Rockets shut down John Wall for rest of season

The Rockets are shutting down John Wall due to a hamstring injury, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Houston has 11 games remaining. The Rockets have been a disaster since getting off to an 11-10 start, winning just four of their last 40 games. Shutting down Wall should contribute to the free fall.

Naturally, the Rockets are in great position to get one of the top three picks in the draft. Their 15-46 record is the league’s worst, giving them a 14% chance at the top pick and 52.1% shot at a top four selection.

Wall has appeared in 40 games and averaged 20.6 PPG and 6.9 APG in his first year with the Rockets. In his last outing, Wall racked up 27 points and 13 assists against the Clippers on Friday. He only played 32 games with Washington in 2018-19 and missed all of last season due to a ruptured Achilles.

The player for whom he was traded, Russell Westbrook, has been a triple-double machine for the Wizards in the second half of the season.

With several key rotation pieces sitting out, the Rockets will rely on unheralded players such as Armoni Brooks, Kenyon Martin Jr. and Anthony Lamb to finish out the season.