The Washington Wizards will pay Otto Porter quite handsomely over the next four seasons, as the team matched a four-year offer sheet that Porter originally signed with the Brooklyn Nets. While that seemed to be a foregone conclusion heading into the offseason, Wizards All-Star point guard John Wall had bigger plans for his team at the small forward position, as he wasn’t shy about recruiting Paul George to the nation’s capital.
Now, though, with George in Oklahoma City and Porter back with the Wizards, Wall seemingly isn’t ready to walk back his original comments.
Wall on notion he dinged Otto w/ PG comments: "If you can make a team better you always do that. If people take it the wrong way, so be it."
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) July 10, 2017
ESPN’s The Undefeated caught up with Wall in late June and he had this to say about what it would mean to add George to the mix.
“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. …
“You got to add another star. You got to add another piece. You got to have three guys. And that’s what it’s looking like.”
Wall, as noted above, did mention that Porter “did great” for the Wizards but it was clear that Wall would have preferred another option in George that would be an upgrade over what the team was currently receiving at the position. In some ways, it is refreshing to see Wall back his convictions, especially in that he indicated he was simply trying to make his team better.
At the same time, these comments might not sit well with Otto Porter and, at least for the moment, Wall is only the third-highest paid player on the Wizards roster.
