Happy birthday to John Wall

Today is Labor Day, a day that most of us have off in order to honor and recognize the American Labor movement, but it’s also a big day for one of the biggest names on the Houston Rockets.

Veteran star guard John Wall is celebrating his 31st birthday today, making him the third oldest Rocket, behind D.J. Augustin (33) and Eric Gordon (32).

Wall came to Houston last season in a deal for Russell Westbrook and played pretty well after coming off major injury. He missed the entire previous season with a torn Achilles and subsequent infection, but came back to play 40 games with the Rockets last year.

He finished the season with averages of 20.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. He shot 40.4 percent from the field and 31.7 percent from deep.

Wall’s future with the team is a little uncertain, as the rebuilding franchise is starting a major youth movement behind Kevin Porter Jr. and recent draftees Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, and Josh Christopher.

However, Wall has a highly prohibitive contract, as he’s due to make $44 million this season and $47 million next year, so a trade will be difficult to pull off, at least until he’s considered an expiring contract next season. A buyout is always a possibility, but that’s a heck of a lot of money to buyout. The most likely scenario is Wall stays through this season to help impart some veteran wisdom on Houston’s young roster, then gets moved sometime next year. But if the right deal comes along for GM Rafael Stone, you never know.

Anyway, Wall’s still a Rocket for the foreseeable future, and todays his birthday, so it’s a big happy birthday John Wall from TDS!