NBA mismatch: Real wizard & the most expensive Wall in history

Ever since 2001, when they got the first NBA overall pick, Kwame Brown, and the legendary Michael Jordan joined them, the Washington Wizards haven't been as ecstatic as in 2010. The reason? Another top pick, but this time a promising name and a potential face of the franchise - John Wall.

The first decade of the 21st century had been mediocre for the team from the US capital. They reached the playoffs four consecutive times between 2005 and 2008, but only once advanced to the second round. With Wall, things were supposed to move forward for the franchise that had won its last title in 1978 under the name Washington Bullets.

In his first season, the team failed to qualify for the playoffs, though Wall was ranked second in the Rookie of the Year voting, behind Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers. His individual performances were excellent, though the impression was that he lacked teammates' support.

Wall's first injury issues - minor, though - started already in his third season in the league, while it took him four seasons to bring the Wizards to the playoffs. In the first round, they knocked out the Chicago Bulls, but were eliminated in the next step by the Indiana Pacers.

Wall with the Wizards in 2015 (©Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Still, that was the most successful campaign of Wall's career at that point, as he nearly averaged a double-double (19.3 points and 8.8 assists), made his maiden appearance in the All-Star game, and signed a new five-year deal worth around $80 million.

In the following two campaigns, Washington participated in the playoffs once (in 2015) and were again eliminated in the semis, this time by the Atlanta Hawks.

Nevertheless, Wall's greatest season had yet to come. During the 2016/2017 campaign, he achieved his career-high averages of 23.1 points and 10.7 assists, leading the Wizards to the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference, still their best ranking in this century.

In the playoffs, Wall stepped up with 27.2 points and 10.3 assists on average, but still failed to reach the Conference Finals, being knocked out by the Boston Celtics in seven games. Regardless, Wall's terrific season earned him a new four-year deal worth approximately $171 million.

And that's when things started going south for both him and the franchise.

In the following season, Wall played only half of the matches (41) due to frequent knee problems, but that wasn't the end of his hardships.

One million per game - not so bad

Both the Wizards and Wall awaited the 2018/2019 campaign with high ambitions, which ended up crushed on December 28, 2018, when it was announced that the point guard had to undergo surgery due to a torn Achilles Tendon. Consequently, he missed the remainder of that season as well as the entire next one.

Finally, on December 2, 2020 - a year before his lavish contract expired - Wall was traded to the Houston Rockets alongside a draft pick for Russell Westbrook. That moment marked the end of an era in Washington. The era that promised much but fell short.

NBA mismatch: (Torn) Achilles' heel & curse of #0

Either way, Wall, who played his last game with the Wizards on December 26, 2018, against the Detroit Pistons, is still the player with the most assists and steals in the franchise's history and the fourth-highest scoring player with 10,879 points.

In the end, the Wizards had to pay the entire contract to Wall, who earned $171 million, making only 73 appearances, meaning that he made over $2.3 million per game!

His last season in the NBA - though he never officially retired - was the 2022/2023 campaign with the LA Clippers.