Agent Dan Fegan has been a tad busy at the start of free agency, what with being one of the agents and key advisors to Dwight Howard and all.
But now that is basically done and Fegan can move on to another client and one of the other interesting questions of the NBA Summer:
What kind of extension should the Wizards give John Wall?
The two sides have yet to have formal discussions, reports CSNWashington.com. That’s not a huge surprise, the two sides have until Oct. 30 to figure this out and both Fegan and the Wizards were active on other free agents and issues. The Wizards were busy getting a backup for Wall in Eric Maynor and resigning small forward Martell Webster.
But the Wall conversations are coming.
Of course, Wall wants a max extension (five years at around $80 million). Once healthy and back to form last season he played like the No. 1 pick the Wizards thought they were getting — in in his last 20 games his jump shot was falling and he averaged 23.9 points per game on 48.3 percent shooting and 41.7 percent from three, plus he has 7.8 assists per game.
However, I’m not sure he earned a max deal in the way James Harden had a year ago. The Wizards have said they plan to make a fair offer that will appeal to Wall and it is likely to be max or near it.
I think the best comparable is Stephen Curry — he had showed a lot of promise but had battled ankle injuries that threatened his productivity when it was time for his extension last summer. Curry and Golden State agreed to four years, $44 million. Then last season a healthy Curry had a breakout year and the Warriors look like they got a steal. That is a little more than what Rajon Rondo got off his rookie deal, which was a steal for Boston.
If they want, the Wizards could make this five years, $55 million and offer Wall an opt-out at three or four years. Prove you deserve the max and you can get it then. But that seems a good ballpark to land in.
However, we will see where they go. Now that free agency is starting to slow down, this becomes maybe the most interesting question of the summer.