Don’t look now; but the Washington Wizards have just made the Indiana Pacers cringe by signing John Wall to a five-year deal worth $80 million.
Devout Wizards fans will tell you that Wall is worth every penny, yet his leadership qualities are just about as poor as his shot selection if you ask me. Either way, Washington gave Wall a big deal which means that other starters across the league are going to expect hefty contracts they really don’t deserve.
First and foremost: Paul George is twice the player that Wall is.
The Pacers know that George is the face of their franchise, but the former 10th-overall pick is a restricted free agent after the 2013-14 season. Of course, the rumor mill is already churning with the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly planning to make a run at the Palmdale, CA native if and when George’s available. However, Indy still has the upper hand…for now.
With Wall getting this large chunk of change, George is probably going to stomp up to the Pacers’ front office and let them know how much better he is than Wall. Therefore, the Wizards just put the pressure on Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard to give George a max contract before the 2013-14 season begins.
On the other hand, Pritchard could go the extremely cheap route and leave George as a restricted free agent for the 2014-15 season and just wait until the time comes to give him his long-awaited max contract. Indiana would be playing with fire though, because every NBA team in the league could use George and his $4,470 million qualifying offer is chump change to NBA general mangers.
Thanks, Wall.
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
