Christian Wood: What am i missing?

[Young gun 6]

Dinwiddie, Luka, Wood had the worst net rating in the league through the first 20 games.

They basically can’t share the court together because of how bad Wood is defensively.

Kyrie is an even worse defender than Dinwiddie …

Look up the net rating when Green, Luka, Wood and Kleber shared the court. Think you will find it's a complete 180 and it's also the best combination the Mavs have had. Give Wood a fellow big to take the responsibility of guarding the opposing teams big away from him and he's fine, because he's switchable and has very solid weak side shot blocking. Also Kyrie is NOT a worse defender than Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie was arguably the worst defensive starter on the Mavs who are already a horrible defensive team. Dinwiddie is a complete turnstile defensively who doesn't stay in front of anyone. Kyrie has actually been passable defensively this season.

Even when he came to Detroit, he was known for being a talented malcontent that wasn't worth keeping around. He played great for Detroit - many fans thought he was better than Drummond and maybe he was (high bar, I know). But Weaver was not that interested in keeping him around. Just like New Orleans wasn't. Just like Milwaukee wasn't. Just like Houston wasn't. Just like Dallas isn't. I haven't been in any of those locker rooms, but I feel like he just has to be an anti-culture guy.

Luka likes him quite a bit and has not only expressed it, but you can see it on court.

It doesn't come up when looking through the lineup stats on BBall ref. I would go to nba.com but if it's not even in the highest 20 minutes of lineups then it's waaaaay too small of a sample size to be used as genuine data for a case.

You can view the 5, 4, 3, 2 man lineup stats here for the top 20 minutes of each which is far better sample size to actual garner data:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/2023/lineups/

The 5 man lineups have 3 lineups playing 100+ minutes:
Dinwiddie, Luka, Bullock, DFS, Powell (+9.7)
Dinwiddie, Luka, THJ, DFS, Powell (+5.7)
Dinwiddie, Luka, THJ, Bullock, Wood (-4.2)

The common denominator is when Powell is actually in the lineup not Wood.
Look at the 4 man lineups too and you'll see the same result:

Dinwiddie, Luka, THJ, Powell is +10
Dinwiddie, Luka, Bullock, Powell is +10.3
in the same amount of minutes
Dinwiddie, Luka, THJ, Wood is -10.2

Basically a 20 point difference when you bench Wood and put Powell on with the same squad.

Dinwiddie, Bullock, DFS, Powell actually has the best 4 man net lineup being +16.1 and 210 minutes played together.

3 Man lineup:

Luka, THJ, Wood +9.4 is the 2nd highest rating (only behind swapping Wood for Powell).

However, that is the only 3 man lineup Wood is a part of in the top 20 of minutes that even has a positive net rating:

Dinwiddie, Luka, Wood (-0.2)
Bullock, THJ, Wood (-0.6)
Luka, Bullock, Wood (-4.3)
Dinwiddie, Bullock, Wood (-7.6)

The stats support the eye test that Wood is a negative for the most part unless he's paired with Powell. He's also on the court against other teams bench bigs for the most part coming off the bench in 70% of games and Dallas refusing to play him in the last 5 minutes of close games because of how bad he has been.

Your net rating stats will be inflated when you're playing with Luka against half bench unites (that come in 6 minutes into the game) and you're not in games in tight situations late. And even with that occuring his net rating stats are still shocking. I just can't see how someone can watch Wood's games and think he is good in any format. It screams looking at general box score stats and thinking a 20/10 player is a good player without watching him.

Hassan Whiteside 2.0

There's a reason why Mavs haven't extended him and he's been bounced around from 4 different teams when on paper it looks like he's performing well.

[chuck_wagon44]

The rockets are the new clippers from 90s....bad organization from top down. Christian Wood quit on them at halftime last year but quite frankly, the coach is a pushover.

[hippesthippo]

What everyone is missing is that Christian Wood is a Forward. He always has been and always will be. He plays offense like a Forward and defends like a Forward. He attacks from the perimeter on offense and is best defensively as a weak-side shot blocker who can also switch and slide his feet.

What the Mavs are missing is a legitimate Center.

Seriously, how on earth is Dwight Powell still getting minutes.

Some food for thought:

w/o Luka

Wood 479 min -8.1 NetRtg
Powell 307 min. 1.0 NetRtg

w/ Luka
Wood 758 min. 4.6 NetRtg
Powell 677 min. 10.0 NetRtg
------------------------------------------------

I'm not sure the Mavs should prioritize a legitimate center, but if they are, by my estimation the focus should be all on defense. Playing center on offense with Luka has to be the best gig in the NBA. Luka could make dozens of centers into offensive beasts. And center, in certain contexts is the Running Back of the NBA. A position you can get away with paying a little and getting decent production.

So investing 20m/yr in an offensive first center like Wood is a bad idea. If they are going to invest in the position at all, it has to be one of the defensive first variety, especially considering they could pay someone like Dwight Howard the min, and his difference making wouldn't be all that far off of Wood's.

Myles Turner or Capela would be a nice boost, but I bet that money and assets spent on a guy like OG would would make a much bigger difference.

I think JKidd and Nico have a better handle on this than the majority of the people on this board who think they know better. There are legitimate reasons Wood hasn't been getting a much bigger minute share than Powell.

You'll get no arguments from me on that one.

[durden_tyler]

With Luka, you really don't need offense of this type from a big man. Now with Kyrie, you know you need serious rim protection since your offense is taken care of already...

[Sofia]

So is this guy just a higher peak Montrez Harrell?

[John Murdoch]

Hard to beleive hes only getting vet min offers rn ..he must be a nutjob in the locker room

[JimmyPlopper]

So is this guy just a higher peak Montrez Harrell?

Different style of how the play but yes in essence they are both microwave big men who cannot be a reliable defensive pillar nor can they effectively create for others

[stillgotgame]

This guy has looked fine in Dallas. He isn't a "malcontent". He does not have bad body language. Even with the trade rumours, he handled it well.

For no good reason, not only did he not start at the beginning of the year, but he also wasn't getting enough minutes... but he was productive when he played and has managed to sustain it throughout the season.

It doesn't make a lot of sense that this happens: team trades for a 'flawed' player. Said player actually outperforms expectations and shows himself worthy of a new contract. Now team tries to to trade him away.

Your vision of bad body language has been distorted by watching Luka.

[Ballerhogger]

So is this guy just a higher peak Montrez Harrell?

In short .

[GreatWhiteStiff]

So is this guy just a higher peak Montrez Harrell?

You were definitely playing the long game asking that one, Sof.

[ChiTownHero1992]

I think he looks like a gem on a "sh*t" team but on an actual good team not much from him and his defense seems attrocious

[picc]

My impression watching Mavs games is he’s a good offensive player against bad defense and crumpled against good, strong defensive players who body him and dont let uim get comfortable. So he’ll cook half the time when he’s not being pressured but is easy to make inefficient and turnover prone when he is.

[bstein14]

His best role would be some offense off the bench for about 20 minutes a night. He's an MLE type 7th man on a good team IMO. He's a little better than Trey Lyles ( who got 2/$16 from Sac) but not really all that much better. Like 4/$40 seems right for him. Not sure if he's holding out for more or isn't even getting offered that but its certainly a bit surprising Dallas seemingly doesn't have interest in resigning him.

[AFM]

pause

[Medbrat]

He was decent for us, could score by himself well, like an elite 3rd option and could rebound, his defence was ok. Certainly a huge upgrade over Maxi and Powell, but Kidd has beef with him.

[Roger Murdock]

I think Christian Wood is like Andre Drummond (wildly different strengths/weaknesses) in that they put up huge stats and played mostly on bad teams, so nobody watches them, sees good stats, and thinks 'put this guy in a real situation and he can be useful'

Low BBIQ, selfish play, horrible defense. They are losing players. People who think Drummond is worth anything above a minimum deal and <12mpg either havent watched him play or dont understand basketball.

I'm fortunate enough to have seen less of Wood than Drummond but I get a similar vibe.

[Dmavs12]

He was decent for us, could score by himself well, like an elite 3rd option and could rebound, his defence was ok. Certainly a huge upgrade over Maxi and Powell, but Kidd has beef with him.

I’m not sure it was beef, it’s just obvious you can’t play him and Luka on the floor together. They gave it a shot defensively with him at the 5 and luka at the 4. It didn’t work out. he’s a line up specific big.
If the mavs trade for a good rim protector, I think wood would be great off the bench in a line up like this.
Kyrie
Green
Williams
Wood
???
The issue is, do you really want to pay for a player that doesn’t complement your best player….mavs obviously don’t.

[tamaraw08]

Now i know he had issues in Houston, but Houston is pretty toxic and everyone has issues there. This year hes been very good for the Mavs, especially as a starter. I don't remember Dallas' exact record when starting Wood with Doncic, but its a very good record IIRC. Yet, supposedly they wanna give him away. I don't get it

I was going to ask the same question about PJ Washington and Kelly Oubre.

[fast+forward]

The only time he's a positive in any lineup configuration is in fantasy sports.

[NCHeels2008]

Now i know he had issues in Houston, but Houston is pretty toxic and everyone has issues there. This year hes been very good for the Mavs, especially as a starter. I don't remember Dallas' exact record when starting Wood with Doncic, but its a very good record IIRC. Yet, supposedly they wanna give him away. I don't get it

I was going to ask the same question about PJ Washington and Kelly Oubre.

From my understanding in Charlotte PJ has never been a locker room issue. I think he could be a 4th/5th starter on a contender. Soldi defender and 3 ball and can drop big numbers every now and then offensively. He would be great in Denver as Gordon/MPJ insurance if they could afford him.