Go after Christian Wood at all costs

[Johnny Bball]

We should absolutely go for him he would be a max player if the season went on regularly.

No. Zero chance.

[pr0gr4m]

We should absolutely go for him he would be a max player if the season went on regularly.

No. Zero chance.

He put up 22/11 on 60+ TS% at 24 years old.

What data do you have to back up your invalid opinion?

[Johnny Bball]

We should absolutely go for him he would be a max player if the season went on regularly.

No. Zero chance.

He put up 22/11 on 60+ TS% at 24 years old.

What data do you have to back up your invalid opinion?

I have eyes. Which makes one of us.

[LoveMyRaps]

We should absolutely go for him he would be a max player if the season went on regularly.

No. Zero chance.

He put up 22/11 on 60+ TS% at 24 years old.

What data do you have to back up your invalid opinion?

*insert small sample size song*

[ontnut]

No. Zero chance.

He put up 22/11 on 60+ TS% at 24 years old.

What data do you have to back up your invalid opinion?

*insert small sample size song*

What's most shocking to me is in OP's proposal, we're giving up FVV, Powell, Davis, Ibaka to bring back Wood and a 1st in a weak draft. I realize we may not be able to keep all 4 of those guys anyway, but that proposal just sounds bad on paper. Four key players that got us to what, the 3rd best record? For a guy that played for a bottom feeder, and a complete unknown.

I think Wood is a fine player, and I'd like him on this team, but not at that price. Looking at good player on bad team stats is an easy way to hugely overrate said player. You could peek at his DBPM number and also see that he's a net negative on that end. Being a positive BPM player putting up numbers on Detroit doesn't say much - there are shots to go around and the rest of the team was TRASH.

He has the tools and skills to be a high end scorer and he isn't horrible defensively. He could probably be a 20+ scorer if he was required to be. He isn't a great rim protector and for that reason I would also target Vassell in the draft. He's the type of player that could rack up a lot of value in just one season.

These two bolded statements say a lot. "He isn't horrible defensively" is glossing over a big weakness as if it doesn't mean anything in the playoffs. Big men with defensive weaknesses are PREYED upon in the playoffs. And then having two players with opposing weaknesses to play the role of 1, is hardly a good choice in the playoffs either. I mean, it's like saying having Thomas and McCaw on this team would be great cuz they'd both balance each other - when in reality, the truth is NEITHER of them could see the floor much in the playoffs.

I'm not saying he's bad. He's a good player, but not a starter on a contender. He'd be great coming off the bench, but thinking of the proven guys we'd be renouncing/trading to get him in this proposal, I'd balk. He's the type of player you'd like to draft, or trade for on the cheap if you saw something in him, and he was underperforming at the time - not trade/renounce 4 rotation players for. This is buying a stock at its all time high, thinking it's only going to go up from there. There's not much value to be had here, and a lot of downside.

He's a C+ level starter, and a B+/A- level bench player imo. That's like describing Norm, and potentially Davis (barring his off court issues, and looking forward to his potential). Nevermind FVV and Ibaka who are both B/B+ level starters.

[Psubs]

The **** is with the fascination for this guy. He put up decent numbers on a bad team and they won a grand total of two games with him playing increased minutes. He's an average player that comes of the bench on a really good team.

Depends on how you look at it. It could be a good thing. Dwane didn't use him as well as NN could.

He has all of the tools you would want at center.

Watch on YouTube

He didn't have any plays called for him he got all of his points and shots within the flow of the offense. That's scalable to a better team.

We should absolutely go for him he would be a max player if the season went on regularly.

He's everything I wish Boucher could be.

[fbalmeida]

Wood is talented, but a bit of a double-edged sword: I've read that he's a basket-case chemistry wise.

[vini_vidi_vici]

What is this guys fascination with Christian Wood??

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2011521&p=85909527

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=244689

I think ppl like this are weird. Look you wanna make a thread about the guy sure, but 17 of your 260 posts are about this guy and your fantasy moves to get him. 9 different threads, 2 started by you. Im going to take a guess this wont be the last one either.

I dont know, hes nothing special on offense. Doesnt really create for himself (75+% ASTd on). 1 season with over 26 3PTA (last yr), and small sample size. Avg in transition. Elite finisher in PnR despite tiny samples (be interesting to see how much he regresses with more volume), but everyone in our system becomes very good to great (Hansbrough/Biz/etc..). Most of his efficiency is derived from PnR Roll man. Elite SPot Up, again small samples.

When you start to tease out his shooting, his 3 is reliant on being wide open. Defender 6ft or less close to him, he shoots 30.1 3PT%, 6+ft 43.7 3PT%. 22.6% of his FGAs are dunks.

Slightly above avg to avg defender for a big. Not a facilitator. Takes alot of USG (20+% for a career). 34th of 64 players who faced >= 4 FGA at the rim, so just an avg rim protector.

I dont see something special, much less a "defacto max player" with more opportunity, or even a 20 pt scorer (unless Lowry is gifting him, which he is great at, but not many else on this team hit the Roller we opt for the shooters).

[ATLTimekeeper]

It's always tough fitting in an expensive FA, and there's considerable risk given his lack of experience. At all costs is too hyperbolic for me to entertain seriously.

[OakleyDokely]

Makes a lot more sense to give a small contract to a young, unproven player with potential like WCS or Giles than to give a big contract to a young unproven player with potential like Wood.

[super_balls]

Christian Wood is overrated on this board.

I don't see how he is much better than Boucher. I rather go after Giles this off season.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Christian Wood is overrated on this board.

I don't see how he is much better than Boucher. I rather go after Giles this off season.

I would also go for Giles as well and pass on Woods.

I have to say that Woods is definitely more consistent than Boucher. and younger. Lets see what Boucher does this year if he's the main backup big man. Woods is definitely getting in the "overrated" area now but if he signs for a team friendly deal, say MLE for 4 years, that would be a steal imho. I think if someone is giving him anywhere between 15-20M per year, its a little iffy since he only has had 1 'good' year so far.

[pr0gr4m]

What is this guys fascination with Christian Wood??

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2011521&p=85909527

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=244689

I think ppl like this are weird. Look you wanna make a thread about the guy sure, but 17 of your 260 posts are about this guy and your fantasy moves to get him. 9 different threads, 2 started by you. Im going to take a guess this wont be the last one either.

I dont know, hes nothing special on offense. Doesnt really create for himself (75+% ASTd on). 1 season with over 26 3PTA (last yr), and small sample size. Avg in transition. Elite finisher in PnR despite tiny samples (be interesting to see how much he regresses with more volume), but everyone in our system becomes very good to great (Hansbrough/Biz/etc..). Most of his efficiency is derived from PnR Roll man. Elite SPot Up, again small samples.

When you start to tease out his shooting, his 3 is reliant on being wide open. Defender 6ft or less close to him, he shoots 30.1 3PT%, 6+ft 43.7 3PT%. 22.6% of his FGAs are dunks.

Slightly above avg to avg defender for a big. Not a facilitator. Takes alot of USG (20+% for a career). 34th of 64 players who faced >= 4 FGA at the rim, so just an avg rim protector.

I dont see something special, much less a "defacto max player" with more opportunity, or even a 20 pt scorer (unless Lowry is gifting him, which he is great at, but not many else on this team hit the Roller we opt for the shooters).

Obtaining Wood is a fascinating idea to me. His tools, production, scalability, youth, etc. are hard to ignore. In a better system, with continuity, with elite roleplayers, he could be even more valuable. He has the tools to produce a lot more on offense in my opinion. He can post up smaller players and is too quick for larger centers. You can see his match up against Gobert.

Wood posted a slash line of .558/.380/.742 over the 83 games that he played between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

His recent explosion hasn’t come completely out of nowhere. He was one of the most productive reserves in the league over the first half of the season.

Nor is Wood a case of a player putting up empty stats on a bad team. Detroit has been much better with Wood on the floor, whether he was a starter or a reserve. Look at the team’s splits before the Andre Drummond trade (when Wood was averaging 18.0 minutes per game) and after (33.8 minutes):

Christian Wood’s Impact
__________________|___________________________|__________________________
Christian Wood | Net rating with him | Net rating without him
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Pre Trade | plus-3.7 | minus-6.2
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Post Trade | minus-1.2 | minus-26.0
__________________|___________________________|___________________________

Wood has been the only thing keeping the Pistons afloat. Injuries to Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson, and Luke Kennard kept Detroit from making its usual push for the no. 8 seed (the Pistons won between 37 and 44 games in each of the past four seasons), so the front office pressed the reset button on the entire franchise at the deadline. There isn’t much talent left on the roster after they traded Drummond for spare parts and then bought out Jackson and Markieff Morris. Even Derrick Rose, their lone remaining proven scorer, has been in and out of the lineup.

All the turnover has kept Wood from finding a steady role. He hasn’t been in a lineup that’s played more than 75 minutes this season. But he always finds a way to impact the game, no matter who he’s playing with.

It makes sense when you break down his game. There is nothing fluky about his numbers. Wood is a legitimate unicorn with a freakish combination of size (6-foot-10 and 214 pounds with a 7-foot-3 wingspan), skill, and athleticism.

He has range out to the 3-point line and possesses a soft touch. He’s shooting 37.5 percent from 3 on 2.2 attempts per game and 75.2 percent from the free throw line this season. Word has already spread about his jumper. Defenses aren’t leaving him open on the perimeter anymore. Wood has a quick release and he’s so long that defenders have to stay attached to him to even bother his shot.

The ability to finish inside allows him to be productive even on nights when his jumper isn’t falling. Wood is the rare stretch 4 who doubles as a rim-running 5. He’s in the 85th percentile of players leaguewide on spot-up attempts this season and in the 95th percentile among roll men.

The other unique thing about Wood is that his versatility extends to the other end of the floor. He’s holding opposing players to just 54.2 percent shooting at the rim, a respectable number which puts him right ahead of Drummond. But what makes him truly special is his ability to guard on the perimeter. There aren’t many players his size who can stay in front of players like Chris Paul, De’Aaron Fox, and CJ McCollum on switches

Wood has proved he can be successful in almost any role. He can stretch the floor as a power forward and defend smaller players on the perimeter while also being able to play as a center in small-ball lineups.

So, how exactly did this happen? How did a player as talented as Wood get overlooked and turned into a career journeyman? The people that I’ve talked to around the league point to a couple of factors.

It started with his decision to go pro after two seasons at UNLV. He was a skinny 20-year-old with a shaky jumper at that point. He didn’t make a lot of 3s in college (26.1 percent on 2.2 attempts per game) and wasn’t strong enough to play inside at the next level. There was no obvious role for him. His talent got him on a couple of NBA rosters, but only as a theoretically useful player who couldn’t actually help a team.

There is a natural developmental process for big men with long frames in their early 20s. It takes time for them to put on weight. Look at the way Brandon Ingram and Giannis Antetokounmpo have gotten stronger over the past few years. The difference for Wood is that he was an undrafted free agent without a guaranteed contract, so teams weren’t as willing to wait on him to physically mature. He kept ending up on the wrong side of a numbers crunch at the end of the roster.

Getting stronger was a force multiplier for Wood. He has always been able to score once he gets to the right spots on the floor. Now defenders can no longer knock him off of his path. He can finish through the contact.

The other change Wood has made is learning how to play within a smaller role on offense. A player with his size who can shoot off the dribble spends most of his life scoring over overmatched defenders without needing to try much on defense. That wasn’t going to fly in the NBA, where coaches won’t give minutes to bench players who blow defensive assignments and try to do too much on offense.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Wood in Detroit. There have been times this season when Pistons coach Dwane Casey benched Wood and gave him DNP-CDs because he wasn’t executing the team’s defensive scheme correctly. Being in the right place at the right time on defense allowed him to eventually stay on the floor and show what else he could do.

Wood is trusting his teammates more on both sides of the ball. He’s not forcing things on offense. His ability to score one-on-one is still mostly theoretical—he’s in the 22nd percentile of post scorers this season and the 10th percentile in isolations. Wood is scoring by giving the ball up and trusting it will come back to him when he’s open instead of constantly hunting for his own shot.

The best part of all: Wood still has so much room to get better. He will only get stronger as he moves deeper into his 20s. And he’s just scratching the surface of what he can do as defenses adjust to him. They are now sending double-teams for the first time. The experience that comes from making those reads will help him improve even more.


Wood would also benefit from playing with an elite guard. John Collins is the only other player in the NBA who is shooting better than 60 percent from 2 and 35 percent from 3 on the same number of attempts as Wood. And there is no one like Trae Young setting Wood up. He was great in the limited opportunities that he received with Jackson (plus-11.6 in 216 minutes) this season.

The big question for Wood is what happens next. His unusual path to stardom gives him more freedom than his peers. Wood turns 25 in September and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Former first-round picks his age are all restricted free agents whose teams can match any offer they receive on the market. Wood can sign anywhere with no strings attached.

He might be the most intriguing free agent in the league. There isn’t much out there once you get past Anthony Davis, who will almost certainly re-sign with the Lakers. Most of the top unrestricted free agents are players in their 30s like Danilo Gallinari and Marcus Morris while restricted free agents such as Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic will likely have any offers matched.

The Pistons have a lot of cap space and will be very motivated to keep Wood. But he’s a logical target for any rebuilding team with significant cap space like the Raptors.

The chance to acquire a young player with All-Star upside without giving up anything in the process doesn’t come around often.

Wood won’t be playing in obscurity for much longer. He will be a household name soon enough.

[Red_Claw]

Spoiler:

What is this guys fascination with Christian Wood??

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2011521&p=85909527

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=244689

I think ppl like this are weird. Look you wanna make a thread about the guy sure, but 17 of your 260 posts are about this guy and your fantasy moves to get him. 9 different threads, 2 started by you. Im going to take a guess this wont be the last one either.

I dont know, hes nothing special on offense. Doesnt really create for himself (75+% ASTd on). 1 season with over 26 3PTA (last yr), and small sample size. Avg in transition. Elite finisher in PnR despite tiny samples (be interesting to see how much he regresses with more volume), but everyone in our system becomes very good to great (Hansbrough/Biz/etc..). Most of his efficiency is derived from PnR Roll man. Elite SPot Up, again small samples.

When you start to tease out his shooting, his 3 is reliant on being wide open. Defender 6ft or less close to him, he shoots 30.1 3PT%, 6+ft 43.7 3PT%. 22.6% of his FGAs are dunks.

Slightly above avg to avg defender for a big. Not a facilitator. Takes alot of USG (20+% for a career). 34th of 64 players who faced >= 4 FGA at the rim, so just an avg rim protector.

I dont see something special, much less a "defacto max player" with more opportunity, or even a 20 pt scorer (unless Lowry is gifting him, which he is great at, but not many else on this team hit the Roller we opt for the shooters).

Obtaining Wood is a fascinating idea to me. His tools, production, scalability, youth, etc. are hard to ignore. In a better system, with continuity, with elite roleplayers, he could be even more valuable. He has the tools to produce a lot more on offense in my opinion. He can post up smaller players and is too quick for larger centers. You can see his match up against Gobert.

Wood posted a slash line of .558/.380/.742 over the 83 games that he played between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

His recent explosion hasn’t come completely out of nowhere. He was one of the most productive reserves in the league over the first half of the season.

Nor is Wood a case of a player putting up empty stats on a bad team. Detroit has been much better with Wood on the floor, whether he was a starter or a reserve. Look at the team’s splits before the Andre Drummond trade (when Wood was averaging 18.0 minutes per game) and after (33.8 minutes):

Christian Wood’s Impact
__________________|___________________________|__________________________
Christian Wood | Net rating with him | Net rating without him
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Pre Trade | plus-3.7 | minus-6.2
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Post Trade | minus-1.2 | minus-26.0
__________________|___________________________|___________________________

Wood has been the only thing keeping the Pistons afloat. Injuries to Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson, and Luke Kennard kept Detroit from making its usual push for the no. 8 seed (the Pistons won between 37 and 44 games in each of the past four seasons), so the front office pressed the reset button on the entire franchise at the deadline. There isn’t much talent left on the roster after they traded Drummond for spare parts and then bought out Jackson and Markieff Morris. Even Derrick Rose, their lone remaining proven scorer, has been in and out of the lineup.

All the turnover has kept Wood from finding a steady role. He hasn’t been in a lineup that’s played more than 75 minutes this season. But he always finds a way to impact the game, no matter who he’s playing with.

It makes sense when you break down his game. There is nothing fluky about his numbers. Wood is a legitimate unicorn with a freakish combination of size (6-foot-10 and 214 pounds with a 7-foot-3 wingspan), skill, and athleticism.

He has range out to the 3-point line and possesses a soft touch. He’s shooting 37.5 percent from 3 on 2.2 attempts per game and 75.2 percent from the free throw line this season. Word has already spread about his jumper. Defenses aren’t leaving him open on the perimeter anymore. Wood has a quick release and he’s so long that defenders have to stay attached to him to even bother his shot.

The ability to finish inside allows him to be productive even on nights when his jumper isn’t falling. Wood is the rare stretch 4 who doubles as a rim-running 5. He’s in the 85th percentile of players leaguewide on spot-up attempts this season and in the 95th percentile among roll men.

The other unique thing about Wood is that his versatility extends to the other end of the floor. He’s holding opposing players to just 54.2 percent shooting at the rim, a respectable number which puts him right ahead of Drummond. But what makes him truly special is his ability to guard on the perimeter. There aren’t many players his size who can stay in front of players like Chris Paul, De’Aaron Fox, and CJ McCollum on switches

Wood has proved he can be successful in almost any role. He can stretch the floor as a power forward and defend smaller players on the perimeter while also being able to play as a center in small-ball lineups.

So, how exactly did this happen? How did a player as talented as Wood get overlooked and turned into a career journeyman? The people that I’ve talked to around the league point to a couple of factors.

It started with his decision to go pro after two seasons at UNLV. He was a skinny 20-year-old with a shaky jumper at that point. He didn’t make a lot of 3s in college (26.1 percent on 2.2 attempts per game) and wasn’t strong enough to play inside at the next level. There was no obvious role for him. His talent got him on a couple of NBA rosters, but only as a theoretically useful player who couldn’t actually help a team.

There is a natural developmental process for big men with long frames in their early 20s. It takes time for them to put on weight. Look at the way Brandon Ingram and Giannis Antetokounmpo have gotten stronger over the past few years. The difference for Wood is that he was an undrafted free agent without a guaranteed contract, so teams weren’t as willing to wait on him to physically mature. He kept ending up on the wrong side of a numbers crunch at the end of the roster.

Getting stronger was a force multiplier for Wood. He has always been able to score once he gets to the right spots on the floor. Now defenders can no longer knock him off of his path. He can finish through the contact.

The other change Wood has made is learning how to play within a smaller role on offense. A player with his size who can shoot off the dribble spends most of his life scoring over overmatched defenders without needing to try much on defense. That wasn’t going to fly in the NBA, where coaches won’t give minutes to bench players who blow defensive assignments and try to do too much on offense.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Wood in Detroit. There have been times this season when Pistons coach Dwane Casey benched Wood and gave him DNP-CDs because he wasn’t executing the team’s defensive scheme correctly. Being in the right place at the right time on defense allowed him to eventually stay on the floor and show what else he could do.

Wood is trusting his teammates more on both sides of the ball. He’s not forcing things on offense. His ability to score one-on-one is still mostly theoretical—he’s in the 22nd percentile of post scorers this season and the 10th percentile in isolations. Wood is scoring by giving the ball up and trusting it will come back to him when he’s open instead of constantly hunting for his own shot.

The best part of all: Wood still has so much room to get better. He will only get stronger as he moves deeper into his 20s. And he’s just scratching the surface of what he can do as defenses adjust to him. They are now sending double-teams for the first time. The experience that comes from making those reads will help him improve even more.


Wood would also benefit from playing with an elite guard. John Collins is the only other player in the NBA who is shooting better than 60 percent from 2 and 35 percent from 3 on the same number of attempts as Wood. And there is no one like Trae Young setting Wood up. He was great in the limited opportunities that he received with Jackson (plus-11.6 in 216 minutes) this season.

The big question for Wood is what happens next. His unusual path to stardom gives him more freedom than his peers. Wood turns 25 in September and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Former first-round picks his age are all restricted free agents whose teams can match any offer they receive on the market. Wood can sign anywhere with no strings attached.

He might be the most intriguing free agent in the league. There isn’t much out there once you get past Anthony Davis, who will almost certainly re-sign with the Lakers. Most of the top unrestricted free agents are players in their 30s like Danilo Gallinari and Marcus Morris while restricted free agents such as Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic will likely have any offers matched.

The Pistons have a lot of cap space and will be very motivated to keep Wood. But he’s a logical target for any rebuilding team with significant cap space like the Raptors.

The chance to acquire a young player with All-Star upside without giving up anything in the process doesn’t come around often.

Wood won’t be playing in obscurity for much longer. He will be a household name soon enough.

I remember about 10-15 years ago posting long arguments to RealGM thinking i knew everything about a certain player and vouching for them like this........ive learned alot since then.

I like Wood as a role player whether its a starter or bench player but calling him a outright all-star/max player is foolish. And i say that generously.

Learn to give responses here the benefit of your doubt especially when the majority are telling you you're wrong. You could be right about Wood, but i could also win the lottery tomorrow. The facts say the odds aren't good though for either.

[Indeed]

Christian Wood is overrated on this board.

I don't see how he is much better than Boucher. I rather go after Giles this off season.

I would also go for Giles as well and pass on Woods.

I have to say that Woods is definitely more consistent than Boucher. and younger. Lets see what Boucher does this year if he's the main backup big man. Woods is definitely getting in the "overrated" area now but if he signs for a team friendly deal, say MLE for 4 years, that would be a steal imho. I think if someone is giving him anywhere between 15-20M per year, its a little iffy since he only has had 1 'good' year so far.

I feel the same, and regardless of Boucher can improve further more, I think both of them lacked the size to be a consistent paint protector to play at C, which will make them situational and provide similar in productivity. At the end, if Boucher is getting min salary to allow us having a better starting C, that maybe better than Wood occupying a MLE that prevent us from getting a better C.

[Mak]

Players like Wood are fairly common in this league and don't move the needle much in a team going from good (2nd round team that we are) to great (contending). I certainly would not give up FVV, Norm just to get him.

what near 7 feet tall, mobile, can dribble, shoot block shots? these players are fairly common?

Sounds like Chris Boucher

[vini_vidi_vici]

What is this guys fascination with Christian Wood??

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2011521&p=85909527

https://forums.realgm.com/boards/search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=244689

I think ppl like this are weird. Look you wanna make a thread about the guy sure, but 17 of your 260 posts are about this guy and your fantasy moves to get him. 9 different threads, 2 started by you. Im going to take a guess this wont be the last one either.

I dont know, hes nothing special on offense. Doesnt really create for himself (75+% ASTd on). 1 season with over 26 3PTA (last yr), and small sample size. Avg in transition. Elite finisher in PnR despite tiny samples (be interesting to see how much he regresses with more volume), but everyone in our system becomes very good to great (Hansbrough/Biz/etc..). Most of his efficiency is derived from PnR Roll man. Elite SPot Up, again small samples.

When you start to tease out his shooting, his 3 is reliant on being wide open. Defender 6ft or less close to him, he shoots 30.1 3PT%, 6+ft 43.7 3PT%. 22.6% of his FGAs are dunks.

Slightly above avg to avg defender for a big. Not a facilitator. Takes alot of USG (20+% for a career). 34th of 64 players who faced >= 4 FGA at the rim, so just an avg rim protector.

I dont see something special, much less a "defacto max player" with more opportunity, or even a 20 pt scorer (unless Lowry is gifting him, which he is great at, but not many else on this team hit the Roller we opt for the shooters).

Spoiler:

Obtaining Wood is a fascinating idea to me. His tools, production, scalability, youth, etc. are hard to ignore. In a better system, with continuity, with elite roleplayers, he could be even more valuable. He has the tools to produce a lot more on offense in my opinion. He can post up smaller players and is too quick for larger centers. You can see his match up against Gobert.

Wood posted a slash line of .558/.380/.742 over the 83 games that he played between 2018-19 and 2019-20.

His recent explosion hasn’t come completely out of nowhere. He was one of the most productive reserves in the league over the first half of the season.

Nor is Wood a case of a player putting up empty stats on a bad team. Detroit has been much better with Wood on the floor, whether he was a starter or a reserve. Look at the team’s splits before the Andre Drummond trade (when Wood was averaging 18.0 minutes per game) and after (33.8 minutes):

Christian Wood’s Impact
__________________|___________________________|__________________________
Christian Wood | Net rating with him | Net rating without him
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Pre Trade | plus-3.7 | minus-6.2
__________________|___________________________|___________________________
Post Trade | minus-1.2 | minus-26.0
__________________|___________________________|___________________________

Wood has been the only thing keeping the Pistons afloat. Injuries to Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson, and Luke Kennard kept Detroit from making its usual push for the no. 8 seed (the Pistons won between 37 and 44 games in each of the past four seasons), so the front office pressed the reset button on the entire franchise at the deadline. There isn’t much talent left on the roster after they traded Drummond for spare parts and then bought out Jackson and Markieff Morris. Even Derrick Rose, their lone remaining proven scorer, has been in and out of the lineup.

All the turnover has kept Wood from finding a steady role. He hasn’t been in a lineup that’s played more than 75 minutes this season. But he always finds a way to impact the game, no matter who he’s playing with.

It makes sense when you break down his game. There is nothing fluky about his numbers. Wood is a legitimate unicorn with a freakish combination of size (6-foot-10 and 214 pounds with a 7-foot-3 wingspan), skill, and athleticism.

He has range out to the 3-point line and possesses a soft touch. He’s shooting 37.5 percent from 3 on 2.2 attempts per game and 75.2 percent from the free throw line this season. Word has already spread about his jumper. Defenses aren’t leaving him open on the perimeter anymore. Wood has a quick release and he’s so long that defenders have to stay attached to him to even bother his shot.

The ability to finish inside allows him to be productive even on nights when his jumper isn’t falling. Wood is the rare stretch 4 who doubles as a rim-running 5. He’s in the 85th percentile of players leaguewide on spot-up attempts this season and in the 95th percentile among roll men.

The other unique thing about Wood is that his versatility extends to the other end of the floor. He’s holding opposing players to just 54.2 percent shooting at the rim, a respectable number which puts him right ahead of Drummond. But what makes him truly special is his ability to guard on the perimeter. There aren’t many players his size who can stay in front of players like Chris Paul, De’Aaron Fox, and CJ McCollum on switches

Wood has proved he can be successful in almost any role. He can stretch the floor as a power forward and defend smaller players on the perimeter while also being able to play as a center in small-ball lineups.

So, how exactly did this happen? How did a player as talented as Wood get overlooked and turned into a career journeyman? The people that I’ve talked to around the league point to a couple of factors.

It started with his decision to go pro after two seasons at UNLV. He was a skinny 20-year-old with a shaky jumper at that point. He didn’t make a lot of 3s in college (26.1 percent on 2.2 attempts per game) and wasn’t strong enough to play inside at the next level. There was no obvious role for him. His talent got him on a couple of NBA rosters, but only as a theoretically useful player who couldn’t actually help a team.

There is a natural developmental process for big men with long frames in their early 20s. It takes time for them to put on weight. Look at the way Brandon Ingram and Giannis Antetokounmpo have gotten stronger over the past few years. The difference for Wood is that he was an undrafted free agent without a guaranteed contract, so teams weren’t as willing to wait on him to physically mature. He kept ending up on the wrong side of a numbers crunch at the end of the roster.

Getting stronger was a force multiplier for Wood. He has always been able to score once he gets to the right spots on the floor. Now defenders can no longer knock him off of his path. He can finish through the contact.

The other change Wood has made is learning how to play within a smaller role on offense. A player with his size who can shoot off the dribble spends most of his life scoring over overmatched defenders without needing to try much on defense. That wasn’t going to fly in the NBA, where coaches won’t give minutes to bench players who blow defensive assignments and try to do too much on offense.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Wood in Detroit. There have been times this season when Pistons coach Dwane Casey benched Wood and gave him DNP-CDs because he wasn’t executing the team’s defensive scheme correctly. Being in the right place at the right time on defense allowed him to eventually stay on the floor and show what else he could do.

Wood is trusting his teammates more on both sides of the ball. He’s not forcing things on offense. His ability to score one-on-one is still mostly theoretical—he’s in the 22nd percentile of post scorers this season and the 10th percentile in isolations. Wood is scoring by giving the ball up and trusting it will come back to him when he’s open instead of constantly hunting for his own shot.

The best part of all: Wood still has so much room to get better. He will only get stronger as he moves deeper into his 20s. And he’s just scratching the surface of what he can do as defenses adjust to him. They are now sending double-teams for the first time. The experience that comes from making those reads will help him improve even more.


Wood would also benefit from playing with an elite guard. John Collins is the only other player in the NBA who is shooting better than 60 percent from 2 and 35 percent from 3 on the same number of attempts as Wood. And there is no one like Trae Young setting Wood up. He was great in the limited opportunities that he received with Jackson (plus-11.6 in 216 minutes) this season.

The big question for Wood is what happens next. His unusual path to stardom gives him more freedom than his peers. Wood turns 25 in September and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Former first-round picks his age are all restricted free agents whose teams can match any offer they receive on the market. Wood can sign anywhere with no strings attached.

He might be the most intriguing free agent in the league. There isn’t much out there once you get past Anthony Davis, who will almost certainly re-sign with the Lakers. Most of the top unrestricted free agents are players in their 30s like Danilo Gallinari and Marcus Morris while restricted free agents such as Brandon Ingram and Bogdan Bogdanovic will likely have any offers matched.

The Pistons have a lot of cap space and will be very motivated to keep Wood. But he’s a logical target for any rebuilding team with significant cap space like the Raptors.

The chance to acquire a young player with All-Star upside without giving up anything in the process doesn’t come around often.

Wood won’t be playing in obscurity for much longer. He will be a household name soon enough.

Most of this is supposition and your opinion, which for me personally I dont care about (no disrespect intended). Lets delve into the numbers/narratives you posted.

"He can post up smaller players and is too quick for larger centers." Lets just start with this isnt true, he is someone who needs facilitation to be effective, I pointed it out and so did you. "he’s in the 22nd percentile of post scorers this season and the 10th percentile in isolations."

His slash line of ".558/.380/.742 over 83 games". That sample is tiny, were literally talking about 625 FGAs. 104 players reached that total last yr, and some guys exceeded that in > 40 games. He would T194th in 3PTA, if he accumulated that in just last yr (he didnt). These are tiny samples we need to see sustained before we can anoint him anything much less a guy with "all star upside".

Last yr he was a net negative on the floor, that much is true. 68.5% of his mins came off the bench. In those mins he was +4 NET, with a 66.5 TS%. In those starter mins he was -2.6, with a 64.7 TS%. You can see those low leverage bench mins buoyed his overall production.

Those 75 mins are the 4th highest lineup on the team. For more perspective, the Raps only had 6 lineups >= 75 mins. THis wasnt something unique to DET, because of how Covid interrupted the season.

"Defenses aren’t leaving him open on the perimeter anymore." Not true. He shot 95% of his 3s open >= 4ft.

"He’s in the 85th percentile of players leaguewide on spot-up attempts this season and in the 95th percentile among roll men." Not true, hes in those percentiles based on efficiency not volume. I pointed that out already, and said "again small samples". Among SpotUps, he was 131st of 443 qualifiers (>10 possessions) in volume of possessions.

"He’s holding opposing players to just 54.2 percent shooting at the rim, a respectable number which puts him right ahead of Drummond." Hes holding guys to 44.1% and being better than Drummond doesnt mean much. Pascal and Serge hold guys to a lower differential than their avgs at the rim, hell even FVV does better.

"defend smaller players on the perimeter while also being able to play as a center in small-ball lineups." Last yr he guarded of 1799 possessions only 30% of them were vs 1s/2s/3s. For comparisons sake, Gasol a less mobile big did roughly the same (27%). Vs the top 3 USG guys on the floor (this is the hierarchy of all lineups on the floor including bench ones), only represented 38% of his possessions, again using Gasol a less versatile big, 43%. He is not the versatile defender you make him out to be.

No one here is arguing that he cant improve, or that he might reach these lofty goals you think he can, the argument is the hyperbole you sprinkle all over these glowing posts. Its about the likelihood he can transition and carry those numbers to high leverage/starting teams, otherwise its fairly moot points, esp if youre advocating paying him on potential. Hes an intriguing piece, but to start throwing out all star/etc.. is a disservice until he actually proves something over a longer period of time/possessions.

[pr0gr4m]

Most of this is supposition and your opinion, which for me personally I dont care about (no disrespect intended). Lets delve into the numbers/narratives you posted.

It's an opinion shared pretty widely if you do a quick internet search

I don't care about your opinion either.

Your opinion is to wait and see because the sample size is too small huh?

So you want to wait until he has a lot more suitors, costs more, and probably won't come here?

"He can post up smaller players and is too quick for larger centers." Lets just start with this isnt true, he is someone who needs facilitation to be effective, I pointed it out and so did you. "he’s in the 22nd percentile of post scorers this season and the 10th percentile in isolations."

He didn't get plays called for him. Do you remember JV in Toronto?

His slash line of ".558/.380/.742 over 83 games". That sample is tiny, were literally talking about 625 FGAs. 104 players reached that total last yr, and some guys exceeded that in > 40 games. He would T194th in 3PTA, if he accumulated that in just last yr (he didnt). These are tiny samples we need to see sustained before we can anoint him anything much less a guy with "all star upside".

Last yr he was a net negative on the floor, that much is true. 68.5% of his mins came off the bench. In those mins he was +4 NET, with a 66.5 TS%. In those starter mins he was -2.6, with a 64.7 TS%. You can see those low leverage bench mins buoyed his overall production.

Those 75 mins are the 4th highest lineup on the team. For more perspective, the Raps only had 6 lineups >= 75 mins. THis wasnt something unique to DET, because of how Covid interrupted the season.

"Defenses aren’t leaving him open on the perimeter anymore." Not true. He shot 95% of his 3s open >= 4ft.

"He’s in the 85th percentile of players leaguewide on spot-up attempts this season and in the 95th percentile among roll men." Not true, hes in those percentiles based on efficiency not volume. I pointed that out already, and said "again small samples". Among SpotUps, he was 131st of 443 qualifiers (>10 possessions) in volume of possessions.

Yeah let's wait until the sample size is bigger and we can not afford or get him.

"He’s holding opposing players to just 54.2 percent shooting at the rim, a respectable number which puts him right ahead of Drummond." Hes holding guys to 44.1% and being better than Drummond doesnt mean much. Pascal and Serge hold guys to a lower differential than their avgs at the rim, hell even FVV does better.

"defend smaller players on the perimeter while also being able to play as a center in small-ball lineups." Last yr he guarded of 1799 possessions only 30% of them were vs 1s/2s/3s. For comparisons sake, Gasol a less mobile big did roughly the same (27%). Vs the top 3 USG guys on the floor (this is the hierarchy of all lineups on the floor including bench ones), only represented 38% of his possessions, again using Gasol a less versatile big, 43%. He is not the versatile defender you make him out to be.

[streamable]https://thumbs.gfycat.com/UnequaledCluelessBluegill-mobile.mp4[/streamable]

Yeah Gasol can totally do that.

Do you think we want him curling off screens for tightly contested 3's Ray Allen style? He's only going to shoot open three's so it's fine. His strength is from his dribble, driving, and finishing ability.

No one here is arguing that he cant improve, or that he might reach these lofty goals you think he can, the argument is the hyperbole you sprinkle all over these glowing posts. Its about the likelihood he can transition and carry those numbers to high leverage/starting teams, otherwise its fairly moot points, esp if youre advocating paying him on potential. Hes an intriguing piece, but to start throwing out all star/etc.. is a disservice until he actually proves something over a longer period of time/possessions.

There's a concept consisting of getting a steal, small sample size, and the relation between those two things. I don't think you understand that. If we wait out until he has a proper showing he is unattainable.

[canada_dry]

With what money??

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[anj]

I think Wood is the real prize of the off-season. He has the tools and skills to be a high end scorer and he isn't horrible defensively. He could probably be a 20+ scorer if he was required to be. He isn't a great rim protector and for that reason I would also target Vassell in the draft. He's the type of player that could rack up a lot of value in just one season.

If we want to go after Wood it would probably mean trading Powell. Powell+Davis probably has enough value to get a lottery pick and help us create room to sign Wood.

This would also mean renouncing FVV and Ibaka. I think Ibaka is a goner unless he agrees to a 1 year deal. I'm not sure if that would be in Toronto's best interest however. FVV is too small to be the future point guard. Lowry is an anamoly at his size. I don't want to see the Raptors overpay Fred at all.