NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — There's a banner waiting for John Wall at Cohen Arena. Last March, the Grizzlies made the cheeky move of retiring Wall's No. 2 jersey before Game 3 of the COMO Finals .... while Wall was suited up for the opposing St. Louis Hornets. The point guard exploded for 45.5 bones in the contest, and St. Louis went on to sweep Newport. This week, general manager Peter Mayer decided to bring Wall back to California. He sent his 2019 first-round pick (Top 2 protected for one year) and a trio of role players to Manhattan in exchange for the All-COMO guard and forward Taj Gibson. "I suppose we'll have to un-retire his jersey now," Mayer said. "But maybe it will lift the curse it put on us in the first place." Newport Beach (41-9) is currently in second place behind Shorewood (46-4), and the addition of Wall should help fill the hole that shooting guard James Harden left when the team was unable to re-sign him this past October. Meanwhile, Manhattan (24-26) is currently in position for the No. 8 seed and blew out a trio of opponents earlier this week, but the Spiders are apparently comfortable with punting their championship hopes. General manager Alex Krause said Wall — acquired in an offseason trade with St. Louis and currently being paid $27 million — was a "1-year rental," and that the team "didn't quite play up to the expectations" it set in the offseason. "While we were definitely in the mix to have our first playoff berth in franchise history, we felt that this was the best move to do," Krause said. "Newport offered us great return for Wall. And since we recognized that re-signing Wall would be extraordinarily difficult, this was an opportunity we didn't want to pass up." Krause also pointed to the massive success both Shorewood (46-4) and Newport Beach (41-9) have enjoyed this season, saying that he didn't think his team could stack up to those powerhouses this spring. Wall might be the piece that helps Newport move past Shorewood in the standings. They squared off the 2016 COMO Finals (Shorewood won, 4-2) and then Newport suffered the aforementioned Finals sweep to St. Louis a year later. The deal Newport Beach receives: John Wall ($27M) and Taj Gibson ($1M) Manhattan receives: 2019 1st-round draft pick (Top 2 protected, unprotected in 2020), Jonas Valanciunas ($7M), Cody Zeller ($2M), Rodney Hood ($1M)
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