John Wall inks a five years - $ 80 million deal with Washington Wizards – NBA News
After months of speculation about the price of contract, the consistently underachieving Washington Wizards will be offering to their perceived star player John Wall, the drama has finally ended. And it has ended in favour of the point guard, the number one pick of the 2010 NBA draft, a player who is yet to make it into the All-Star team or take the Wizards into the playoffs for that matter.
According to various reports, Wall has signed a five years - $ 80 million deal with the Wizards. The deal will be starting from the 2014-15 season and its official announcement will be made on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Wall took to his Twitter account to thank the Wizard’s organization in reposing trust on him;
“Words can't explain how blessed and happy I am! I want to thank my owner Mr. Ted Leonsis, GM Ernie Grunfeld and the whole @WashWizards staff!”
There might be many doubters (they have their own solid reasons starting from three years of inconsistency), but the latter part of the last season might have been enough for the Wizards to renew their belief that Wall is going to be their lynchpin for the years to come. With Wall out of rotation due to a left knee injury, the Wizards slipped to a 5-28 record last season, before Wall injected life into the unit. With the point guard marshalling the floor, the team won nearly 50 percent (24-25) of its games.
Add this to the fact that the team has established a young core with lottery picks Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr, and the Wizards can clearly foresee a rise in the Eastern Conference standings in the years to come.
These thoughts were reflected by owner Ted Leonsis comments recently;
"Since drafting John with the first overall pick, we have been impressed with his maturation, hard work and commitment to our franchise," Wizards owner Ted Leonsis said. "He is the cornerstone of our team, and we have clearly expressed our desire to build around him well before making it official by re-signing him today. We are extremely confident in his leadership abilities and are excited to see the continued improvement of the team."
The onus is now on John to deliver.
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