After reaching a deal with the Rockets this offseason, John Wall has not played any games for the Rockets so far this season, and of course the Rockets are actively seeking deals involving Wall. But that has changed, as Wall has told the Rockets that he wants to return to the game, mainly because the Rockets can't smoothly push for a deal involving Wall, and the latter doesn't want to continue to waste his precious career.
It's certainly not easy for the Rockets to push for a deal involving Wall, whose $91.7 million contract this season and next season is hard for other teams to accept. However, the US media Brett Siegel still suggested that the Rockets and the Clippers can promote the deal involving Wall:
Clippers get: John Wall
Rockets get: Eric Bledsoe, Sergi Ibaka, Luke Kennard
Wall's partnership with Paul George still sounds like a good idea, but whether the Clippers are willing to take the risk of Wall's contract may be an important prerequisite for whether the deal can be pushed, after all, the Clippers' total salary has exceeded the luxury tax line by $31 million, which also means that absorbing Wall's contract will make the Clippers bear a larger luxury tax penalty.
The bigger question is whether Wall can perform well enough when he joins. Last season, Wall did average 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game, but he also only shot 40.4% from the field, which means that Wall is still the player who is not very efficient. If he joins the Clippers, he could have problems with Reggie Jackson in the backcourt, at least the Clippers don't think Wall will put himself down for the role of sixth man, even if that may be the best situation for the Clippers.
For the Rockets, getting rid of Wall's contract was already the best outcome. In this deal, the Rockets can get two veteran players, Bledsoe and Ibaka, in addition to getting goalscorers like Kennard, even if this does not allow the team to get out of the rebuild, but kennads likely to give some help to the team's young players.
Overall, such a deal would be a greater risk for the Clippers, and the Rockets' getting rid of Wall is the problem goal of driving the deal.