Last June, the Wizards offered John Wall the designated player extension, a/k/a “The Supermax” which will pay him up to $170 million from the 2019-20 through the 2022-23 seasons. According to David Aldridge of TNT, Wall has decided to accept the offer on Friday evening.
John Wall has agreed to the designated player veteran exception in Washington, per source, that will pay him a total of $207M through 2023.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 22, 2017
The three-year, $170 million extension starts in 2019, after Wall’s existing five-year deal expires. Wall will get $37.1M total through ’19.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 22, 2017
And, of course, its four years on the extension in D.C. for Wall, not three, thru 2023. #fatfingers
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 22, 2017
Wall later announced that he will sign the “supermax” in an “Uninterrupted” video that you can see above.
This move shouldn’t be a big surprise, and Ted Leonsis hinted at it earlier this week. It’s a win for both the Wizards and Wall himself.
For the Wizards, they just extended their franchise player. Barring something crazy, they should be able to keep him through the duration of his prime. It also buys time for the organization to develop and put together a strong young supporting cast around him that goes beyond Bradley Beal and Otto Porter, both of whom signed big deals in each of the last two seasons.
For Wall, this is also a win because he gets to cash in on his third “big money” contract, though the “big bucks” don’t come in until two years from now. Also, the NBA is in a “Golden Age” of guards, which make it quite difficult for him to earn All-NBA honors. Though Wall could earn an additional $40-50 million if he made All-NBA again, it’s far from a guarantee, in part because of “The Golden Age.”
Ladies and Gentlemen, there should be no doubt who the Wizards’ franchise player is. Like it was back in 2010, that player is John Wall. I’m very happy to see that he’ll be in D.C. for years to come.