Wood could be a cornerstone player... but he's lazy and doesnt want to do the stuff that doesnt show up on the stat sheet... he could go Larry Sanders at any minute... lol
I did not say he was a mediocre offensive player, I said he would make The Rockets a mediocre team for years without ever getting a number 1 pick or winning a chip.... Stuck in the worst possible position, limbo... Nowhere... Christian Wood is nothing special, he does not make anyone better... He does not have leadership, IQ or maturity. He does not play defense, he does not want to play defense. He wants to score, nothing more.... This is what he does every game, he is looking to score. There are plenty of scorers in the league that play 0 defense and add no value to a young rebuilding team. He want's to be a star, he is out to be a star. His best chance to make an all star game is to score because actually can score. With that said The Rockets aren't or at least shouldn't be in the business of helping players reach their dreams at the cost of never getting better and or winning a title. The Rockets should be looking forward to the actual building blocks of Green and Sengun. How to help these guys grow, how to develop these guys into players capable of making a run at a title. Sengun in his rookie season is superior to Wood in every way except the 3pt shot and ball hogging... In a year or two Sengun will likely surpass Wood in scoring but also while playing defense, passing the ball, getting assists, having a good attitude, working hard, playing towards winning not being a star.
While I respect your opinion, I would venture to say that Wood is special and that's why he was brought in originally to play with Harden. No one can predict if the Rockets would be a mediocre team or not because of Wood if the FO had made different decisions for other players. But what we can say with absolutely certainty is that your take that Wood would make the Rockets a mediocre team for years without every getting a number 1 pick or winning a chip, is not accurate at best. First, even having the worst record in the league does not guarantee you the #1 pick. Second, even if Wood was the consensus best player in the league, that wouldn't guarantee us a Chip. What we have done WITH Wood is secure the #2 pick last year, and are on track to get a top 5 pick this year. So this assertion that Wood would stop us from doing that has already been proven wrong and not debatable. Back to him being special, he was not brought in to be the Batman or the Robin, so his leadership is not in question as he is a complimentary piece that superstars should be leading. This IQ and maturity thing is blown out of proportion based on things he did his rookie season, which he has clearly shown he has grown beyond by working hard enough to get to this point. We have beat the he doesn't play defense argument to death. His defense is just fine if he isn't guarding large or any Centers. Now, as far as being a scorer, he is almost elite, especially as a big PF or even as a SF. There have been several posts since I started my comments about him in this thread to point that out. But here are a few more. He per 36 minutes stats for the last 5 years have been 21.1 points or higher along with 10.6 rebounds or higher. Those are elite as very few players out of 450 or more can ever achieve it on a good or bad team. Speaking of special, his per 100 possessions this year are 27.9 points along with 15.6 rebounds while shooting .501% from the field and .392% from the 3 point line. Those are not mediocre my friend, they are elite. The only people doing better than that are Allstars and Superstars. So he should be out to score and trying to score because he is one of the best in the league at his position and size at doing it. These are stubborn facts unfortunately for those that dislike his game. And if he didn't want to be a star and make an Allstar team, I surely wouldn't want him playing for my favorite team The Houston Rockets! The idea that Wood on the team will costs the Rockets shouldn't be in the business of helping players reach their dreams is counter intuitive. The idea that Wood alone will keep the Rockets from getting better and winning a chip makes no sense also, because as pointed out already, he hasn't stopped us from getting high draft picks as people claim. I'm really not sure how many years you all expect to be able to get a #1 or #2 draft pick. Acting as if the Rockets can't grow Green and Sengun while Wood plays for us is like saying the Rockets can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Speaking of Sengun, as I already pointed out, Wood is not stopping his development. Silas choosing not to start Sengun at center and Wood at PF is what's doing that. And Sengun needing to learn how to foul less has something to do with it also. But my stance has always been that they should have been playing 35 minutes or more a game TOGETHER to prepare this team for the future. Since we were tanking anyway, I would not have even staggered their minutes and not worry who was on the court when they rested. I would have just played them along with Green together all for 35 plus minutes all season and only let foul trouble or injury make them not play together. We would really know what we have in them by now. So I'm not going to fall into these common traps of putting one of our players against each other by trashing the other player. I don't even consider that Sengun and Wood should be playing the same position, so I see no conflict of which of them is better. If they both continue to improve, we will have a better team no matter which one is better in 2 or 3 years.
The only one that's worse is Giannis. The others aren't particularly close and 4s and 5s are much higher
For 13 million a year 18 and 11 while being semi dumb is the greatest deal you could get but now would be the time to sell high.
Love it. Nothing but BDE being 7-16 going into this game and looking down at your opponent as if you're elite.
Rox will never get back in a trade what his stats suggest that they should. Says a ton about him and his "stats". Regardless, for the sake of the team, their future and the fans, they need to take what they can this off season and move forward. Only then will they not look like a complete train wreck. Maybe just half of one. Will still need a couple of tweaks and a new coach, but it will be so much easier and enjoyable to watch.
I'm putting an alert on my phone for May 17th, 2022 to make a Christian Wood Appreciation thread as that's the day we find out where we'll pick. We land a top 3 pick Wood is as good as gone when the NBA draft hits. If Portland's 2nd 1st rounder is around the 10-12 range we should just ship them our 16th and Wood to move up.
Would u max contract wood? If the answer is no, we trade his ass. All this back and forth resolves nothing. Folks who hate wood would only want him if he signs cheap which isn't happening
A player with little bit above average offense and a super lazy defense. NOPE! If he's paid to be a bench player, he'll be worth it but as a cornerstone premium player?
Some of y’all are gonna be pissed when the Ivey, Green, KPJ, Wood, Sengun lineup dominates next year.
Jabari Smith is not a center. Not even a small ball center. Chet, like Mobley, for years in NBA before transitioning to center. Chet not even playing center for Gonzaga.
Dude needed garbage time minutes to secure another double-double, I don't understand. Why was he even in the game in the 4th when we could've kept Sengun in or hell, even let Jalen Green run a little? If this is our building block, our tower sure is rickety.
