It’s not that we can’t afford him in two years, it’s do we want to spend the money on Wood over someone else? Difference between being the team that lucks out with the "prove it contract" and the team that has to give Wood the "time to get paid contract". We are bottoming out right now and no one worthwhile will be signing here for the next two seasons anyway. Good time to see what we can get and go from there.
I agree with a lot of these points and your right it’s a bad look to trade someone you just signed. And if this team really wanted to compete for a play in game they probably could. But That would be the wrong play- We need stars on this team and we don’t have those yet. We have a few young intriguing pieces and we have a great draft pick- Team needs to focus on cultivating talent not winning. The goal should be to be a title contender that has a legitimate shot at winning for as long as possible. We have nowhere near the amount of talent to do such a thing. It’s a slow process- We need an infusion of talent from top-five draft picks ! You don’t get those if you are chasing the play in game! Instead you receive the 15th pick Which is nowhere near close enough I’m all In On trading Christian Wood for two Specific reasons- 1. He has the trade value to bring in another late lottery pick- which I think better aligns with our winning trajectory in 2-3 years. 2. Having him on the roster will Probably prevent us From receiving a top-five pick next year in a draft we own the rights to I’m all In for being patient! Want to build a dynasty- And we have to be patient for that
Who do you think we're signing with that money in two years, especially if we trade Wood and are roughly the worst team in the league for that three year stretch? If you don't want to be bad in 2024 when OKC gets our pick again I'm not really seeing much of a path that involves trading Wood unless he brings back another young player plausibly within reach of becoming an all-star within a year or two like him. Wood's level of play is far above whatever we could expect from the ~11th pick. The reason the draft pick would be attractive is it's cost controlled and under team control for a while. But I'm not stressed about Wood's next deal if he proves he's a legit top ~30 or so player because we're going to have to spend money on something.
I have no idea yet who I want to give that money to when we are starting to contend and have several stars on rookie contracts... I want to have the flexibility to pull the trigger whenever it arises... Not pay Christian Wood The max- When he’s a borderline top 35 player in this league
Mobley looks way better than Wood on both sides of the ball. And I like h Wood and Gordon for the #7, Wiggins and Wiseman reloads the Warriors for 3-4 more title runs before Steph hangs it up. Wonder if they'd entertain it. Wood just seems better suited as a piece for a team ready to win now instead of the Rockets who need to develop players the next 3 years.
There’s free agents every year. We would have to evaluate that when we have a clearer idea. However, I would be wary of tossing a max at Wood, which he's going to be looking to get. That's fair and would be the gamble taking "my route". However, your route has it gambles. Wood's level of play is far above whatever we could expect from the ~11th pick. The reason the draft pick would be attractive is it's cost controlled and under team control for a while. But I'm not stressed about Wood's next deal if he proves he's a legit top ~30 or so player because we're going to have to spend money on something.[/QUOTE] What about the #7 and #14? And we could spend it on something better. I feel like the next team to pay Wood is going to overpay him with a max.
I don't think GSW parts with Wiseman but maybe we'd get more picks (#14 and future lottery protected FRP). I think Wood really fits with the much hated GSW and their timeline and cap situation. Wood and Wiseman are on really cheap contracts which helps GSW.
If gsw parts with Wiseman, it would be in a package with wiggins, n7 for someone like siakam, a win now piece that fits, for a team like toronto that is looking to rebuild around van vleet and Anunobi. They are not giving that value for a guy that has proven nothing like wood. I think with him we have to wait to see if any contender needs a good player at mid season to add for their frontcourt, and see what picks we can get. That way we can rebuild with green, tate and picks in the long run. We dont need him, we are not in win now mode, and he is 27.
he still has 10 solid years in him... keep him a rocket forever...as per injury i dont think hes had a serious injury ever in his career....
Well does he want to be a rocket long term? IIRC he left detroit to go on a winning team. Rox are supposed to vbad for the next 3 yrs which includes his remaining contract
Well for one...he's a college player. Most college players improve their shooting when they come into the league. He's 7 years younger than Wood and could be a better player than he will ever be in 3 years. I'm on Team Green at the moment if we keep Wood but Mobley + Kuminga/Barnes plus Tate and KP is an amazing core to build around. You trade Wood for that no question.
I know a lot of people on CF think this way, but it's kind of South Park underpants Gnome-esque Step 1 - Don't sign Christian Wood Step 2 - Sign ? Step 3 - Profit If he decided he didn't want to re-up with Utah, Rudy Gobert would have been the top FA this year (assuming Kawhi stays with the Clippers). We couldn't have gotten him with his max contract even if we wanted. John Collins is probably getting a max. Gordon Hayward got paid a ton last year. CF on the whole was pretty distraught about NOT paying Jarret Allen the $25mm+ per year he's getting this offseason. If Wood proves he is a legit top ~30 player and can stay healthy then a 7-9 year vet max is absolutely fine, especially if it's something like a Gobert max where we pay him what he could get from another team instead of our max we can give. Every team needs a player or two on a max since you have to spend 90% of the cap on something. No player in the top 30 will be a FA and signing with the Rockets in two years, especially if we are the worst team in the league.
You make over paying an offensive only player with the max so delightful with your Southpark reference! I just don't think Wood is that good and if he's a legit top 30 player then he'd be in the 20-30 range (closer to 30). We will need max players, but I don't think it's Wood. If we can get the #7 and #14 or #11 plus a decent role player then I am hitting that deal. Wood was all team bad body language when Wall or KPJ didn't involve him in a play. I just would rather sell high then have to pay high.
I understand the rationale with folks who think Wood is fool's gold and want to sell high (though definitely disagree). My issue is with wanting to actively shop him because of his age in relation to our rebuild, which I think is crazy because he's still pretty young and we have both incoming and outgoing pick swaps in the near future. I also have an issue with the idea that giving a 7-9 year player max deal to a guy who is in the top 20-30 player range (again, this assumes Wood fits that bill and ymmv on that) and will be 27 when the deal is signed is somehow problematic. We are definitely not getting a top 20-30 player as an FA in two years if we bottom out. The better possibility for making an FA splash would be to keep Wood and be a more attractive option to compete. His cap hold will be low if we wait to resign when his deal is up rather than extend him and if you had a KD/Kyrie thing where two guys want to play together with a scrappy upstart team that would be a more feasible way to make it happen and then go over the cap to resign Wood. The only way that cap space would likely be more valuable is if we want to be a weigh station to take on bad deals with assets attached. But again, the upcoming incoming and outgoing pick swaps and picks make that much less attractive. As for whether Wood is fool's gold, I can't forget how good he looked with Harden at times and how well the team was playing for that stretch after the Harden trade and how it completely fell apart after he got hurt, which I don't think is a coincidence. All that said, if there's someone Stone loves in the draft that we can get for Wood, or a young player now or later, etc., trading him is fine too. If Wood was 29 right now it would be a different story too.
I could see Atlanta trading for Wood. Collins is going to ask for big money this summer, and Wood is a great replacement with 2 affordable years left on his deal (and his age fits with the rest of their core). They have young guys like Okongwu, Reddish and pick(s) to offer without gutting their core from this year's ECF run. I don't want to trade Wood, but I'd have to listen if Atlanta threw that offer on the table.
