COVID-19 delay could lead to return of Washington Wizards’ John Wall

The Washington Wizards had a plan, and it was clear John Wall wouldn’t be playing in the 2019-2020 season. But that’s all changed.

The Washington Wizards are currently on self-quarantine after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (then subsequently Donovan Mitchell) tested positive for COVID-19. It’s a bizarre turn of events for the entire league, and it’s truly unprecedented as the NBA has hit pause on the whole NBA season until further notice.

On TNT, NBA commissioner Adam Silver stated the delay would be “at least” 30 days.

This is absolutely serious and the right thing to do. I know it sucks for all of us basketball fans to miss out on our beloved sport, but the risk of mass infection at large gatherings by an extremely contagious and still somewhat unknown strain of the coronavirus is far too great to risk for a game. Even one as great as basketball.

There are about a zillion questions this mid-season hiatus raises, and none of them have a great answer. The unfortunate reality is that we just don’t know what’s going to happen.

While that may be nerve wracking, it’s important to keep our cool, so I’m choosing to focus on basketball and our Washington Wizards. And one question I have since we’re pushing the season back farther is can John Wall return and play this season?

My colleague, Jack Skolnik wrote a great piece arguing that  there was almost no incentive to bring Wall back this season, and many fans seem to agree across our social media platforms. But the possibility remains open as there is no rule that Wall cannot play, and I’m convinced that given the right circumstances we may see number 2 in a Washington Wizards jersey before all is said and done.

Hear me out. The Washington Wizards sit just 5.5 games out of the playoffs and have 18 games remaining. I’ve written before that postseason play would be beneficial for the young players on our team to get valuable experience, and don’t discount the fact that postseason games add revenue for the organization too.

That may come into play as each and every NBA owner is currently losing a boat load of money every day the season remains on pause. They may be extra motivated to make more money for the organization if that possibility remains.

There’s also the fact that the official 12-month timetable the Washington Wizards organization was up as of last month. Now I’ve seen plenty of people out there saying playing him would be stupid because doing so would risk further injury, but not playing him may actually do the same thing.

There’s no evidence at all that holding an NBA player out longer than their initial timetable will serve to prevent them from further injury. It certainly didn’t work for Derrick Rose‘s ACL, or Andrew Bynum‘s bone bruises, or Greg Oden‘s knees.

So why do players do it? In my opinion, it’s a financial game they play, which is smart for them but does no wonders for the basketball world or its fans. If I can skip a year of play and still get paid, or put myself in the position of signing another contract where someone will pay me thinking I can still play at the level I was before, I’m going to do that because its smart business.

And we’re certainly paying John Wall, and to the detriment of our salary cap as the Washington Wizards’ disabled player exception was denied in October. $38,199,000 as a matter of fact.

But by John Wall’s own admission, his return is entirely up to him:

If that is the case, I want John Wall to understand where we all are right now. As NBA fans, as Washington Wizards fans, as human beings. We are all completely drained and need something to lift us up in the wake of this awful public health crisis.

John Wall can be that beacon of hope for D.C. He can come back and play basketball when play resumes, with the added recovery time he’s claiming he needs, and lead us to the postseason. It would be absolutely epic and it’s entirely up to him, but time is on his side.