Is John Wall worth a max deal?

With the successful return of John Wall, rumors have began swirling that the Wizards are preparing to offer their young point guard a max contract.

J. Michael of CSN reported that several persons with knowledge of the situation believe the Wizards are preparing to offer Wall a max deal. In many ways, Wall fits the mold of a max player.

As a point guard, Wall is the most important player on the floor. He is a former number one overall pick and is the best player on the team. He has clearly improved his jump shot and has become a more prolific scorer averaging 15.6 points per game.

 

More importantly he makes the entire team better when he is in the lineup. The shooting percentage of everyone on the floor shoots up when Wall is playing. The Wizards went 5-28 without him and are 19-15 since his return. That is a dramatic jump.

But does a .559 win percentage really justify a max contract?

 

Max contracts should go to elite talents only because you are handcuffing your ability to bring in other players to supplement your roster.

Wall may be a great player, but he is not an elite talent. Giving him more money further obstructs the team’s ability to surround him with better players.

The Wizards were historically bad without Wall in the lineup. Compare that to the Bulls who have been without their best player, Derrick Rose, for the entire season. The Bulls are 36-30, good for sixth in the east. They are a playoff team. This shows you just how bad Wall's supporting cast is. They certainly have some good players on the team, such as rookie Bradley Beal, but not enough to be great.

 

Perhaps the hardest thing for the Wizards and fans to accept is that Wall is not an elite talent. Elite of course  is a subjective term, but when I think elite, I think LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Derrick Rose, etc. Wall is not among those players. True, he is only in his third year and a max contract would be an investment on what the Wizards believe he could be, but I do not see Wall developing into that level of player. Ask yourself this: who has the higher ceiling, Wall or Kyrie Irving?

 

I have no doubt Wall will continue to get better. He has shown he can do so in the course of this season with his improved jump shot, but his ceiling is much lower than Irving's. The NBA is the most star-driven sport in America. If Wall's ceiling is only so high, that makes the Wizards' ceiling that much lower. Can you really see Wall becoming on the elite players of the sport?

 

This is not to say the Wizards should not pursue re-signing him, he is a very good player. Paying him as if he is among the league's elite, however, will haunt the Wizards. I fear that the Wizards are setting themselves up to be a middle of the pack playoff team unable to challenge the sports' top teams and without the cap space to bring in the other pieces they need to be a true contender. Then the Wizards will have to blow the team up and start over.

 

The plan should be to build a contender, not overpay a single player and handcuff the team's future. Pretending you have a superstar will not make him one. Wall may be good, but he is not 'max' good.

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