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Houston Rockets Rumors
Adam Spolane: Stephen Silas says he and Rafael Stone met with John Wall yesterday and Wall has indicated he wants to play. Wall has started the process of getting into game shape. Silas says his ramp up will take at least a couple of weeks. He’s been doing individual workouts
Salman Ali: Stephen Silas on if he wants John Wall to return: “If he’s able to play, yeah. It has to be good for everybody though. It has to be good for the organization and it has to be good for our group. There’s more to it.”
Cayleigh Griffin: Coach Silas says DJ Augustin is out for health & safety protocols.
Wall wants to play. The truth is that’s what he’s always wanted. Yet as I reported Friday, Houston came into the season privately telling Wall that it would offer him no more than a limited off-the-bench role to prioritize the young backcourt combo of Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr., and its stance hasn’t changed. Wall wants to start and the Rockets are steadfast that the five-time All-Star will have to come off the bench and accept whatever slice of playing time he gets if he wants to be an active participant.
Christian Wood expected to receive significant trade interest
With the Rockets focusing on developing young players, rival executives wonder how long it’ll be until Houston moves veterans, paving the way for Sengun to play more. There is an expectation around the NBA that Christian Wood, who’s in the second season of a three-year contract, will receive significant trade interest and that Houston will entertain offers. Wood is only 26, so Houston could keep him, but he’s no sure thing to stay come 2023; one of the reasons he signed with the Rockets over other interested teams was to play with James Harden, and Harden is long gone. Wood can offer a lot more to a team with playoff hopes than he can to the Rockets.
Starting center Daniel Theis will also receive mild trade interest from teams in need of a steady veteran backup. Sengun is better than Theis right now, but he’s an imperfect frontcourt fit with Wood because both are lean bigs. Houston should shuffle some pieces around and figure out the John Wall situation. The Rockets front office needs to clean up their mess so Sengun can start really messing around on the court.
