John Wall to Train With Gary Payton

John Wall just signed a big deal, which only really means one thing: time to put in some work. According to CSNWashington (via PBT), Wall is going to be putting in some of said work with the one and only Gary Payton: “Wall still plans to hook up with Gary Payton, a Hall of Fame point guard who was one of the best of his generation, in Seattle before returning to train with the Wizards on Aug. 20. … Wall also is going to lobby coach Randy Wittman to allow him to do something else. ‘Hopefully I’ll get an opportunity to post up this year,’ he said. That’s where Payton, who also stood 6-4 and could be too physical for opposing point guards, could help most. Like Wall, he wasn’t the best jump shooter to start his career but became a solid one. By his fourth season, Payton shot better than 50% from the field. He only was a career 31.7% shooter from three. Wall said he has been talking to Damian Lillard, the 2012-13 Rookie of the Year for the Portland Trail Blazers, about coordinating workouts with Payton. There’s not a lot of time left for Wall to get in the work with Payton before he returns to D.C. The Wizards open training camp in the last week of September.”