Lol u really dont watch how Wood plays. Keep box score watching bud. There's a reason y a majority of us wants to send his ass on out. Switching a big man onto Mathews or the smallest guard is one of the dumbest thing that Wood does and he does it consistently every fking game. He doesn't even attempt to switch back. There is a reason y the opposing big man goes crazy like every game. Even the scrubby ones.
yeah there's switching in the NBA, there's also switching back in the NBA. If you watch any other team, whenever a smaller guy is stuck on a big, the big usually takes an effort to switch back when given the opportunity to avoid the mismatch. Christian Wood almost never does it on a consistent basis, especially when someone like Tate or Gordon is on the big. Although I don't know if that is by design or not because Wood just sucks at defending anyone that has any size on him. Either way it's almost comical that every big in recent memory has taken Wood to lunch on defense. I also don't mean just mean all star bigs like KAT or Jokic. Jalen Smith and some guy I have never heard of shot 90% from the field against Wood, Wendell Carter Jr shot 80% against Wood, and then Jonas, Ayton, Zubac just dominates Wood from every aspect of the game. Wood also doesn't even play like a true stretch 4. Most of the time when he sets a half ass pick he just slips and dives to the hoop, it's actually not that common that he chooses to pick n pop with the guards. Most of the 3's that he throws up are off the dribble 3's, and a lot of times it's out of desperation. He has always voiced that he hated the lane being clogged by Theis and he liked having the room to operate inside. The reason why Wood doesn't many takers at the deadline isn't because of his raw numbers, they always look great. It's the little things he does that is mind baffling bad for someone who has a lot of great offensive skills in a vacuum.
If most the 3s he’s throwing up are off the dribble and out of desperation, making 45% on 5 attempts a game over the last 35 games is truly spectacular then.
I don't think anyone is denying that he is a good 3 point shooter, he shot 0.375 last year on 5 attempts and about 0.39 this year on 5 attempts. He will get you a two 3's a game. But that percentage by itself doesn't make you a great player by any means especially when you are a underweight 5 that needs the lane open. I would rather have someone like Mobley on offense even though he's not half the 3 point shooter Wood is, nor does he have the same touch around the rim as Wood, that's because someone Mobley does the right things on a consistent basis that contributes to winning. Wood's sense of basketball is just bad imo, and that's hard to fix. I can see him being a 3rd option on offense a contender, but he would be completely neutered by whoever coaches that team, and probably won't get as many minutes due to his defensive woes. I imagine Wood on a great team is just being told to only pick and pop, or just wait in the corner like Brook Lopez for 3's.
eloquently put my dude. Like if folks actually watch the game instead of box score watching or listing 3 pt %, they could legit see how much of an effort C-Wood does to avoid actually guarding opposing big men. No resistance in switching and refuses to ever switch back. I am tired of seeing tate/gordon/bird and hell even green attempt to block/guard a big man.
So how much do you want to pay him? What contract do you offer that he will reasonably accept? This is coming from someone who wants to move Wood to another team this summer, badly, which you likely know by now.
$20m/year would be a steal, up to $25m would be reasonable. Remember, Eric Gordon is being paid $19m at 34 years old. Ryan Anderson, who even at his best(before he fell off) was worse than Wood in every way was $20m, and that was when the cap was lower. If we draft a big with our top 5 pick then we have to move Wood, otherwise I’m fine with resigning him to a contract like this.
He is one of those guys that you hate when he is playing for you but would want when he is playing somewhere else.
He's a luxury player that can b that xtra bump into winning it all, we should invest resources elsewhere. Unless we are confident that we can b a great playoff team w/ kpj as pg, and silas as the hc in like a year or so, u could argue us signing Wood. Otherwise trade his ass for asset(s).
We know Wood won't take a "steal," and I'm guessing that you'd agree with that. As for Eric, he's making just under $19.6 next season at 34, as you pointed out, and his last year is just under $21 million and is a team option. I'm still shocked that we didn't move him at the deadline and find it hard to believe that we weren't offered a good or at least a decent deal by a contending team, or a team who thought they were going to make noise in the playoffs for the first time in a while. He was having his best season in years, had only one more season guaranteed on his contract and, unlike Wood, plays at both ends of the court. However, we're discussing Wood, and I'd probably freak if we extended him beginning at $25 million. The truth is that I intensely dislike the way he plays the game and for the reasons several have pointed out here. Thinking of Stone giving Wood an extension starting at 25 million (which Wood might turn down) and having to watch him slip screens and run away from opposing bigs for the foreseeable future would likely drive me crazy. Others have called Wood "weak." I wouldn't disagree and I think it's reflected in what he shoots at the line. For a player who hits threes at a high percentage to shoot so poorly at the line tells us a lot, in my opinion, and what it tells us isn't good.
LOL @ folks thinking paying wood $20 mil per is some kind of deal, and not paying Allen an all star $20 mil who is significantly younger and much better player not worth it. Wood isn't worth anything more than he's getting now. All he's been to this point is an empty stats big on the worst teams who can't actually be an anchor to your defense
A contender paying 20 mm a year to Wood to get them a championship makes sense. The Rockets paying that to Wood to continue to do what he does makes no sense unless you are angling to trade him every deadline. I would rather get a cheaper big man that can actually play some defense. Wood was brought in to play with Harden, that made sense. We don't have Harden anymore and we are pretty far from even making the playoffs
the Ryan Anderson contract was one of our biggest mistakes in the Morey era so I wouldnt use that as a basis of comparison. And Gordon is being paid for what he’s done in the past; not the player he’s expected to be this year and next. I think any talk of a Christian Wood extension (within the rhelm of reasonable salary) is crazy given how bad the team has performed this year and his individual performance and role with the team. I’ve watched all but about 5 games this year, and it is abundantly clear that for all the stat padding he has a net negative impact on our team. Two biggest problems are 1). Last in rebounding. That’s a size issue IMO and one of the things Wood does well. 2). Last in defense. Wood is one of the biggest reasons we are the worst defense in the NBA. He’s an extremely talented big who does some things well, but he’s not a guy you want to rebuild with. He’s not a leader, he’s not a smart basketball player, he’s soft, and he has big lapses of effort. I hope it’s obvious to the front office that we need to move on.
I'd pay Wood $20 million a year: $10 million guaranteed with $10 million coming from personal (All-Star appearance) and team (top 10 defensive rating) performances. The personal performance might make him into more of a black hole but he'll need to do a lot better on defense if he wants his full $20.
The Wood hate on this forum is mind boggling to me. I know most of the haters will just say that I don't know basketball or whatever other reason they give to justify their hatred of his game. But you can officially put me in the Wood fan club and I have been from since he got here. Wood isn't a 5 in the NBA, but he has to play one for the Rockets because we don't have the type of 5 that he needs to play with. Most very good players have to play with the RIGHT other players for their skills to shine and be utilized the best. Even greats like Harden don't play well when they don't have the complimentary pieces to make their skillset shine. Wood should be always playing the 4 or even the 3. For those that say he can't play the 3, Wood is a very good and above average perimeter defender. Even our announcers always point out how when he gets stuck on a guard at the 3 point line, very rarely do they get to the basket on him or get a wide open uncontested 3. He is quick and long enough to definitely guard most 3s in the NBA. We always point out positionless basketball or smallball making small guys like Tate play and even start at the 4 or 5. Why not do it the other way around? Imagine would if he was on Philly's team with Embiid as the center and him replacing Harris in that lineup. He would damn near if not be an allstar. Imagine him playing on the Bucks with Lopez, Antetokounmpo, him, Middleton and Holiday. Imagine him playing on the Heat in Tuckers role. Imagine him playing on the Nets as the 3 instead of B. Brown. In the west, Imagine him next to Gobert on the Jazz. Would they rather have him starting over either O'Neale or Hernangomez? Imagine him on the Warriors with Curry, Thompson, Wiggins and Draymond. What if he played on the Suns next to Ayton or on the Nuggets next to Jokic or even on the Timberwolves in between Towns and Edwards. The problem is more of this team and the coaching than it is Wood. Wood by all means is not a perfect player and like 95% of NBA players has flaws. But they are way over amplified on this board imho. All I hear over and over is how he doesn't set good screens and slips them. I don't see that as a huge flaw in his game because any great coach can teach that to him and stress it with discipline in a training camp. People complain about how he always brings the ball up the court without passing to someone else, without realizing that it's because he gets the most rebounds on the team and the coaches want them to push the ball instead of slowing down to a half court offense where we suck at as a young team. It's not like when others get the rebound they pass it to him. Most teams would love a center that can rebound the ball and then take off down court, like Embiid does many times. Then they complain that Wood is doing this and it's so bad as if he is a turnover machine and causing something on the court that would be happening to not happen. Those are just not facts, but rather opinions because his turnovers are low. I'm not going to bring up any stats because then all the haters will just claim that I'm a stat watcher and don't really view the games. I have seen well over 90% if not 95% of every Rockets game since about 1986. I watch him enough to recognize his flaws, but also to know that he is not the one stopping the development of our youth. If anything he is helping them because they would not have won even the games they have if Wood wasn't on this team. And being potentially one of the worst ever NBA teams in history would weigh a lot of these young kids down mentally I think. I don't think Jalen would be progressing the way he is if this team was under 10 wins this season, which is where I think they would be without Wood. The bottom line is that Wood is a tall guy that can dribble, shoot the 3, defend the perimeter, rebound, get blocks against PF and SFs, and I don't see the attitude problem that many here see because he has said openly that he wants to be in Houston; which is very important considering our ownership. His weakness is that he is not a banger to defend big Centers, so not really a 5 in this league, he has bad free throw percentages, and he sets weak picks currently. The second and third ones can be fixed, and that would make him a very valuable player that you just can't find anywhere on the market hardly. This idea that he wants and demands a max contract is a strawman to me because he came here on a 15 million dollar contract, and nothing about that says that he expects a max contract after playing on the worst team in the league for two years and not even being an allstar. I really don't get where this idea is that he will demand a max contract, or that any other team in the league would offer him one. If the Rockets end up with a top pick and get a great center in the draft, the bigger issue is what do you do with Sengun? He is definitely a center and doesn't have the lateral movement to become a PF like Wood does. So if you draft one of the top prospects at Center, what do you do with Sengun if you picked 1 or 2 to get that center? Sengun's problem is not Wood, but who we pick as center in the upcoming draft. Wood can easily and successfully move to full time starting PF or SF. Segun to be more effective, with all of his other great skills and qualities, has to first learn to guard these same centers that everyone states correctly dominates Wood, without fouling out. And Sengun has to be able to shoot over 35% on 3s. Otherwise one of the other centers drafted will keep Sengun on the bench for another year if not much longer. He may have Jokic like potential, but until it is fully realized on the court with consistency, it's still just potential. We know what Wood can do right now even though I feel he is still developing, and he is better than Sengun right now, even if you feel that Sengun has potential to surpass him ultimately. But if Sengun could get his 3p% up over the summer, and you draft a great prospect at center, you could potentially start that center, Sengun at PF and Wood at Sf along with Green and KPJ or whomever you like at PG. That lineup would be potentially very hard to stop, very tall, and much better on defense than anything we have seen in the last 2 years. Wood would thrive even more with SFs trying to guard him on the perimeter or under the basket, as he is too tall for them and can dribble and shoot over them or take them to the hole. This is what I would keep him for and like to see this team do, even if I'm the only fan to want to see it. But then again, I am just a "fan" and not a "fanatic", so I'm only half of some of you guys. Also, Tate is the bigger problem in the starting line up on this team as is. Although I love his game, he would be even much more effective coming off the bench and dominating the 2nd team players on most teams. He would get more touches in the post and his aggressiveness would yield more results against second units. The problem is that Silas won't start Sengun at Center and let him grow out of being foul prone, while Wood starts at PF. Anyway sorry for the long rant, I just get tired of seeing all the Wood hate. It's irrational to me and he has been our best player this year even if you say I'm just going off of stats. He's a Rocket until he isn't. I haven't posted as much this year as in previous years, but I still watch every game and read Clutchfans daily!
Yes you are right, it is one of the things he does well. He is 12th in the league in rebounds out of 450 players. Our team terrible ranking is because of the rest of the team rebounding and/or coaching, not Wood.
What is wood ? If we take the best case scenario he’s a good 3 point shooter and ok perimeter defender due to length the problem is where does he fit . He does his best offensive work against 5 because of the shooting and speed advantage . But he cannot guard a big man so if he is going against a 5 on offense , but needs someone else to cover for his defense what does that other player do on offense ? wood isn’t a PnR ball handling threat . He is a good shooter , but if a smaller defender was on him would he be able to do well ?he would have less space on his 3’s and his drive game would be neutralized .. and he’s not strong enough to put a smaller guy in the basket . He’s not even very good as a perimeter defender. Do we really want wood attacking closeouts ? Can he fight through screens ? Does he stay focused off ball ? His defense is horrific . He has about 1 spurt per half where he can give good effort and if the situation is favorable can look OK . He has been in the year for 6 years . He can’t do enough wing/guard things .. he can’t do enough big things part of the value from being a “big” that can shoot is that you can do big man things too . Like set a big screen , body up on D , finish in the paint . He has to play 3 , maybe he can get away with being a 4 ... but he doesn’t fly down the court like you want a forward his size to . the way he plays , he has to be much better than he actually is for it to be a good idea . Not a building block . Even in his realized version there are 10+ guys I want at each position over him . People talking bout how good he looked with harden ... harden was the building block fools
Wood is our best player. If he is the 3rd best player on this team, he would be a great rebounder, weak side shot blocker, 3pt shooter and if your other two great players are centers or power forwards, very few other PFs or SFs in the league could guard him consistently. The problem is we need two players better than him ultimately, which Green can get there, so we need either a strong draft or Sengun to continue to develop in order to reach that level.
