Christian Wood: What am i missing?

[Barnzy]

If he is smart he would be join the Lakers. Lakers have said they want to go back to 2 big lineups.

If there's one player that can cover for Wood defensively in the league it's AD. Wood can sit on the 3 point line and drain spot up 3's when the defense is crashing in on Bron and AD. It didn't work in Dallas because Dallas doesn't have an AD rim protector. I actually think they would be a perfect pairing kind of like how Cousins and AD worked a few years ago but to a lesser extent.

If he contributes to a winning team under the bright lights in LA I have no doubt he will get paid next season ala Monk and Schroder.

Miami could also fit this criteria. Apparently it's down to the Lakers and Miami. I still think Lakers would be a slightly better fit but next to Bam could work too.

[FrodoBaggins]

He'd provide some value on the right team in the right role. Charlotte would be an interesting fit. You need a team with a true defensive center and a good playmaker. Mark Williams and LaMelo Ball fit that bill. You'd want him coming off the bench though. I don't trust him as a starter.

[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.

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.

The issue is that the Mavs look to be fine playing Powell and Kleber big minutes once again.

[hoosierdaddy34]

I’m not a big Christian Wood guy but yeah he should have a contract by now. Weird that there is a really good chance he will be signing for the vet minimum.

[SeanieWard]

I get that he's not good defensively but I think any guy that can put up around 20 and 10 on 50% from the field and 39% from 3 when given the minutes has a place in this league..and is certainly not a minimum guy, which is what I saw he's been getting offered thus far this offseason

For those who like analytics, Christian Wood had a better defensive rating than Sabonis, Aaron Gordon, Lauri Markkanen, Porzingis, John Collins, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kleber and a few other starting PFs. I think his defensive woes are being overblown honestly

It seems too often in the NBA a player has success, then gets in a coaches doghouse and then their reputation never recovers from it.. which seems to be the case for Wood. I hope he finds a good situation however. Talented undrafted player who worked hard to get where he's at

[MrGoat]

If he is smart he would be join the Lakers. Lakers have said they want to go back to 2 big lineups.

If there's one player that can cover for Wood defensively in the league it's AD. Wood can sit on the 3 point line and drain spot up 3's when the defense is crashing in on Bron and AD. It didn't work in Dallas because Dallas doesn't have an AD rim protector. I actually think they would be a perfect pairing kind of like how Cousins and AD worked a few years ago but to a lesser extent.

If he contributes to a winning team under the bright lights in LA I have no doubt he will get paid next season ala Monk and Schroder.

Miami could also fit this criteria. Apparently it's down to the Lakers and Miami. I still think Lakers would be a slightly better fit but next to Bam could work too.

He'd actually be pretty killer next to AD. If there's one thing he is good at on defense it's weak side shot blocking. Problem is he gets played at center too much because he has a pretty advanced post game. He's really an old school power forward with three point range which makes him a weird fit in this era. Ham's a better coach than Kidd so there might be a way to make it work

[Ayt]

I get that he's not good defensively but I think any guy that can put up around 20 and 10 on 50% from the field and 39% from 3 when given the minutes has a place in this league..and is certainly not a minimum guy, which is what I saw he's been getting offered thus far this offseason

For those who like analytics, Christian Wood had a better defensive rating than Sabonis, Aaron Gordon, Lauri Markkanen, Porzingis, John Collins, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kleber and a few other starting PFs. I think his defensive woes are being overblown honestly

It seems too often in the NBA a player has success, then gets in a coaches doghouse and then their reputation never recovers from it.. which seems to be the case for Wood. I hope he finds a good situation however. Talented undrafted player who worked hard to get where he's at

There is a reason Milwaukee let him go. There is a reason New Orleans let him go. There is a reason Detroit let him go. There is a reason Houston let him go. There is a reason Dallas let him go.

[Han Solo]

I honestly think it’s his personality at this point. Teams don’t want him. He’s too good to not get any offers.

His defense isn’t great - but he’s a much better player than a minimum guy.

[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.

The issue is that the Mavs look to be fine playing Powell and Kleber big minutes once again.

TF you talking about. They’ve been linked to multiple centers this off season. They’ve came out and said the biggest need is to upgrade the rim protection.
They were forced to play Powell because wood is as effective at protecting the rim as I would be, standing near the rim with a tall stick. If wood could protect the rim, he would be signed.
You have no cap room, and little to no assets. It takes 2 to make a trade. Give your FO time.

[Showdown]

I don't think he is a locker room cancer I think that coaches don't like him because of his defense and that GM's don't want to pay him according to his stats so that's way he changes teams a lot. Another thing is that maybe he isn't well connected with the NBA community because most of players are related to a former NBA players,coaches,people that worked in NBA administration or franchise FO's so he could be a blue collar outsider which is why they hesitate to offer him money that well connected guys like Barnes,Grant or Brogdon get.

[Medbrat]

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.

The issue is that the Mavs look to be fine playing Powell and Kleber big minutes once again.

TF you talking about. They’ve been linked to multiple centers this off season. They’ve came out and said the biggest need is to upgrade the rim protection.
They were forced to play Powell because wood is as effective at protecting the rim as I would be, standing near the rim with a tall stick. If wood could protect the rim, he would be signed.
You have no cap room, and little to no assets. It takes 2 to make a trade. Give your FO time.

We'll see. Both Allen and Zubac would be good, but I'm not holding my breath.

[og15]

I get that he's not good defensively but I think any guy that can put up around 20 and 10 on 50% from the field and 39% from 3 when given the minutes has a place in this league..and is certainly not a minimum guy, which is what I saw he's been getting offered thus far this offseason

For those who like analytics, Christian Wood had a better defensive rating than Sabonis, Aaron Gordon, Lauri Markkanen, Porzingis, John Collins, Dorian Finney-Smith, Kleber and a few other starting PFs. I think his defensive woes are being overblown honestly

It seems too often in the NBA a player has success, then gets in a coaches doghouse and then their reputation never recovers from it.. which seems to be the case for Wood. I hope he finds a good situation however. Talented undrafted player who worked hard to get where he's at

Defensive rating isn't really "analytics" and doesn't claim to tell you that one player is a better defender than another. Woods on a per minute basis grabs a solid amount defensive rebound and gets a solid amount of blocks (some steals too). If you assume that him and all those other players are equal on every other non box score defensive thing; rotations, man to man, pick and roll, charges, communication, etc, etc, then defensive rating would accurately judge that all those things equal, since he's better per minute at drebs, steals and blocks combined, he's possibly a better defender.

Problem is that defense is not captured well by those three stats per minute adjusted to your team defensive rating. So it's not actually telling us much about him on defense compared to those guys, and comparing to someone on another team is tough since your teams defensive rating is the starting point.

[Marrrcuss]

Someone here said he has a low motor so as a laker fan, no thank you.

I already cuss out lebron and AD enough on defense.

[Han Solo]

Someone here said he has a low motor so as a laker fan, no thank you.

I already cuss out lebron and AD enough on defense.

Not on offense. Defense yes.

[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.

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.

But why is he not signed yet? There’s like 4-5 teams that can really use his skill set

[Dirk]

I thought this guy had a good season with the Mavs. His numbers were good, particularly given how he was jerked around. It's a very strange case... given the number of teams that passed on him, I just be missing something.

[mikejames23]

Wood was a net negative by points per possession/100 according to 82games.com, in both of his previous seasons with Dallas and Houston. He's certainly missing something, and his actual impact is lacking on court.

[MAMBAEMD]

Their games aren’t exactly the same but attitude wise, Wood gives the same vibe as Hassan Whiteside, selfish and arrogant

[Duke4life831]

This is just one of those cases where there is just enough evidence whether it’s a personality thing, a defensive thing, or a combination of a bunch of things.

The amount of teams that have moved on from him and now the complete lack of any kind of interest for him. I mean the Pels could use a big off the bench that can spread the floor. But the Pels went out and signed Cody Zeller instead.

Teams are clearly just not a fan of him.

[Pharmcat]

This is just one of those cases where there is just enough evidence whether it’s a personality thing, a defensive thing, or a combination of a bunch of things.

The amount of teams that have moved on from him and now the complete lack of any kind of interest for him. I mean the Pels could use a big off the bench that can spread the floor. But the Pels went out and signed Cody Zeller instead.

Teams are clearly just not a fan of him.

I was a huge fan of wood. But the dude is a defensive liability , a locker room headache , and his strengths really are not what the modern nba offenses are about. If he humbled himself he could get a vet min deal but my guess is he wants mle money