Christian Wood expected to get "significant trade interest"

We including defense too? You maybe surprised….

 

Not so fast,

 

Porter has looked better defensively.

Armoni as well.

 

I think this is very reasonable. My thinking is that I'm happy to keep wood if he's willing to sign a team friendly contract. If the Rockets get the indication that he will want to leave for a playoff team, or will demand a max contract to stay, then they have to look to trade him. If he was willing to resign and at a team friendly price, I wouldn't shop him around. However if someone calls with a great offer the Rockets have no reason to turn it down.

 

So the goal is to trade wood and end up with someone who is slightly better.. maybe.. if we luck out with the top 3 picks
But there's a 55% chance of not landing a top 3 pick even if we have the worst record in the league .. which we don't
So this crap team minus wood plus banchero which would be the best case scenario is still a crap team

Why don't we just add the pick we get to the current roster instead of depleting the little talent we have?
I get it may not make sense to pay him what he's asking for but we don't know what that is yet

 

Tate is the guy we need to keep!

 

I'm not saying trade C-Wood for nothing, but he's simply not worth the contract he'll be getting, John Collins money with less production.

And you do have a point, all of this becomes moot if Silver has a vendetta against the Rockets and gives us the 5th-7th picks despite finishing in the top 3. But the league tends to give newer ownership groups higher picks, so they can get a superstar and use him to pay off all their debts incurred to buy the team in the first place.

Taking that into account, plus the markets we're competing against (Orlando, Detroit, OKC, NO, SA, Indy), the league should keep us in the top 3 at minimum if they want to make money.

As for your final point, it all depends on what we can get for Wood. If some team wants to throw around 3+ FRP for him, I'd pull the trigger without hesitation. Those can help you move up in the draft if the lotto doesn't pan out in your favor. A single FRP + a pedestrian young guy isn't worth trading wood for.

 

Timmy backtracking a bit now.

 

Can you pull same data for just last 6 games?

 

It feels like packaging picks and moving up is inevitable. I mean in the last 1.25 seasons we've developed Brooks, got Martin and Tate for virtually nothing, picked up Matthews for nothing. The Rockets are getting 2-3 rotation players per season even before our draft picks. Add 4 1st rounders to that this season and at least 2 more first rounders next year, plus any additional picks we collect in trades. Not trading our current players leaves the front office unable to do what they do best, finding diamonds in the rough.

I really like Brooks, Matthews, Tate and Martin. I think they are a solid core, but the Rockets need to strongly consider trading 1 of Tate and Martin and 1 of Brooks and Matthews. It may sting a bit, but the picks will used to get that star player in a few years, while leaving enough assets to build around him.

It may tough unloading picks and moving up in the draft when all the other teams know we don't have enough roster spaces for all of our players. Getting 75 cents on the dollar may be the only way to trade into the lottery with a collection of 1st Rounders. Also, OKC will be open for business as well with all of their picks.

 

Is Wood the unquestioned alpha on a contender? No way. But you are understating how unique his game is.

Let’s use the stats you’ve presented above:

• One of eleven players in the whole league who are 6’10”+, shoot >35% from three, and shoot >4 threes a game
• One of thirteen players in the whole league who are 6’10”+, shoot >45% from the field, and play over 30 mins/game
• One of three players in the whole league to have his combination of stats (16ppg+, 11rpg+, 35% 3PT%, 46% FG% with at least 30 minutes of play)

There are 400+ players in the league and Wood’s combination of stats puts him amongst a select few.

Strange to focus on his rank amongst those 3-13 players instead of the fact that there are 387+ players that aren’t doing what Wood is. That would be like knocking Hakeem for having the lowest point total (18) of any quadruple double instead of focusing on the fact that he is one of four players to ever get one.

As for his impact stats, I’m pretty certain those are weighed down by the first month of the season with the accursed two-big lineup. Wood as the lone PnR big and creating off the dribble has been critical to our recent win streak. Give Wood spacing and an elite creator and the sky is the limit for that team

 

I don't see this FO moving Wood. Not because they don't want to, but because they won't get the deal they're looking for. In past years the deadline has seen a few modest moves and nothing earth shattering. That doesn't mean Wood is here long term. He could still be traded in the offseason. But I think with the Pacers having a fire sale and Kings dangling Fox out there it's going to be tough to get top dollar, and you just can't afford to trade your best player for 75 cents on the dollar.

 

How does Red Nation feel about Wood (and filler) for Jaylen Brown (age 25, mid $20 mil a year, sometimes injury prone).

A Green and Brown backcourt.

 

Brown plays Green's position.

 

We should keep Wood. Look at Minnesota, Karl-Anthony Towns is 26 years old and Anthony Edwards is only 20 years old. You always keep talent Its hard to find a BIG MAN who can shoot the 3s, drive to the basket and have post moves. Porter is 21 years old, Green is 19 years old and Sengun is only 19. This is our core and maybe we get a Pablo or Chet? Or a trade or free agent comes our way....

 

Trading Wood isn't about him not being good enough. It's about him still being here when the team is ready to compete. We'll probably take like 3 more years at least before bring a decent level playoff team. Will Wood be on a max contract then? Will he want to stay on the Rockets then? If the answers to those questions are unfavorable then it sucks but we have to trade him. Not just for anything though, it has to be a great deal otherwise we can be totally content with rolling the dice and seeing what happens.

 

Possibly, but IMO Sengun is already a better player than Wood, and you are playing with fire by not trading Wood before his ankle falls off again. IF a team gambles on Wood and gives up a decent asset, I am all aboard the Sengun train.

 

If I am Minny, I deal KAT/D-Lo for draft assets yesterday...

 

Porter is ball watching on every possession and leaves his man wide open behind the three-point line. Then whenever a pass comes towards his man, he tries to play the passing lanes in order to salvage his bad positioning. On-ball, I like him, good frame, uses his body well.

Armoni has good awareness as a defender, plays well guarding space and has active hands. His main problem is his slight build and small height, he gets bullied on every drive and in the paint. He also doesn't know how to fight over screens, so every pick-and-roll results in a switch to mitigate his deficiencies. Because he plays with the bench unit, he often leaves Sengun on an island against a small and quick ball handler. Wood can easily handle that, Sengun can't.

Overall, Porter > Armoni on defense, and I would say RAPTOR rates them properly. However, it would be good to see Rockets advanced stats during this winning streak (i.e. the move to 1-big man lineup), should be much better.