Is Christian Wood Merely a Good Stats/Bad Team Guy?

[azcatz11]

Everyone says he's bad in the locker room...

Who says this?

Pistons' fans, been mentioned on multiple pods, you can do the research if you're interested.

[xdrta+]

Everyone says he's bad in the locker room...

Who says this?

Pistons' fans, been mentioned on multiple pods, you can do the research if you're interested.

Haha, love it when someone makes a claim, then when asked for a source, says, "go look it up." Great answer.

[celticfan42487]

These playoffs are proving the officiating has become the same as 2021 regular season and defense has been removed from the game.

Because defense has been removed from the playoffs there is no longer any such thing as a good stats bad team player.

[Noodlesoop]

He’d be a great fit on the Lakers, would Houston accept a combination of Kuzma, THT and/or a pick (two picks feels like overkill)?

With 12 months they will have turned a free agent in to a player who could flourish with them, a young player and a pick - feels like a pretty good haul imo

[BleedGreen1989]

He’d be a great fit on the Lakers, would Houston accept a combination of Kuzma, THT and/or a pick (two picks feels like overkill)?

With 12 months they will have turned a free agent in to a player who could flourish with them, a young player and a pick - feels like a pretty good haul imo

Probably not.

[SNPA]

9/Bagley

For

Wood/24

Easy.

[ciueli]

He’d be a great fit on the Lakers, would Houston accept a combination of Kuzma, THT and/or a pick (two picks feels like overkill)?

With 12 months they will have turned a free agent in to a player who could flourish with them, a young player and a pick - feels like a pretty good haul imo

Christian Wood is that rare multi-positional big man who can stretch the defense with shooting (37.4% from 3 in 2020-21) and averaged nearly 21/10 in 32.3 MPG, he's the kind of player virtually every team in the league is looking for. It's going to take a lot more than Kuzma, Talen Horton-Tucker (who is a free agent and would have to be sign-and-traded) and this year's draft pick (22nd) to get him. Even throwing in a future pick isn't going to entice the Rockets because it so far off in the future the current front office probably won't even be around to use it.

[Winsome Gerbil]

We just won't know -- Silas ran such a trash system last year it makes it impossible to gauge, but the irony was in many ways the entire trash system was built around having 1 guy, and 1 guy only, actually play basketball -- and that was Wood. Everybody else was supposed to float out to the perimeter and hoist stupid and lazy 3ptrs, no matter if they had never shot one before in their career.

He's not wildly skilled, but his game looks to be vey portable. He's not a good team's #1, but what he does could be scaled back and fit on almost any good team. I'm sure the Warriors would love to have him.

And while in this stupid era Houston played him as a "C", he's easily scrawny and mobile enough to be a PF, and would have been in all previous iterations of the league. You could play him alongside Jokic and have a heck of a frontline.

[ThatBoyNick]

Good stats on bad team guys that actually suck always seem to have poor efficiency

Guys who are scoring big numbers on a bad team efficiently are just good players IMO.

[Noodlesoop]

He’d be a great fit on the Lakers, would Houston accept a combination of Kuzma, THT and/or a pick (two picks feels like overkill)?

With 12 months they will have turned a free agent in to a player who could flourish with them, a young player and a pick - feels like a pretty good haul imo

Christian Wood is that rare multi-positional big man who can stretch the defense with shooting (37.4% from 3 in 2020-21) and averaged nearly 21/10 in 32.3 MPG, he's the kind of player virtually every team in the league is looking for. It's going to take a lot more than Kuzma, Talen Horton-Tucker (who is a free agent and would have to be sign-and-traded) and this year's draft pick (22nd) to get him. Even throwing in a future pick isn't going to entice the Rockets because it so far off in the future the current front office probably won't even be around to use it.

Wood had the opportunity Kuzma had in his rookie season when he averaged 17-18 points per game. Kuzma would look much better in Houston than he does with the Lakers. As with a lot of these things, it’s situational.

I saw another proposed package for Wood with the Kings - Bagley, this years number 9 pick and a future lottery protected 2024 first round pick. I’d much rather have the Lakers’ package personally.

[Clyde Frazier]

The sample size on him playing legitimate minutes is still fairly low. He played 32.3 MPG in 41 games this season and 25+ minutes in only 22 games last season. Pistons and Rockets rosters were pretty bare talent-wise, so I'd say we just don't know his ceiling as far as role on a winning team. It's foolish to write him off at this point. He's very talented and if they do take mobley I think they're a great fit together.

[Noodlesoop]

9/Bagley

For

Wood/24

Easy.

My proposed Lakers package (22nd pick, Kuzma and THT) beats this several times over.

[ciueli]

He’d be a great fit on the Lakers, would Houston accept a combination of Kuzma, THT and/or a pick (two picks feels like overkill)?

With 12 months they will have turned a free agent in to a player who could flourish with them, a young player and a pick - feels like a pretty good haul imo

Christian Wood is that rare multi-positional big man who can stretch the defense with shooting (37.4% from 3 in 2020-21) and averaged nearly 21/10 in 32.3 MPG, he's the kind of player virtually every team in the league is looking for. It's going to take a lot more than Kuzma, Talen Horton-Tucker (who is a free agent and would have to be sign-and-traded) and this year's draft pick (22nd) to get him. Even throwing in a future pick isn't going to entice the Rockets because it so far off in the future the current front office probably won't even be around to use it.

Wood had the opportunity Kuzma had in his rookie season when he averaged 17-18 points per game. Kuzma would look much better in Houston than he does with the Lakers. As with a lot of these things, it’s situational.

I saw another proposed package for Wood with the Kings - Bagley, this years number 9 pick and a future lottery protected 2024 first round pick. I’d much rather have the Lakers’ package personally.

The Lakers' package isn't great. Kuzma is mediocre in spite of playing with LeBron and AD and is making significant money for the next 3 seasons, I'm not sure how you know he will suddenly be better playing for a no talent team like Houston, it actually makes more sense that is production would decline because he isn't surrounded by stars anymore. THT is a guard who can't shoot 3s and hasn't proven anything in the NBA, his numbers in 2 seasons so far are pretty bad, he's a pure potential player to spend years developing. The 22nd pick is by definition a late first round pick. The value of a future first in 2026 or 2027 is a complete mystery assuming the front office is even willing to consider trading yet another future first rounder.

The Kings package you mention is vastly superior, Bagly is probably worth nothing but 9 in this draft is massively more valuable than 22. There are likely even better offers out there, the Warriors would surely consider Wiseman + 7, maybe even Wiseman + 7 + 14 if they are desperate enough because Wood solves one of their biggest problems (big with shooting). The Lakers' package is just not that appealing because it doesn't come with a guaranteed lottery pick.

[JayMKE]

Who says this?

Pistons' fans, been mentioned on multiple pods, you can do the research if you're interested.

Haha, love it when someone makes a claim, then when asked for a source, says, "go look it up." Great answer.

Its not made up, these were the red flags that made him go undrafted and bounce around to so many teams while being a clear NBA talent. Off the court and maturity issues have always been a concern, that and he doesn’t change the way he plays regardless of his spot in the rotation. I suspect there is probably something else that hasn’t been put in the open but also he was pretty young too. I think pretty clearly he’s not a #1 or probably #2 guy on offense on a good team so he has to be willing and able to be more of a roleplayer.

[SNPA]

9/Bagley

For

Wood/24

Easy.

My proposed Lakers package (22nd pick, Kuzma and THT) beats this several times over.

Take it to the trade board. I don’t think it’s better value. If I’m the Rockets it’s not even close (they have two picks in the early 20’s already).

[Raps in 4]

He's a good (but not great) player on a bad team.

[Noodlesoop]

Christian Wood is that rare multi-positional big man who can stretch the defense with shooting (37.4% from 3 in 2020-21) and averaged nearly 21/10 in 32.3 MPG, he's the kind of player virtually every team in the league is looking for. It's going to take a lot more than Kuzma, Talen Horton-Tucker (who is a free agent and would have to be sign-and-traded) and this year's draft pick (22nd) to get him. Even throwing in a future pick isn't going to entice the Rockets because it so far off in the future the current front office probably won't even be around to use it.

Wood had the opportunity Kuzma had in his rookie season when he averaged 17-18 points per game. Kuzma would look much better in Houston than he does with the Lakers. As with a lot of these things, it’s situational.

I saw another proposed package for Wood with the Kings - Bagley, this years number 9 pick and a future lottery protected 2024 first round pick. I’d much rather have the Lakers’ package personally.

The Lakers' package isn't great. Kuzma is mediocre in spite of playing with LeBron and AD and is making significant money for the next 3 seasons, I'm not sure how you know he will suddenly be better playing for a no talent team like Houston, it actually makes more sense that is production would decline because he isn't surrounded by stars anymore. THT is a guard who can't shoot 3s and hasn't proven anything in the NBA, his numbers in 2 seasons so far are pretty bad, he's a pure potential player to spend years developing. The 22nd pick is by definition a late first round pick. The value of a future first in 2026 or 2027 is a complete mystery assuming the front office is even willing to consider trading yet another future first rounder.

The Kings package you mention is vastly superior, Bagly is probably worth nothing but 9 in this draft is massively more valuable than 22. There are likely even better offers out there, the Warriors would surely consider Wiseman + 7, maybe even Wiseman + 7 + 14 if they are desperate enough because Wood solves one of their biggest problems (big with shooting). The Lakers' package is just not that appealing because it doesn't come with a guaranteed lottery pick.

Personally, I don’t think the Lakers’ package is great either BUT the way the league works it’s not bad. What I mean by that is that THT is overrated and I can see Kuzma becoming a positive value contract on a bad team at $13m - i.e players scoring 16+ at that price is pretty good value when they’re 6ft 8’ and not a bad defender but we’ve all seen he’s a 6th-7th man on a title team at best.

I think you would end up getting more from the Lakers package than the Kings’ in the long term by eventually flipping Kuzma after building up his value and hyping up THT. Houston should be thinking long term here.

I also think Wood is a little overrated, I’d be impressed if he’s putting up 80% of his numbers on a title contending team and a team like the Lakers might not want to give up ALL their remaining assets for a weak third option.

[ciueli]

Personally, I don’t think the Lakers’ package is great either BUT the way the league works it’s not bad. What I mean by that is that THT is overrated and I can see Kuzma becoming a positive value contract on a bad team at $13m - i.e players scoring 16+ at that price is pretty good value when they’re 6ft 8’ and not a bad defender but we’ve all seen he’s a 6th-7th man on a title team at best.

The problem is that averaging 16PPG doesn't really matter when it's with poor percentages. Kuzma's career True Shooting is 54.4% (basically what he shot this past season as well). He's a career -5 Net Rating, -1.2 Box +/-, 0.072 Win Shares/48, none of these are good numbers and they will only get worse if he plays on a bad team (Houston will be a very bad team). It's unlikely he'll build value on a bottom feeder team.

I think you would end up getting more from the Lakers package than the Kings’ in the long term by eventually flipping Kuzma after building up his value and hyping up THT. Houston should be thinking long term here.

If they're thinking long term they will get the best pick they possibly can now, then spend time developing that player. It's very straightforward, even trading for Wiseman + 14 from the Warriors is probably better for a rebuilding team than what the Lakers can offer because the value at pick 14 is much higher than 22 and the Rockets will be able to spend the time developing Wiseman.

[GYK]

Naw I think he translate well playing with better talent. Skillset is still pop and roll heavy. He’s efficient in that style. It’s apart of every offense.
If he relied on posting up or was an off the dribble player(essentially perimeter and post iso) you can question him as those are time dependent/need a play call styles. Love going to Cleveland, with better players his former style wasn’t viable. Unless you can jump hierarchy(meaning your best to play through) the best playstyle is off ball. Wood as a roll/pop guy has it.

[5paceman]

Who says this?

Pistons' fans, been mentioned on multiple pods, you can do the research if you're interested.

Haha, love it when someone makes a claim, then when asked for a source, says, "go look it up." Great answer.

I've read a Piston fan mention this here, but don't care enough to search through old threads. I suspect might be the same with your OP. I think you can take someone's account at face value and decide yourself. Maybe better to have that info and the opportunity to look for yourself than not.

My big issue with Wood is the question on defense. Can he anchor your d or must you play him with another big? The offensive game looks good besides free-throws. Although I agree with others here that his numbers might benefit from playing on a terrible team where he was hunting good shots for himself and not playing much team ball. To be fair, nobody on that team really was and I think Rockets were happy to play through him and boost his trade value. He plays a bit like KAT imo.