[Ringer] Christian Wood is Hoping His Sixth NBA Team Is the Charm

I don't know if the article/snippet below has been posted, but man, I'm glad all this turned around for him :

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/06/christian-wood-76ers-future

His friends and family had gathered at the Fizz Lounge, at Caesars Palace, to celebrate. Earlier in the night, when Wood didn’t go in the first round of the draft as he had expected, he began tweeting. “Just waiting for my name to get called,” he wrote. Minutes later: “Don’t be scared to draft me I’m the biggest sleeper in the draft,” he added. And finally: “#Justwait.”


Still, nothing happened.

 

John lucas will be great for him

 

“I knew I could do this the whole time,” Wood said. After a game against the Magic last season, Orlando head coach Steve Clifford, who coached Wood in Charlotte, approached him. “He’s like, ‘Man, you’ve gotten so much better than where you were before,’” Wood recalled. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I told you so,’ and walked off on him.”

Great to have confidence but that was not a classy move.

I hope Wood continues to grow, as a player and as a person.

 

And Silas.

 

You guys realize he needs no development right? Even a complacent Wood, should be getting all-star and all-league votes with legit minutes.

The Rockets haven’t had a player this young, skilled and athletic since Harrell.

And is way better than Montrezl.

Working class Anthony Davis.

 

I just want to know why the pistons would just let him walk? If you're rebuilding, this is the exact type of player you're looking for. I don't get it, I'm nervous, maybe they know something we dont

 

This is a huge risk for the Rockets in a couple ways. First there is a good chance that Wood doesn’t work out. There is a reason he wasn’t drafted and drifted. Even when players start to emerge like Hassan Whitside, they typically relapse back to whom they were before... because as people it is hard to really change who we are in a small period of time.

Having said that, Stone has huge balls to make signing him his first move because of the heat he will get if it fails. Credit to him for not being scared.

Also Wood is a little different than some of the other tales.... but you can see the problems... he is stubborn, lacks focus and can be difficult... reading between the lines his trainer and HS coach allude to it. Dwayne Casey had discussed that Wood is someone he loves coaching but you have to get on.

My concern is that no one knows Wood better as a player other than Casey and yet the Pistons didn’t bring him back.

I will say this, he moves laterally and straight ahead about as effortless as anyone I have seen that size. Very very rare for a man with his size and span to be that coordinated, smooth, explosive and quick...

 

nah **** the doubters

 

I do not worry about the on court stuff, Harden will weaponize him on offense.

But it will be up to Wood to fulfill his potential on defense, because defense is about effort and "want to".

 

When I read that, I was like "the G-League minimum contract can't be thaaaat bad, right?"

Nope. 7k / month for a 5-month season. So 35k a year, essentially, before taxes.

Sheesh. It's hard to even buy an extremely compact sedan with that money, much less a Bentley.

 

Yes, that was rude. I don’t know why he’s upset at teams passing up on him when he admitted to not having the work ethic early on because he was relying on his talent alone.

 

Imagine being this much of a gold digger, that'd you break up with someone just because they went undrafted in the NBA.

 

Not to talk for Wood or anything, and obviously I wasn't there when that encounter took place, but maybe Wood meant something like "...Yeah, I told you so,' and never looked back." Maybe it wasn't as douchey as the article makes it out to sound.

 

Don’t worry, now he has Harden spoon feeding him and making him into an all star type. Life has its ups and downs and now it’s upward and onwards

 

I still think it's weird, though.

- Cut by a Chinese team. Oof.
- Cut by the Bucks. Oof, but understandable because the Bucks needed another type of player.
- Cut by the Pelicans after averaging 17/8 over 8 games. Not a small sample size, but shorter than "Linsanity's" 26.
- Cut by the Pistons after averaging 24/10 in the last 10 games before Coronavirus shutdown.

24/10 as a versatile big man. And the Pistons didn't re-sign him.

I don't get it.

 

Definitely a lot of red flags, but if Dwight Howard can turn it around, I’ll believe anything. To your point though, maybe he’ll fall back into old habits in Philly. Funny that the Rockets and 76ers are in a similar situation in that sense.

 

Makes me want to see him become a star that much more. Also bring that dog mentality that is missing in Harden.

 

From what I have seen in his game tapes last year effort wasn’t amazing but it didn’t stand out as poor either. Last year on defense the problems he had were lapses, he would not rotate or would be out of place. It wasn’t a huge problem for the most part but is something he has to cut down on if he wants to be an all star. The other problem is that he needs to add core strength. He has pointed this out himself numerous times. He is going to be giving 20-40 pounds a lot of nights. Even against someone like AD he is giving up 20-30 lbs.

His tape last year is legitimate from what I have seen. There was a noticeable difference in his body language and how decisive he was. There were times where he was calling for the ball and defending the other teams best player on key possessions.

 

I have a good feeling about Wood. I dont think he would lay off just because he's gotten paid. He has just found himself as a player and force in the league. This is what all the heartache and tears were for. He is not going to waste that now.

 

True, but I hope he will pass the ball when he needs too. He can score, but he does need to work on passing the ball in practice.