John Wall traded back to Rockets, reportedly will be bought out

Whew. Second-round picks and mediocre NBA contributors are pinballing around the League as the 2023 NBA season approaches the Thursday trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET. One of the many players moved is former Kentucky rockstar John Wall.

Wall was a Rocket for the past couple seasons before finally moving away to the Los Angeles Clippers this season. But, after roughly half a year with LAC, the Clips decided to deal him just before the deadline in a complicated three-team trade.

Shams Charania won this battle, reporting news of the Wall trade to Twitter 45 minutes before the final deadline horn. Here was that tweet:

“The Houston Rockets are acquiring John Wall in three-team deal with the Grizzlies and Clippers, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.”

Adrian Wojnarowski added more details to the trade a few minutes later:

“Breaking: The Rockets are acquiring John Wall as part of a three-team deal. The Clippers are sending Luke Kennard to the Grizzlies, and the Clippers are getting Eric Gordon, Danny Green and three second-round picks, sources told @wojespn.”

Man, a return to the team that benched him for the sake of losing a million games for Wall. Rough news. However, Wall will hit the open market as a free agent after Houston likely buys him out, according to Yahoo:

“Rockets plan to waive John Wall, per Yahoo. So Wall, Westbrook, perhaps Danny Green, among those who would be buyout options.”

So Wall is headed back to Houston after a half-season in Los Angeles. Fear not, Wall fans, because the Rockets are very likely to buy him out, effectively making him a free agent who will be able to sign with any team he likes afterward. In all likelihood, he lands on a contender that needs some help in the backcourt or has a primary ball-handler go down.

Either way, we probably aren’t done with John Wall jumping teams this season.