Late Wednesday night, the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets agreed to a trade headlined by Christian Wood.
Wood is heading to Dallas in return for the 26th pick in this year’s draft, Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, and Marquese Chriss.
The Houston Rockets are finalizing a deal to trade Christian Wood to the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 16, 2022
Wood is entering the final season of the three-year, $41-million contract he signed with the Rockets back in 2020.
He was seen as a piece of the Houston roster likely to be moved this offseason as they look to continue their rebuild.
The Rockets now have the third, 17th, and 26th picks in the draft.
In return, the Mavericks significantly upgrade their frontcourt.
Dallas’ lack of frontcourt talent was glaring during their 4-1 defeat in the Western Conference Finals.
They were dominated in the paint and on the glass by the Golden State Warriors.
The Mavs are hoping Wood can be the big man that Kristaps Porzingis never was.
Wood Efficient Offensively
Wood’s main selling point is his offensive talent.
After totaling 50 games played through his first three seasons, he had a breakout year in 2019 with Detroit.
Wood appeared in 62 games, 12 of which were starts, and averaged 13.1 points per game across 21.4 minutes.
He shot 56.7% from the field, 38.6% from three on 2.3 attempts per game, and 74.4% from the line.
Good for a true shooting percentage of 65.9%, the eighth-best in the league among those who appeared in at least 60 games.
In 2021-22 season Christian Wood shot 39% from distance. He was really consistent shooter
He can open the floor on offense for his new teammates at Mavericks and make his own play. Literally great addition for the Mavs. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/G5itfH5Hpw
— Christos Tsaltas (@Tsaltas46) June 16, 2022
After signing with Houston, he took on an expanded role.
His first year with the team saw him average 21 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
In his second year, they dropped a bit to 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
But his efficiency did not suffer much.
Both years saw his true shooting percentage drop below his top-10 mark in Detroit but still hover close to 60%, a respectable mark.
Wood knocked down 39% of his five threes per game this past season and is a career 38% shooter from deep.
His ability to score from all three levels and generate his own offense will help lessen the burden on Luka Doncic.
Wood will also be a talented pick-and-roll partner for Doncic to work with offensively.
Consolidating Talent
On the court, Wood will be an upgrade offensively over Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber.
Dallas still needs to add rim protection and interior defense as Wood is not as strong on that end of the court.
But off the court, acquiring Wood for four end-of-rotation pieces is a big win.
The Mavericks already have their centerpiece in Doncic.
Now, the priority becomes surrounding him with the talent needed to win.
Marjanovic, Burke, Brown, and Chriss are all guys who did not play more than 13 minutes per game last year.
Packaging them and a first for a big man who can play 30+ minutes per game is a win.
Christian Wood this year:
21 PPG
9.6 RPG
51% FG
38% 3P
1.2 BPG— Dallas finally has a big man.#MFFL pic.twitter.com/1NEMmKVYV9
— MavsMuse (@MavsMuse) June 16, 2022
Dallas is facing a potentially enormous payroll, so swapping out four smaller contracts that provide little on-court value for one contract with potentially major on-court value is big.
The trade also opens roster spots for the Mavericks to bring in other depth signings to fill out the roster.
Acquiring Wood was a shrewd move by the Mavericks.
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