First, Wall is now the third highest paid player on a team that is over the salary cap. John Wall pushed the Wizards hard to go after Paul George and they instead re-signed Otto Porter. Porter is going to be the highest paid player despite being the most disposable of the triumvirate of Porter, Beal, and Wall. Porter had a good year last season, but for a guy that averaged 13 and 6 to be making 24 million dollars a year he needs to make a heck of a leap this year and I don't know what room to grow there is for Porter.
Second, Wall is a team first guy and does not strike me as selfish, but he wants to win. The Wizards highest paid guys are as follows: Porter 24 million, Beal 23 million, Wall 18 million, Mahinmi 16 million, Gortat 12 million, Morris 8 million. This group in addition to a few other key contributors that are on smaller contracts got the Wizards to a Game 7 with the Celtics in the 2nd round. This summer, the Celtics picked up Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum, and some guy named Gordon Hayward while losing Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk, and Avery Bradley. I'd say the Celtics got better. The Wizards added Jodie Meeks, and traded their only 2017 draft pick (a 2nd rounder) for Tim Frazier while losing Bogdanovic, a significant member of their rotation. Wall cannot be happy about this. Ian Mahinmi is under contract for the next three years for over 47 million and could not get on the court during the playoffs. Why would John Wall have any confidence that they can turn it around.
Third, the era of the "super team" has ushered in guys that are thinking about the Warriors. If you are John Wall, are you going to win a title on a capped out team with Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, and Ian Mahinmi or do you have a better chance trying to group up with soon to be free agents like DeMarcus Cousins or Paul George and forming your own super team. I'd have to say that if I have the choice between capped out Washington or brand new team with Cousins, I'm choosing the new team.
The only question is this, is John Wall willing to leave that much money on the table to go to another team? This to me is the only chance the Wizards have to keep him, offering him a super max that will pay him 40 million a year. If I was a betting man, I would bet that within the next year he asks for a trade or informs them that he is not going to re-sign. Teams have to be careful when they have stars, you cannot afford to make a mistake by signing a guy like Ian Mahinmi to a huge contract. I am a huge fan of Wall and I would not be surprised if he is willing to leave what he has built in DC for greener pastures possibly to get together with his good friend DeMarcus Cousins.