The Houston Rockets are in disarray right now and a lot of it is centered around their power forward Christian Wood.
Wood was part of a heated argument involving himself and Kevin Porter Jr. against assistant coach John Lucas.
The fight took place during the halftime of the game between the Rockets and Denver Nuggets when the Rockets were down by double-digits.
The argument culminated with both Porter and Wood stepping away from the team and was apparently so heated that they were both suspended one game.
The Rockets have suspended Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood for tonight's game, citing 'poor behavior' in Saturday's game against Denver, per @wojespn and @espn_macmahon pic.twitter.com/3m4IoRauc6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 3, 2022
That one game, against the Philadelphia 76ers, saw the Rockets achieve their eighth straight loss.
And now people are wondering if the damage done by the Porter and Wood fiasco is enough to send one or both of them packing.
But Wood is the Rockets’ biggest star – should he still be traded?
Past The Point Of No Return?
Wood is a fantastic basketball player and, up until this week, was one of the most respected young guys in the league.
He is averaging 16.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists a game.
The Rockets have fallen in love with this style of play and many analysts saw the future of the team revolving around Wood.
Christian Wood last 3 games:
24 PTS, 21 REB, 3 BLK, 3 3PT
33 PTS, 16 REB, 2 BLK, 2 3PT
16 PTS, 10 REB, 6 AST, 2 3PTThe Rockets have won 3 straight. pic.twitter.com/EddbjKFDzO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 30, 2021
But the argument that went down on Saturday throws all of that into doubt.
Can the team move forward with Wood after such a quarrel?
In the grand scheme of things, it could’ve been a lot worse – there are plenty of examples in the NBA of fights that were much harsher than this one.
However, this fight was different because it was between players and the coach, it got nearly physical, and it resulted in the players refusing to participate in the rest of the game.
All of this takes it to the sort of level that is extremely detrimental to the team chemistry – that counts a lot for the young Rockets team.
Wood is supposed to be a team leader, guiding a squad full of young, promising players.
How can he lead the team if he’s willing to go toe-to-toe like this against the coaching staff?
Maybe it’s best if the Rockets are instead led by someone who won’t blow up at his coach.
Wood To Where?
If the Rockets want to trade Wood, now is the time.
That’s because, despite this incident, he’s a wonderful NBA player.
That means that plenty of other teams would be willing to take a chance on him – he’s the biggest trading chip the Rockets have.
Additionally, the Rockets are in serious rebuilding mode: they’re the last team in the West and there is now little-to-no chance of them making the playoffs.
So why not lean in even more into the idea of rebuilding by constructing a trade package including Wood for a possible All-Star?
Trading Wood probably wouldn’t result in the team landing one of the biggest players in the league but it could certainly lead to them getting a player or maybe two who can lead, who is professional and can keep pushing the Rockets forward in their rebuilding process.
NEXT: 3 Things The Rockets Can Do With Kevin Porter Jr.