Washington Wizards: Will COVID-19 suspension affect John Wall’s return?

All NBA games have been suspended for due to the coronavirus. Will this delay impact the return of Washington Wizards guard John Wall?

With the coronavirus scare hitting the United States, the NBA has decided to suspend all games for a minimum of 30 days, including the games of our very own Washington Wizards.

2020 has been a very interesting year in the National Basketball Association and the plot twists have continued. Upon the startling news of both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell testing positive for coronavirus, the NBA has officially announced that they will suspend NBA games for a minimum of 30 days as of March 11th.

So as we go through the necessary absence of basketball one question that will rise in regards to the Washington Wizards will be about the return of All-Star Point Guard, John Wall.

If you forgot, Wall has not played an NBA game since December 2018 as he recovers from a ruptured Achilles. The timeline for an achilles injury is usually around 12-14 months, however the Wizards have taken serious precautions and stated that Wall will not play in an NBA game during the 2019-2020 season.

They want to make sure he is 100% ready to go, and in a season in which the Wizards are at the bottom of the conference, there is no real reason to rush him back.

However, with the coronavirus suspension pushing games back, Wall will only have more time to rehab before the season is over (assuming it does not get cancelled altogether). So with this extended rehab and time to continue getting healthy, could we second guess ourselves and actually see John Wall on the court this season?

I hate to break it to you, but the answer to this question is still probably no.

The Wizards have made it very clear that this season is more about development than it is wins and losses. They plan on seeing what they have within the young core of guys currently on the roster and then getting back into contention next season.

Indicated by Bradley Beal’s recently signed extension, the Washington Wizards have shown that they want to go all in next year. With John Wall coming back from a serious injury, the Wizards want to be absolutely sure that he will be available next season and do not want to risk that by playing him right now.

Regardless of the NBA pushing back this current season, it appears everything the Wizards are doing is geared towards 2020-2021.

So in the meantime, John Wall will continue to properly rehab and try to get back into complete game shape.

Although the Twitter and Instagram videos of him dunking and playing full court 5v5 are encouraging, this does not necessarily mean John is ready to go play in an actual game for 35 minutes. The Wizards will most likely continue to monitor his progress with the idea that him and Brad will be able to lead the Wiz back to prominence next season.

So, even if John Wall does become 100% healthy before this season ends, whenever that may be, I believe it will still be unlikely we see him take the court this season.The cautionary tales of bringing back players to soon from injury has clearly had an impact on both Wall and the Wizards so they want to be as careful as possible.

With all eyes on 2020-2021 and hopefully being back in the playoff picture, regardless of the league suspension, I would not expect to see John Wall on the floor this season.