John Wall
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Player Facts

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 210lbs.

Wingspan: 6'9.25"

Date of Birth: Sep. 6, 1990
College Experience: Kentucky (1 year)

Selections

All Star: 5
All-NBA: 1
All-Defensive: 1

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 8
Physical Strength: 8
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 9
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 5
Three-Point Scoring: 6
Dribbling: 9
Passing: 9
Perimeter Defense: 6
Interior Defense: 4
Rebounding: 6

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Measurables

> Putting Pressure on the Rim

> Shot Creation

> On-Ball Playmaking

> Modest Off-Ball Value

> Defensive Pluses

> Defense-to-Offense

> Efficiency Troubles

> Live-Ball Mistakes

> Injury-Filled Past

> Defensive Slippage

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

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*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

John Wall was once widely considered to be a top-five point guard. The current version of him is still an effective player, just to a lesser extent. The 6'3" guard has suffered some brutal injuries that have zapped him of some prior explosiveness.

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Measurables

The North Carolina native has always had great measurables for a lead guard in the NBA. He stands at 6-foot-3, but his 6'9"+ wingspan and strong 210-pound build are outlying figures for his position. No longer with generational speed with the ball in his hands, he still has enough burst to be a dangerous downhill player.

Putting Pressure on the Rim

John's game has always been predicated on getting downhill. This was made possible by a tight handle, blazing speed, and an uncanny ability to set up the screen. Jetting through seams in the defense is what fuels both his passing and scoring game.

The former Wildcat still attacks early and often out of high screen-and-rolls. John is adept at splitting the defense and jetting to the tin. He's also a big fan of rejecting the screen to compromise the defense with a nice crossover move.

After textbook on-ball screen usage, John gets going through the driving path. His speed and size play here as he violently attacks the tin. He will also use a skip dribble to assess his options rather than always go full throttle to the net.

All told, his 15.4 drives per game in 2020-2021 was more frequent than Malcolm Brogdon, Fred VanVleet, and Devin Booker. Many of these takes were derived from the pick-and-roll. He managed to average over 7 points per game in these actions during that season.

His strong build at guard allows him to take on all comers around the basket. He can hang and hit tough layups with multiple unfriendly bodies around him. John will toss in a Euro-step around the hoop too from time to time.

Shot Creation

John can make something happen for himself even without a ball screen. On switches and at end-of-clock scenarios, he plays off the hang dribble and strategically gauges when to attempt the blow-by move or take the jumper. 2020-2021 had him at 4.8 iso points per night, identical to both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kyrie Irving.

His aggression also serves to put him at the line. His current free-throw rates still parallel those of his younger years. Wall earned a strong 5.9 attempts per-36 in 2020-2021.

On-Ball Playmaking

Driving-and-kicking is a staple within his game. He can find his roll man with a slew of pass types, but Wall is at his best when he gets into the paint and pings the ball out to a shooter. This is why he and Bradley Beal were such a symbiotic pairing on offense.

He's great at throwing skip passes with tons of zip on them. By throwing these hard, the defender has a smidge less time to close out and contest. Corner specialists like P.J. Tucker and Otto Porter Jr. have benefitted big-time from playing alongside John.

His live-dribble passing is something to behold. He can manipulate defenses as all elite-level playmakers can, using cunning fakes. Wall's deftness as a driver is propped up by his ability to throw passes with either hand right off the dribble.

Getting into the teeth of the defense and kicking out to shooters is undoubtedly a skill that is still elite for Wall. The numbers back it up, pumping out points for others in 2020-2021. An 18.1 assist points created per game mark beat out lead guards like De'Aaron Fox, Mike Conley, and LaMelo Ball.

Modest Off-Ball Value

John Wall has the reputation of being a middling shooter, but this is really only true of his pull-up shooting. He can competently knock down spot-up jumpers after his teammates find him standing on the outside. This and some timely cutting has allowed him to play off-ball some next to guards like Victor Oladipo and Eric Gordon over the years.

He hit 38.4% of his catch-and-shoot threes in 2020-2021. Over in Washington, he hit an even 40% of his spot-up treys between 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 combined. When he gets his three-ball going, he can weaponize it to attack closeouts and get to his greatest scoring strength - slashing.

Defensive Pluses

Defensively, the Kentucky product has regressed since his heyday. He can still contain people off the bounce when locked in though. This is evidenced by some solid individual advanced stats during a rickety Rockets team season.

2020-2021 saw him hold opponents to 0.82 points per play on isolations. In addition to this, he conceded just 0.67 points per possession to pick-and-roll initiators. That latter figure placed him in the gleaming 92nd percentile.

Defense-to-Offense

Wall has also been able to sustain reasonably high steal, deflection, and even block rates into his 30's. He swiped over 1 steal and averaged over 2 deflections per contest during his inaugural season in Houston. After forcing a turnover, John has always been a lethal blur in the open court.

This rings true to a lesser degree for a more mature, aging Wall. However, he is still a great option to push it on the break to make plays for himself or others. 2020-2021 had him at 3.9 transition points per night, besting CJ McCollum, Trae Young, and Brandon Ingram with that number.

Something he loves to do is slam it down with his left hand on the break. Wall shoots with his right and takes floaters with it primarily as well yet has an affinity for the off-hand to cap off breaks. Moreover, he slices through the defense with his patented behind-the-back gathers in semi-transition.

WEAKNESSES

Efficiency Troubles

Wall has never been a great jump shooter, especially when you stack him next to his positional peers. The one-dribble pull-up off the ball screen is simply not in his bag and his release is slow. He can hit it, but he's a low volume and low accuracy shooter on these sorts of shots.

Defenders have always been able to go under to cut off his driving path and have a better shot at containing him. Going a few feet into the midrange isn't exactly a hot zone for John either. He attempted a boatload of midrangers in 2020-2021 but connected on a feeble 31.7% of them.

His at-the-rim finishing has also taken a tumble since his Wizard days. Less lift on his last couple steps is part of the problem, but he drives into a group of multiple bodies too often. John's restricted area FG% of 55.1% in 2020-2021 was bested by fellow guards Damian Lillard, Ja Morant, and Collin Sexton.

Live-Ball Mistakes

John is a super high turnover player at this stage. He accrued a rough 14.7% turnover percentage in 2020-2021 (sub-2 AST/TO ratio). Looking back in time, he was in the top-seven for turnovers committed in six different years.

Injury-Filled Past

There's no glossing over John's injury history. His were no minor nicks or bruises either, they were critical lower body ones for the most part. He's had some bad luck in this regard and hopefully he can remain healthy moving forward.

Defensive Slippage

The 2014-2015 All-Defensive team member is no longer the defender he once was. He still brings great size, muscle, and length to the point guard slot though.

The current-day ineffectiveness is more about possession-to-possession commitment level. Off-ball defensive alertness can also be a concern.

When engaged, he can still be an above-average defender out on the perimeter. This just is not always the case. This reared its head most while defending 2020-2021 dribble handoffs. One must contextualize this within the broader scope of Houston's poor team defense, but Wall's 28th percentile placement defending DHO's is flat-out poor.

A last diminishing area of his game would be his rebounding. He was once a high-level board-getting guard who could then push it immediately. Now, his rebounding rate has taken a steep decline into mediocrity.

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Beacon Bacon

A springy 23-year-old Wall won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2014 – he beat out guys like Paul George and Harrison Barnes