Wood needs to get on the CP3 vegan diet, hit the bands and put on about 30 pounds of lean muscle mass.
Both 25 year olds have been the most consistent Rockets: Wood & Tate Both 20 year olds have ridiculous upsides: KPJ & KJ Multiple +25 year old vets are having career years: Olynyk, Sterling & Augustin
I'm glad Wood started taking some mildly contested threes. Half the players on the team aren't afraid to take a three with just a little room, but for most of the season Wood seems to pass on shooting if his man his anywhere near him. I think if he can get where he can use that pump fake and step back to hit an extra 1 or 2 three's a game, we're looking at a potential 25 ppg scorer. He's scoring an impressive amount of points per game while (in my opinion) not shooting as much as he should.
He's looking to be more consistent this year. "I just want to be more involved on offense, in terms of getting everybody involved" - Christian Wood
I'm hoping Wood makes another huge leap this year to AllStar level ... So we can trade him going into the final year of his deal I want no part of ever paying him $30M+ over several seasons well into his 30s There is just something off about his personality ... I get an eerily familiar Eddie Griffin vibe where he's just not a guy you can count on long-term as a critical piece of a title puzzle Some have mentioned KAT as a comp, but he's not that talented ... even stuck in lotto hell, KAT is building a HoFame career I see him more like Bynum before he got hurt In a vacuum, peak Bynum was also a versatile scorer and solid rebounder who took awhile to blossom To get Kobe back to the Finals, Gasol and Odom were necessary to slot in as 2nd & 3rd stars 20 & 10 is always valuable, but I don't believe either player is more than 4-5th best on a championship team That's what I'm hoping Wood becomes somewhere else, either this deadline or summer His deal is small enough that a contender, viewing him as the 'final' piece, could match salary without taking a core piece from their own rotation If the Dubs stumble out of the gate, and Wiseman fails to take the next step, that's the kind of deal I'd be looking for in terms of players in return: - still on rookie deal - underachieving high lotto talent - team in win-now mode without patience to develop youth In a perfect world, the haul for Wood should be centered around more draft capital to maneuver on draft night in 22 & 23 So many long, versatile Forwards & Bigs in both classes: 22 - Banchero, Chet, Griffin 23 - Victor, Emoni, Duran I want at least 2 of them to complete our young core alongside Green I'm see Wood as our most valuable-yet-expendable asset on the roster to facilitate these additions
So you want Wood to become an All Star so we can trade him for draft capital and hope that capital becomes an All Star? This forum is nutty.
Yes I'd use the recent Vucevic deal as a template for a Wood deal Making $11-12M per with the Magic (2016-2019), he was a great value as a consistent AllStar caliber big for a perennial lottery participant When he got a big bump in pay up to $25M per, Orlando wisely realized he was no longer such a bargain, even as their lone AllStar Vucevic is just not good enough to be a cornerstone piece on a champion Rather than keep him and try to build around him and Suggs, they acted decisively to move on, and I hope Stone does the same with Wood They found a Bulls team in desperate win-now mode, for whom Vucevic makes much more sense He slots in perfectly behind Lavine, DeMar and Lonzo now, battling with Patrick Williams as the 4/5th options on a team hoping to contend now In return for trading their AllStar big man, the Magic got a nice haul: - a promising young player on a rookie deal (Carter) - an expiring big money vet (Otto) - 2 future 1st-round picks (including Wagner) Carter, Wagner, and that 23 FRP may never individually become more productive players than Vucevic, but all 3 could become key rotation pieces on a future contender Like Vucevic, Wood could contribute more to this Rockets rebuild as a trade chip
So what say you DD ..? When his current deal expires, do you commit to CWood as a long-term core piece of this rebuild? Is there a limit to what you would pay him, or are you comfortable going to Max level to keep him in the fold? If not, would you be on board moving him this season or next to hasten the rebuild, or just keep him until then before letting him walk? Curious how you see Wood's role here long-term ...
Griffin is a bizarre comp but I also see a Bosh ceiling. He's a #3 type of guy on a great team and you only want to pay him super max if you think you have that great team.
