I’ve been studying up on Washington. Good 3 pt shooter, good perimeter defender, but he’s short and gets beat up inside. He’s more in the Patrick Patterson mold. Not as good of a player as Wood, and not the highest ceiling either. Meh. I do think he’d help our spacing and be a fit next to Sengun, but I think we’d need solid draft pick compensation out of a Washington for Wood deal.
https://theathletic.com/3121702/202...al-growth-and-more-as-trade-deadline-arrives/ […] Wood sat down with The Athletic to discuss the trade deadline, his season so far, overall perspective and more. Some parts were edited for clarity. The second half of the season is typically geared towards improvement. What have you seen from yourself growth-wise, dating back from training camp until now? I would say improvement a little bit more defensively over the time. My communication has been better for these guys. I think it’s definitely been tremendously better going from, what, 1-15, 1-16? I would say that was just one of the major improvements. And then, just finding other guys and playing together, that’s helped other guys get going. So, that’s the biggest change. There is of course an outsider’s perspective of what you guys are doing, but you’re in the trenches every day. You know what guys go through daily. What is that like being a bit older on a young team in a rebuild, having to go through so many losses? Yeah, it’s tough. But at the same time, you can learn. I’m still young, still 26. I don’t even know when a person hits their prime, 27? But I’m still young, still learning, still growing with these guys. There’s a lot I can learn in the season, especially from EG (Eric Gordon) and D.J. (Augustin) and older guys; DT (Daniel Theis), he’s been in the playoffs. I’ve never even seen a playoff atmosphere. So, just continue to grow. That’s really it, and that’s the thing with this team; everybody’s learning and growing. You mentioned never being in a playoff atmosphere. Does that sort of stuff push you on a daily basis? For sure, for sure. That’s my ultimate goal is playoffs, and then — I don’t want to say it — the end result. But first, I just want to get to the playoffs, play-in or anything. That’s my ultimate goal. Before the season, you talked about being kind of surprised seeing your name in trade rumors. And obviously at this time of the year, things will pop up again. How is that for you? I just continue to play my game. Continue to hoop. If anything, it’s motivation. I know all 30 teams are watching, regardless if I’m in a trade talk or not. Just motivation to keep going. It gives me a little extra step when I step on the floor. We talk about stretch bigs all the time, but you’re a pretty unique talent, given your ability to function inside-outside. Why aren’t you discussed at times like some of your peers? I don’t know. I definitely couldn’t tell you. But it’s not really a lot of stretch bigs in this league that can do what I do. I believe in my ability to space the floor, put the ball on the floor, take the ball down the court, get other guys involved in dribble-handoff situations, make plays for others and make plays for myself. It’s kind of hard to come around. So I don’t know, I can’t really give you an answer to that question. There was an incident earlier in the season, but how is the relationship with head coach Stephen Silas right now? How has it been over the course of the season? You two are pretty close. I don’t think the relationship between me and him is going to ever change. We just have that relationship, just because he’s seen where I’ve started. He’s given me opportunities to be successful, and that’s something I can’t take for granted. So, our relationship is like 110 percent, or great, as you could say. As the back line of the defense, your job is to tell everyone where to be. You guys have also utilized different coverages this season. What is your most comfortable? I would say switching everything, probably switching on-ball and off-ball. I think I’ve been doing a great job in guarding these perimeter guards when they try and break me down to try and isolate me a little bit. Yeah, they’re going to make contested tough jumpers over me, and that’s what we want. Because of my length, it’s gonna affect their shots. We call it “15,” and having 15 defense is to be able to switch and guard the perimeter guys, keep them in front of me and block shots when they come at the rim. That’s one of my biggest strengths. Defensively, we’ve seen teams try to put smaller players on you in the paint. You’ve been quite vocal and aggressive about asking for the ball in those situations. Yea. I think I’ve done a better job of that as of late. Coach has given me the green light to be more aggressive, especially when they switch guards on me. At times, I know I can settle for a midrange jumper, but it’s just whatever I feel comfortable with. I’m trying to attack, and that’s the mismatch we want in our offense, so I just got to do a better job of attacking. I think I’ve been doing good at that anyway. Is there anything specifically you want to work on between now and the end of the year? For sure. It’s a few things. Being able to be in the low man [position] earlier for these guys defensively. Trying to get my assists up. I know it’s a little tough with our offense, but we have a five-out offense, and you have a lot of guys that can score the ball. So, just try to find them a little bit more. Even with the five-out offense, I remember the days of Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat. Bosh was sometimes trusted with those pick-and-rolls, transition plays. Is there anyone who’s game you’ve found yourself watching recently? I watch a lot of Giannis Antetokounmpo, I watch Anthony Davis. A little bit of Joel Embiid. (Wood is thinking to himself out loud, taking a moment to try to recall) Who else have I been watching recently? It was … who’s the big fella? I forgot his name. I just can’t think of his name, but I’m gonna get to it. And what did you see from each of their individual games? Well, Giannis likes the short roll and likes to attack out of the short roll. He’s aggressive especially when he’s taking the ball down the court, just putting pressure on the defense to get his other guys involved. He gets a lot of corner 3s, and Bobby Portis has been hitting those. AD hasn’t really been playing, but his film was just him having that ability to have that floater in a short roll, being able to pick-and-pop and mix them up — how often he rolls, how often he pops. I watch that just because I like to mix it up, especially with KP and when he likes to be assertive and stuff like that. That’s really about it. Had to ask you this before you gotta get out of here. Whenever you’re around the rim, you really seem to like that floater. Why is that, as opposed to just dunking it? I’ve always had this weird touch around the rim. Every time I shoot the floater, I definitely think it’s gonna go in, and my teammates around me think it’s gonna go in. I think it’s a good shot for me, and I’ve been making it around the rim. It’s just something I’ve been shooting my whole life, and I just always had that ability to shoot that.
. It gives me a little extra step when I step on the floor. This extra step often comes when the Rockets are down 18+ in the second half and the opponent has conceded a step.
I don't see the necessity of trading Wood at the deadline. We have him under contract for another year. We can trade him in the offseason or by next year's deadline, I don't see his value tanking between now and then. If a great rebuilding piece is offered then take it, but I don't see any teams breaking the bank to add him at the moment. Why rush to dump him? He's not interfering with the tank, he's not taking development minutes away from Sengun.
