With the Golden State Warriors becoming one of the best teams in NBA history with their star-studded roster, elite players are looking to join forces now more than ever in order to just compete. While the Washington Wizards are one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, point guard John Wall knows they still need to add talent to be true title threats and that goes hand in hand with star power.
Wall hasn’t been shy about recruiting talent to the Wiz and was most recently trying to facilitate a trade that would’ve landed the club Paul George before he was ultimately shipped off to Oklahoma City. While adding PG would’ve transformed this Washington roster, Wall’s comments received some backlash.
Many thought with John Wall pursuing George, he was simultaneously advocating for the Wizards to let Otto Porter walk who was a restricted free agent at the time and plays the same small forward position. When the rumors were still developing, Wall discussed the advantage of having a player like George and how it can take a team to new heights. Following from ESPN’s Marc Spears:
“Look at our team. We are one piece away,” Wall said. “We have the point guard, we have the shooting guard, we have the center, we have the power forward. Our 3-man [Otto Porter Jr.] did great for us. You can’t take nothing away from what he did. But [George] is a guy that can guard LeBron and go back at LeBron. It’s a piece that you’re going to need to win. If you don’t have a guy who can do that, you don’t have a chance. …
“You got to add another star. You got to add another piece. You got to have three guys. And that’s what it’s looking like.”
Ultimately, Washington retained Porter but Wall said he has no regrets about making a recruiting effort to land a star of George’s caliber, even if it would have come at the expense of Porter. Following from Candace Buckner of The Washington Post:
“Otto’s going to be a great player for us, a great role player for a lot of teams. There’s a difference between a role player and a superstar. It’s a big difference. There’s a lot teams that will make a lot of trades for a superstar…
“It’s what people are going to say about it,” Wall said. “I love Otto as a teammate, but at the end of the day if you can make your team better, you can always do that. If people take it the wrong way, then so be it.”
Though people may question Wall’s teammate qualities in regards to this situation, the Kentucky product is absolutely right. Unless Porter makes another major, unexpected jump, it’ll be hard to envision the Wizards competing with the Cavs atop the Eastern Conference.
