Ahead of the new NBA season, there has been plenty of discussion surrounding John Wall's future with the ball club. Given the fact, however, that he is one of the highest paid players in the league, it is unlikely that the Houston Rockets will be able to move him on considering his injury history.
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Therefore, it will be down to Wall to prove that he still has what it takes to be an All-Star caliber guard. Competing in the star-studded contest will be challenging given the West's plethora of backcourt options and the fact that the Houston Rockets will probably be a losing team again this season. However, that does not necessarily mean he can't continue to put up over 20 points a game after a full summer of rehab and on-court work.
The 2021-22 campaign will realistically be a chance for John Wall to re-establish himself in the league and give the Houston Rockets a helping hand in their rebuilding process. Here are three ways through which he can do that.
#1 Create a dominant partnership with Christian Wood
Prior to injuries de-railing the Houston Rockets' campaign, John Wall and Christian Wood showed flashes of what their partnership could achieve if they gelled together on the court. At one point, the pair led the Rockets to a six-game winning streak, though they would end up winning just nine times out of the 23 games the duo played together.
Nevertheless, John Wall has a young, extremely competent lob partner in Wood and somebody he can help coach to become a better player. The 25-year-old center had a breakout campaign with the Rockets and will be expected to continue averaging 20+ points a night. Wood's ability in the paint and range of shooting will only help Wall, whose assists have fallen year on year since the 2016-17 season to just 6.9 per game.
The veteran point guard is a high usage player, ranking inside the top ten last season with 31.6%. If Hall can stay healthy, the Houston Rockets will be running the majority of their plays through him and Wood, whose usage was 25.5% last season. That number will likely be higher this year as Wood is likely to be the team's top scorer.
#2 Stay healthy
After five dominant campaigns for the Washington Wizards, John Wall's luck with injuries has gone from bad to worse in the last few years. In the 2017-18 season, the 31-year-old struggled with a knee injury that saw him miss 41 games.
Wall returned to form the following season, averaging 20 points and 8.7 assists over 32 contests. However, he then tore his Achilles in December 2018. Wall did not return to NBA action until the 2020 preseason, by which time he had been traded to the Houston Rockets.
Although there was hope that he could return to his All-Star form this year, John Wall battled a multitude of injuries, including one to his hamstring, which caused him to miss the Rockets' last 12 games of the season.
Houston Rockets fans will be all too wary of the fact that John Wall may never return to being the player who averaged 10.7 assists and 23 points per game in the 2016-17 campaign. However, if he can have a solid offseason of recovery and fit in well with the Houston Rockets' youngsters, there will be plenty of opportunities for him to be one of the league's leading distributors again. Perhaps Wall could become the team's top scorer too.
#3 Not allow the Houston Rockets to develop a losing culture
John Wall is not the sort of competitor to give up even if he's on a team at the Houston Rockets that is expected to have the worst record again this season. Although the franchise may be stuck with his hefty contract, it could be a blessing in disguise if he can help the younger players develop a winning culture in the locker room.
During the Rockets' horrendous 20-game losing streak last year, John Wall played in 14 games and averaged 24 points. He also featured in matches where he was due to be rested and managed two 30+ point showings across those 14 games as well.
Although the team is in the midst of a rebuild, the Rockets organization will be wary of letting the restructuring drag their form down for a number of years. It could become particularly painstaking due to the competitive nature of the West. They will not want to be stuck on the outside looking in at their opponents for the next decade.
If John Wall can spearhead a winning mentality at the ball club, it will help the Rockets scale the heights they ideally will want to. Simultaneously, it might also help him return to the All-Star caliber player he once was.
