Is John Wall Right To Feel Slighted That He's Not Regarded As A Top 5 PG?

I have no idea what is going on in Washington, but I need a little but of whatever everyone in that organization is smoking. Wasn’t it just last week their owner gave them an “A” for their offseason so far? Part of me thinks someone showed him Orlando highlights of Dwight and that’s who he thought they signed. I know the Wizards are famous for thinking they are better than they are in reality, and are more focused with starting a classic NBA “hooollddddddd meeeee baaaaaack” fight than actually you know, being good at basketball. The Wizards are one of those teams that are loaded with talent on paper, and never seem to figure it out once the games actually matter. I bring this up because maybe you’ve seen it float around Twitter, but John Wall feels disrespected. During a charity event over the weekend he was asked if he had a problem with the Wizards being overlooked and here was his response

“It’s just extra motivation for me. It don’t matter to me. A lot of guys don’t talk about me being a top-5 point guard and that’s cool. It’s just more motivation for me and for us as a team,”

Now wait. It doesn’t matter to him, but yet he uses it as motivation. That doesn’t really make sense to me. Why would it motivate him it didn’t matter? But that’s not why I’m writing this blog. I’m writing this blog because of what he said next, the part about him not being talked about as a Top 5 point guard. Now let me start this by saying John Wall is ridiculously good at basketball. Almost every team in the league would be happy to have him as their starting PG, but like with every Wizards player, I’m not sure how he perceives himself is actually based in reality. The thing about this type of debate is everyone has their own opinion and you can certainly make a case for a handful of the elite guards that they should be in the Top 5. So how would I rank them? I base my list off the fact that you have to be listed as the starting PG for your team. So for example, I do not count Harden as a PG now that they have CP3, even though Harden spends a lot of the time running an offense. With that in mine, here’s how I would put them

1. Steph Curry
2. Russell Westbrook
3. CP3
4. Kyrie Irving
5. Damian Lillard

I would say Wall lives in that next tier of Lowry/Mitchell/Kemba/etc. And look this isn’t a slight on Wall, there are absolutely times where he can take over and dominate a game. But again, there are facts to consider. For example if you want to be talked about in that Top 5 tier, you should be dominant in the playoffs. In looking at Wall’s postseason career, it’s certainly not what I’m sure most Wizards fans would like to see Wall has played a total of 7 playoff series in his career, and has shot less than 40% in 5 of the 7 while also never making an ECF despite having more than enough talent around him in the weak East. I understand this may be a little unfair to Wall as CP3 never made a conference finals before this year, but I think everyone with a brain knows Paul is a superior PG. It’s also fair to point out that Wall didn’t exactly have the best 2017-18 season. His defense went the opposite direction (Drtg 108), and his offense has not gotten any more efficient over the years. He actually had a -3 net rating which is pretty shocking and not what you would think when talking about Wall as a player, but it’s true.

What I don’t buy was that whole narrative that the Wizards were better without Wall when he was out with an injury. I hate when that shit starts just because a team starts to win a few regular season games with a guy out. When I think of guys that are in the Top 5, I always try and think of it in a way where I ask myself “Would you build a franchise around this player”. So far, we’ve seen what that looks like when a team does that for Wall, and the results speak for themselves. Of my list the biggest question is probably Dame, and I think we’re in the process of answering the same questions for him that we have of Wall. As of now I’d put Wall 6th, so it;s not as if he’s completely wrong to think not being mentioned in the Top 5 is a slight, but unfortunately that’s the reality. He could easily ball out and work his way into that group, but once you get into this type of talent it’s hard to bump someone out.

I dunno, hopefully this doesn’t trigger Wizards fans or anything like that, because again in NO way am I saying John Wall sucks. Let me say it again, John Wall is really good. He’s just not Top 5 good, and while I agree confidence is important, so is self awareness which just so happens to be something almost every member of the Wizards organization lacks.

To be fair though, he does have a dominant highlight reel.