Was Christian Wood playing at a superstar level before injury?

Still think Wood does not deserve to be more featured offensively?

@durvasa

 

He will get a max contract when he is a FA next if he averages 22-10.

DD

 

This dude should be named Christian Particle Board

 

What would you call the guys who cant play B2B?

 

This entire message board bought the idea that he was - wait for it - a NEGATIVE on defense after just like 5 games for the Rockets.



Dummies. Christian Wood is a mid tier monster. Not pure monster like Embiid, Jokic, or Kawhi, but at the level below.

 

he must have for the rockets to look this bad without him.

 

Could not agree more.

@The Cat

 

Thank you. THANK YOU!

A perfect post. People want to keep our young players with potential all while tanking? How long will those guys be up for that?

Like yall want us to become a developmental team for the Lakers or something. People really underestimate how great Wood has been and we can see the impact he had on this team, offensively and defensively, now that he's out a long stretch. I hope we can fight back to the 10 spot and sneak in the playoffs still. Why not?

 

LOL, I know htere's a new era of player empowerement, but Christian Wood is entering his first year as a full time starter, has never made an all-star team, and was last seen in a wheelchair.

The hand-wringing about "OH NOES WE GONNA DISAPPOINT CHRISTIAN WOOD IF WE DON'T WIN 29 GAMES INSTEAD OF 22 GAMES AND HE'S GONNA DEMAND A TRADE NEXT YEAR" is just ..lololololoolololooloololollolll. Stop guys. Stop.

We're not a "young team on the rise" - we're a refuse heap of downslope veterans with 1-2 players like Wood and Tate who have their best years ahead of them. That's IT. THAT'S ALL. MOst of this team's actual player value is now buried in the Draft capital. And unless there's a trade in the offing of like draft picks & filler for ....Domantas Sabonis or whoever ( a cause which is aided by tanking, not hurt) it's going to be awhile. Regardless of Christian Wood, the Don of Clutchfans.

There's no indication that we're going to "lose" them and even if we did, lol, we're at the bottom floors of the NBA talent elevator right now and the trajectory in the foreseeable future is not exactly - Rocket like

 

What an absurd take.

 

Why would Wood ask to be traded. If anything he would be more likely to sign with us because we would have a bunch of rookie contracts at that point and pay him the most out of any team.

 

There is zero correlation to what Wood can be paid. They will have Bird rights. He will get paid what the market rate is for his services. As with most players, he will probably want a chance to win and compete.

 

Apparently everyone sucks when he’s not on the floor

 

First off, I don't know why you have to be condescending about Wood's health. He certainly wasn't in a wheelchair last night, and ankle sprains happen all the time. There's no indication that it's chronic, he should be fine within a few days.

Second, here's the thing: If you're correct that Wood isn't that special as a player and/or is injury prone... then they will lose a lot of games, naturally! In that case, there's nothing to debate. People keep misunderstanding the argument. No one is saying, at least to my knowledge, that Christian Wood is a lock to be a superstar. If he is, then yes, you do have to worry about keeping him happy. If he's not, that scenario takes care of itself.

I am not against trading expiring veterans (Oladipo, Tucker) for future assets. I am not against giving more time to younger players for evaluation purposes. I am against feigning long-term injuries to Wood/Wall and actively attempting to lose in 2021. If they had full control of their draft pick, as will be the case in 2022, I would possibly have a different opinion.

My general case is this: I don't know exactly what the odds are of Wood becoming a legit stud, enough to where he also makes the Rockets a desirable destination for the next disgruntled star on the market. But to me, the opportunity to find out has more value than going from a 70% chance of losing your draft pick to 60%.

 

Most competing/contending teams will not be able to offer Wood's market rate in his next contract if we assume he continues his current trajectory. A player of his caliber and age will not take a paycut to ring chase, he's looking for a huge pay day once this contract is over.

There's plenty of cases where players have left competing teams for more money. Grant and Hayward are just two examples.

 

I underestimated his value on the court. He's now a superstar

 

Contenders wouldn't sign him, they would trade for him. All Wood needs is one other team willing to pay him market rate. Once that's established, it's entirely too risky for the Rockets to keep him and risk losing him for nothing, if he tells them he wants out of Houston. The likely scenario, as is typically the case, is him being traded to a better team and the Rockets recouping assets that way.

 

So your argument is that he's never made an all-star team so never will? This is his first time getting a real shot at playing time and star usage and he's made the most of it.

When we had him, we were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and we were winning games and we were in the playoffs hunt. The numbers are pretty clear that he's a good player, AT 25. Everyone that sees him play is impressed with him.

I think you are denying what you're seeing with him just because he's an undrafted draft pick. Not realizing he's a valuable piece to a team and has as much potential as anyone you're going to draft in this draft anyway.

Also, the idea that "Oh, we're at the bottom right now so he can't be that good." Is super LOLworthy.

Most contenders have been the 8th seed before or 7th. You start somewhere guys. The Rockets were once a lowly 8th seed with a budding superstar named Harden competing against his old team, you guys remember that?

So yeah, Wood is an all-star caliber player and you'd be lucky to draft someone with his potential in the draft.