Former NBA Coach Details How the Washington Wizards Should Handle the John Wall Saga

After patiently waiting for two years, the Washington Wizards decided to give up on John Wall recently. They tried to trade him to the Rockets to get back Russell Westbrook in return. But the deal was never finalized. When he learned about this, Wall reportedly asked for a trade, but GM Tommy Sheppard quashed those rumors.

The Wizards are in a mess now. With the season starting in less than a month, they need to quickly figure out how to clear things up. An unnamed former NBA coach spoke to SB Nation and talked about how the Wizards should handle the situation.

He said that Wall should have a meeting with GM Sheppard, owner Ted Leonsis, and head coach Scott Brooks. “If you want to go, you have to show the league you’re John Wall again,” is what they should tell the disgruntled star. The former coach said that only if Wall can prove himself on the court, will the front office be ready to accept his request to leave.

Can the Washington Wizards avoid further drama in this saga?

The former coach identified Brooks’ role as someone who should be on Wall’s side, and Brooks should therefore not get entangled in this matter. “The coach should be a spectator [in the meeting],” said the former coach. “He needs to be able to walk out of the cabin on Wall’s side and say, ‘let’s show them what you can do.’”

Finally, the coach told SB Nation that the rest of the team doesn’t have to be briefed about these updates. He said, “What’s important is being able to work with Wall. With the other guys, you do what you would normally do.”

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The Wizards are already coming off an unimpressive Free Agency. They signed Raul Neto, two undrafted free agents, and re-signed Garrison Matthews. So keeping Wall, for now, is a wise move. And if he really wants to leave,  getting the best value out of him is a must for them.

It will be tough, but if they cannot get equal value out of a trade, it will set the Wizards back a couple of years again, and they will have to restart a rebuild.