John Wall Should Remain In Houston
In today's issue, a column on John Wall's future in Houston, the Vols' QB question heading into Florida Week and much more.
Hello and welcome to Vol. 1 Issue 10 of The Sports Renaissance Man, a daily sports newsletter where I am free to geek out and create my own little mini-newspaper of sorts. It would be lovely and quite helpful if you subscribed by entering your email below and became one of the paying members to ensure I can keep this newsletter going. Happy reading.
John Wall has likely played his last basketball game with the Houston Rockets. We do not know where Wall will land next, how Houston will get off his enormous contract, etc. We do know that if Wall wants to move on from Houston then Wall wants to reenter the Big Game once more. Whether it’s on one of the Los Angeles squads or Miami or Boston or Philadelphia or whoever, if Wall has played his last game in Houston, Wall is angling towards a future of winning.
Wall has it all wrong, though. Wall has two years left on his deal where he will earn between $44 and $47 million the next two seasons. Then, he’s an unrestricted free agent going into his age-33 season. In Houston, Wall finds himself in a fruitful basketball situation. It’s the right blend between Carmelo Anthony in Portland and Bradley Beal in D.C. When was the last time you read a scathing piece about Beal in D.C. or Anthony in Portland? You didn’t, but for different reasons, reasons that would apply to Wall in Houston.
For Beal, he is a basketball martyr. His 33 percent usage rate in D.C. carries a lot of weight. Beal averaged 31 points per game this past season and 30 points per game the year before. Beal carried this basketball burden for a team going nowhere, with no other potential stars and he was unbothered. He is paid well, he is about to be paid more, and everyone loves the 27-year-old because he is the best player, in his prime, wasting away on a Wizards team fighting to qualify for the play-in game year after year. Every basketball fan wants to save Beal and add him to their squad. It’s a great time to be Bradley Beal. Like Milhouse, everything's turning up for the former Florida Gator.
For Anthony, he found a situation in Portland where, unlike OKC, he was no longer viewed as a key piece on a contender. More importantly, he was not expected to vault Portland to a title. To be that missing piece for Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. He was just a veteran who could contribute as a reserve four on a good team. When he had those nights where he went off like Vintage Melo, it was beloved by everyone from fans to NBA Twitter. It was fun again to just see Melo get buckets and not worry about his limitations as the No. 3 to Paul George and Russell Westbrook. Fans could just enjoy what Melo was in 2021 largely due to the new role and the lens that fans now viewed him through.
Wall is somewhere in the middle. Wall is not anywhere near Beal, nor should he be with his age and injury history. He is also not anywhere near Melo where he could not theoretically push a good team to become a great team, depending on the collection of talent on this theoretical roster.
For instance, Wall in Boston with Dennis Schroder off the bench and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to run the show while the former simply focused on defense and distributing could work. It looks like Boston is going to at least try Point Guard Marcus Smart for a bit, but it is difficult to see that working for the long-term. The problem of course is the contract, which makes such a fit unlikely.
The worst-case scenario is a Simmons-for-Wall swap. Wall would find himself in a win-now situation where all eyes would be on him as a No. 2 for Joel Embiid in Philadelphia. Wall is not a No. 2 on a title team, he’s not even a No. 3. This is the kind of move that puts Wall in an unwinnable situation, as he could play well in Philly, but there is a ceiling and the ceiling is going to frustrate Philly fans in a similar vein to the way they were frustrated with Simmons. If you’re Wall, you want no part of this.
You want what Beal has in D.C., to an extent. The universal adoration, without the usage rate. You want what you have in Houston. If Summer League is any indication, Jalen Green is on a collision course with NBA stardom. Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr. are intriguing and make your basketball life easier. You have a great coach in Stephen Silas. The best part? There are no expectations. Those nights you feel like bringing back Prime John Wall, the fans and NBA Twitter will gobble it up. This would not be the case in Los Angeles and Philadelphia and Dallas. It would be frustrating. You know how you get everyone to love and appreciate John Wall again? You sign up for a rebuild in Houston where you make Silas’s job a little bit easier and you help lead Green and maybe even KPJ to stardom. You can be the bridge between eras in H-town. If you’re John Wall, you stay in Houston where the expectations are low and the possibilities for fun and adoration are high.
Calvin & Hobbes strip for September 20, 2021
Today in Gratitude
Today is the ten-month anniversary for the Sports Renaissance Woman and myself. Her unexpected arrival into my life is without a doubt the very best thing that ever happened to me. Last night, we were talking about our careers on the couch and the very different places we currently find ourselves in. I have always been rather certain and stubborn towards my own personal ambitions, but she is wired differently. Where there is certainty in what I want in my career, the same is not true for her. At least not at this moment, which I reminded her is quite all right. It’s just working, in the end. It really does not matter one bit that I know what I want in my career while she does not in the present time.
What matters is the time on the couch. The time spent talking with one another, understanding one another and encouraging one another. Life is hard, and it only gets harder. We place so much emphasis on our careers and work in this country that so many people overlook opportunities for joy and contentment right in their living room. Nothing in my career will match the kind of joy I feel when I am with the SRW. No amount of readers for this newsletter, my sincerest apologies, or listeners of the podcast come close to laughing with my person in my living room. Life with her is better and I am quite grateful for that.
Today in Khaleesi The Lunchbox
Today’s Musings on the Vols
Tennessee won 56-0 on Saturday against an FCS team in Tennessee Tech who lost their rather tiny starting quarterback early on in this game. This is what the Vols were supposed to do on Saturday, but some folks were not thrilled. My favorite local program, Sports Source, a preposterous program that I can’t just not watch on Sunday mornings before the NFL games kick-off, opened with the host’s frustration in the 56-0 win because it didn’t feel like a beatdown even if the score said otherwise.
Hmm.
I disagree. In this sparsely-attended drubbing at Neyland, we learned a lot. We learned that Hendon Hooker is the best option to get Tennessee to a bowl game this season. We learned that there was a reason Harrison Bailey was No. 3 on the depth chart this season. We learned that Rodney Gardner is a wizard and Tennessee’s defensive line is better than expected this season. We learned a lot.
Two plays stood out for me.
BANG, Part 1.
BANG, Part 2.
This is the path for the rest of this season. Hooker making those kinds of throws deep-ish when necessary and Hooker making those kinds of runs when necessary. Everything is just calmer with Hooker. It all makes a lot more sense. I’m sure head coach Josh Heupel is not thrilled with Hooker’s limitations as a passer down the field, but Hooker does everything else well. He goes 17/25 with three TDs. He’s accurate, he knows when to run, and he gives the Vols the best chance to win every Saturday. At some point, you have to choose the certainties, Hooker, over the possibilities, Milton, and a trip to Gainesville seems like that point.
Today On The Chase Thomas Podcast
Blue Wire's Chase Thomas is joined by Knoxville City Councilwoman Lauren Rider to talk about her career, how important local politics really is for Americans, getting involved, growing up in Augusta, her career as a librarian, her favorite politicians, working in government during a global pandemic and much more.
Listen via Apple l Spotify l Podbean l Google l Stitcher l Download
What Chase Is Watching
(NOTE: Spoilers ahead!)
The Sports Renaissance Woman and I breezed through four episodes of Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers yesterday. The breakout star to this point is the guy who shouted at Mark Wahlberg in THE OTHER GUYS that he did, in fact, shoot Derek Jeter, a biracial angel. His name is Bobby Cannavale and he has put on an acting clinic to this point in the show. The man is a scene-stealer and his on-screen chemistry with Melissa McCarthy is top-notch.
I am not sure how I would feel about a spa drugging mysterious mushrooms with me without my consent. However, as Nicole Kidman’s character points out, none of the guests would have agreed had she told them ahead of time. Kidman’s character is an odd one, but she is in a separate storyline from the group where a stalker is taking pictures of her cliff diving and rummaging through her room when she is away. A lot is going on for her character in this show.
Michael Shannon’s mushroom-laden monologue on losing his son to suicide was so damn heartbreaking. Had he just woken up when he was supposed to, he is certain his son would still be alive. He does not know this would be the case, but that does not change how he feels. It is terrifying for one to realize that decisions as simple as smashing the snooze button on an alarm clock may have life-or-death consequences. Shannon’s character did not know his son would hang himself that morning. But he did. And Shannon overslept. And the family has not recovered ever since. I could not imagine.