He's going to get beat anyway so I'd rather his defender have to navigate 14-23 ft than zubac dominating from 2 ft away with Wood letting the guards play defense on his man. And I agree that he'd shine with a team that can hide those flaws. The reality is sometimes things just don't fit. What are you going to do keep it and hope you lose 30lbs to wear it? Playing him at small forward would be hiding his flaws and letting Chet and Sengun's hustle defense take care of the paint next season. Wood can still play p&R and shoot threes from the sf spot.
If you are the Rockets brass, you have to either trade his this summer, or extend him for at least another year. He may go for it if it's say 15 million. He may not, but if he truly wants to stay and not get traded. I think it's worth giving him another year to see how he plays when the team is more competitive and making a run for the play-in.
If he could play even a little defense in the paint, and hit his free throws, you are talking about a very special player. He could be a max type player if those two things could somehow get added to his game. As it stands now, he's being paid about what he is worth. He's just too one dimensional. I've said it a million times, but his game absolutely must evolve. I know he can be a better free throw shooter, but the defense in the paint? I'm not so sure. He would be better served learning how to play another position where he's less likely to get pushed around so much. Can he do it? I don't know.
So he either fixes these things and is a max player, or get off my team. Why can’t there be anything in between?
I could see Wood being a good piece on the right team. That team isn't Houston though. Trade him this offseason.
He's probably going to be a max player whether he fixes those things or not. Remember that there are teams out there that may not be destinations and may pay extra once the top free agents dry up. If he doesn't get the max, I think there is going to be a team that gets close. The Rockets need to ask themselves if they are ok paying him, lets say $35M a year x5 ($175M) if he is only ever this good. That's probably just as likely as him showing demonstrable improvement. If the Rockets do keep him and the '21 and '22 draft picks are successful (along with a possible free agent splash), Wood ends up being the third or fourth option. As long as the other players can effectively cover his defensive deficiencies, you probably have a pretty good team on your hands.
Of course it's the best option for the team. This is a lost year. We need to develop our rookies. Who cares what Cristian Wood does.
If there’s a team willing to pay Wood $35m a year, the Rockets probably would have already taken what that same team had to offer in a trade for Wood if they value him so highly.
If these rookies can’t play with a big man who shoots 45% from 3 they need to look in the mirror and re-evaluate their own games.
There's probably not a team that covets him like that right now, but a team like the Wolves, who have a hard time attracting/keeping free agents, could talk themselves into it. And I see Wood as someone who might actually prefer the money over the city.
Nah man Cwood at sf makes zero sense. He is too slow laterally to keep up with guards and sfs he's gonna get beat at the perimeter all the time and the opponent gonna have a clear path to the basket or open 3 almost every possession. Sengun is also a bit of a liability on defense he is a stiff laterally and has short arms. Why are you talking about Chet like he already on the team? Chances are Rox end up with Ivey, Banchero or Keegan Murray. 1st pick is only 14% chance.
U need to watch the games more instead of just box score watching. Wood can shoot 3s, but he fking refuses to guard players of his size, and when he does they have career nights.
If you think Wood constantly switching picks is something he’s just coming up with himself, and not a strategic thing by the coach, you need to learn more about how basketball works.
Ah yes having a smaller guard in mathews defend the likes of giannis in the paint is all part of Silas master defensive strategy and not wood being a pu$$y. Stop box score watching and pay attention to the game.
The only thing Wood does really well consistently is shoot the three. That's it. He's not even a 3&D player. He's just.....3
To be fair, the Rox never envisioned him to become a rim protector or superior help defender. They paid him 13 million a year, peanuts for the numbers, Mozgov the scrub was paid more. Just an uber roll guy for Harden. Too focused on O, little focus on D.
My joking / conspiracy take: Christian plays out of his mind last couple of games to ruin the tank, because he doesn't want Rockets to get a top 3 lotto pick. A Chet/Jabari/Paolo pick would mean Rockets will definitely get rid of him.
I admit he was in the zone against the Wizards. Shooting comes and goes, unless you're Curry, Klay or Trae Young. He is a 6th man center who has improved his perimeter defense. I liked his performance against Ja Morant. He will be better off on a playoff contender.
