John Wall Recruiting Paul George to be a Washington Wizard According to ESPN

Washington Wizards guard John Wall spoke candidly with Marc Spears of ESPN’s the undefeated on Monday before the NBA Awards. It’s no secret his team has been engaged with the Indiana Pacers on ongoing talks for the Pacer’s superstar. Still, Wall’s words Monday echoed a larger update on his efforts to bring George to Washington.

Who would have thought that some actual news would come out of the NBA Awards Monday night? John Wall was up for Best Playoff Moment, for his game winner at the end of Game 6 against Boston. Yet, his biggest news came before the event even took place.

ESPN dropped a story Monday night, detailing an interview Wall did with ESPN’s Marc Spears. It was the largest non-awards related NBA Story, being shown prominently on ESPN’s homepage. The gist of the article was that Wall has reached out to Paul George to convince him to force a trade to Washington. Again, not shocking news.

The Wizards have been linked to the Pacers in trades for George, but Wall’s words were the more noteworthy part of the story. He highlighted specifically why he wants George to come to Washington, and how the current roster would benefit from adding a player of George’s caliber.

"“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. …"

Obviously the main note to take from this is Wall essentially noting that the Wizards have what they need at every position except starting small forward. On the same night Otto Porter received his qualifying offer, he won’t be too thrilled to read this quote. Then again that is the business of the NBA. If you’re not constantly trying to get better, you’re not going to win a championship.

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Wall’s a smart man, and he also is aware that Porter would also possibly be the first necessary piece to switch teams in the case of a George trade. They both play the same position, and Porter is the best player outside of franchise cornerstones Wall and Bradley Beal.

Before you go running through the streets, remember that the Wizards seemingly have one of the tougher routes to trading for George. First, Porter, a restricted free agent would have to agree to any sign and trades negotiated. David Aldridge detailed in his Morning Tip a few weeks ago why sign and trades have become so rare in today’s NBA, saying,

"He’s a restricted free agent and would lose tens of millions of dollars if he agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with anyone this summer (fewer years, smaller yearly raises) instead of re-signing with Washington. There’s literally no incentive for anyone to do a sign-and-trade anymore."

The second issue, is that if the Wizards resign Porter, with the goal of trading him during the season, he can’t be traded until December 15th, as that is the date recently signed players can be traded.

Of course, a trade could maybe be constructed around Kelly Oubre Jr. who Indiana may value more than Porter, mainly because he’s still on a rookie deal, and would help more in their quest to tank for top lottery picks. Still, it feels like plenty of other teams have more enticing packages to offer the Pacers for George. But, if Wall was able to convince George to force his way to Washington, it would certainly help the Wizards’ chances.

We won’t know the end of the PG saga for a while it seems, but this news does tell us that John Wall is embracing his “recruiter” role, and is very candid in his discussions on the fact.

We know the news has made its way to Ted Leonsis and Ernie Grunfeld. Let’s see if it changes the team’s approach.

Next: John Wall Left off Both NBA All-Defensive Teams

If George does end up coming to Washington, I hope Marcin Gortat is willing to give up his number 13 jersey…