Christian Wood

[Ozymandias]

He's only 27 years old.

If the price is right he sure looks like a potential homerun swing for the Kings.

Shoots 3's(career 38% on 3.5 attempts per) blocks shots, he's explosive and mobile.


Can we even afford him? word is he turned down a 2 year $36MM extension from Dallas. Sure seems like theres gonna be a bidding war, he's bit of a sunken cost for the Mavs as is, their hands might be forced to overbid.


I think this ideas interesting enough to have its own thread

I wonder what the folks who are ready to run Harrison Barnes out of town think about Wood as a replacement.


We share the ball here, so i mean while Wood is skinny he could punch quite a bit above his weight for us. We have lots of potential hot hands, n he'd be another. We dont have lots of 6'10 guys with 7'3" wingspans who can block shots, so thatd be a nice add to the rotation as well.

He's certainly suitable in smallball lineups at the 5 too...

Plus as an added bonus Mavericks fans would be sucking their teeth everytime we played them cuz they traded a 1st rd pick for a 1 season rental.

 

[Ozymandias]

Lemme just say.. I'd prefer Porzingis if we're really swinging for homeruns..


Wood sure seems like quite the consolation prize though.


I feel like the basketball community's reaction to the Kings signing Wood would be much more "Oh crap. The Kings got Christian Wood" than lets say some of the negativity/shade that was thrown around the Sabonis trade.

 

[iowamcnabb]

It’s an interesting thought. I do think the million dollar question will be is Keegan ready or capable of taking a jump to a 17+ points a game type player next season? If Monte and Mike think he is I’d rather give him the space and shots to do so. If Fox is a 22-25 a game guy and Sabonis settles in as a 3rd scorer lead facilitator type then we ideally need one player to step up into the second spot. The other two starting spots would be complimentary pieces imo.

If the off-season was my decision I would do the following:

re-sign Barnes- 6’7 wings who are 38% from three, create own shot, get to the line and are willing to play a role are not the easiest to find.

Take the risk on Sasha

Draft length with at least 2 draft picks.

re-evaluate at the trade deadline.

If Mike and Monte thinks Keegan is not that guy then we go a different direction with cap space

 

[SacTownKid]

I don't see the Mavs letting him go. Not sure I like the idea of Murray/Wood/Sabonis since that's a pretty slow and unathletic lineup compared to most teams but it's for sure interesting size and skill wise. I'm just not sure how much of a bump you get losing a Barnes and gaining a player like Woods.

 

[The_Jamal]

I like Wood, but I think he and Barnes sort of do the same things offensively. And Wood is significantly worse at playing out on the perimeter and obviously can't switch up to the 3 when needed.

If we moved on, I'd want a different archetype like Grant Williams or just a potentially younger Harrison Barnes in Cam Johnson. Playing Wood out of position at the 4 isn't super appealing.

 

[The_Jamal]

It’s an interesting thought. I do think the million dollar question will be is Keegan ready or capable of taking a jump to a 17+ points a game type player next season? If Monte and Mike think he is I’d rather give him the space and shots to do so. If Fox is a 22-25 a game guy and Sabonis settles in as a 3rd scorer lead facilitator type then we ideally need one player to step up into the second spot. The other two starting spots would be complimentary pieces imo.

If the off-season was my decision I would do the following:

re-sign Barnes- 6’7 wings who are 38% from three, create own shot, get to the line and are willing to play a role are not the easiest to find.

Take the risk on Sasha

Draft length with at least 2 draft picks.

re-evaluate at the trade deadline.

If Mike and Monte thinks Keegan is not that guy then we go a different direction with cap space

I think this is the most likely outcome of this off-season as well. Resign Trey with the early bird rights at 4-5mil/season, grab a min C like a Noel, bring Vezenkov over, have another strong draft and see what sort of strides we can make in year 2 under Brown. To me, making sweeping changes after year 1, especially when this successful, isn't a good idea. I want to get a more clear picture of what Keegan can be after year 2, see if Davion can escape his year 2 slump, what kind of ceiling Fox/Sabonis get to offensively, etc.

Maybe we get lucky and can clear Holmes somehow, potentially in a Davion trade or with 2nd round picks

 

[kingsboi]

another player that is all in on offense? this is a pass. Kings don't have issues scoring. It's time for Monte to address defense and I believe that he will.

 

[chief bromden]

In theory, Wood is perfect for the Kings. In practice? This dude is a black hole on offense that doesn't play team defense and doesn't contribute much to winning. I'd pass.

 

[midtowner]

I pass. Wood does not.

 

[serbiangoat]

Wood is what the Kings fans wanted Bagley to be really, I don't mind the fit at the right price. He can play off the bench as well as a super 6th man.

 

[twslam07]

I don’t think he’s a good fit. I don’t seem him buying into our brand of unselfish basketball on the offensive end and he’s not close to the defender we’d want at SF/PF to pair with Sabonis long term. Blocking a shot or two a game doesn’t equate to him being a net positive on the defensive end.

Whatever upgrade/change we make to the starting lineup, it needs to be someone who is at least considerably better defensively than Huerter or Barnes (I’m assuming Murray is locked in as a long time starter going forward) while at the same time not sacrificing the spacing we have around Fox and Sabonis.

That’s why I posted this trade: https://community.kingsfans.com/threads/bkn-team-x-sac-2023-off-season.89145/

Both Royce O’Neale and Grant Williams would be defensive upgrades over Huerter and Barnes in the starting lineup and maintain our great spacing considering this is how each of them are shooting this season:

• Williams: .414 3P% on 4.8 3PA (per 36 min)
• O’Neale: .402 3P% on 6.0 3PA (per 36 min)
  Huerter: .392 3P% on 8.0 3PA (per 36 min)
• Barnes: .374 3P% on 4.9 3PA (per 36 min)

Then you consider the fact that a bench of Monk, Huerter, Barnes, and FA C (Noel, Plumlee, etc.) would likely be the best bench in the league and you got the makings of an extremely solid and complementary team.

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - O’Neale / Huerter
SF - Williams / Barnes
PF - Murray
C - Sabonis / Noel

 

[pdxKingsFan]

How would we afford him? He rejected the Mavs extension offer presumably because he can get more when he hits free agency and its just one of those extension quirks.

 

[SacTownKid]

How would we afford him? He rejected the Mavs extension offer presumably because he can get more when he hits free agency and its just one of those extension quirks.

It will be interesting, who is really out there that's going to break the bank for him outside of a super forced sign and trade? He might be playing a Richaun Holmes level hand with more chips in play.

 

[Ozymandias]

Well... This thread was left with the very fair question 'how can we afford him?'... That would seem to be a lot clearer after the draft and Richaun Holmes departure..


So it's time to ask again ---

What about Christian Wood? (lets say 2 years $36MM with the 2nd year being a player option)

Is there any way we could sign Christian Wood and keep HB? Imagine just for a second we could get them to both buy in for a cheapie trial period to make a run in the west?

That would be IN-SANE far as I'm concerned, MAJOR upgrade to the bench unit.. The deadweight $$$ from Richaun and the Minutes from guys like Metu, Okpala, Edwards Holmes and Len (~1700 total) go to Wood!

PG - Fox, Mitchell, Monk, Colby Jones/Huerter
SG - Huerter, Monk, Colby Jones
SF - Murray, Jones, Barnes/Huerter
PF - Barnes, Wood, Murray, Lyles/Slawson
C - Sabonis, Lyles, Wood, Len

Wood represents a chance at length, at shotblocking, at more 3pt shooting, at more firepower on the break.. Could he rebound for us? I think when I look at the depth charts it looks better than some of the other scenarios i'm seeing... He's pretty much the same age as Sabonis, few months older..

To me Wood and Lyles have much more synergy than many of the other PF options we could get for the bench unit. The bench unit has so much 3pt firepower too, very good floorspacing for Wood to be able to drive as he's still got plenty good 1st step for 6'10 player to burst past PF's closing out.

 

[Ozymandias]

I think he fits well with Sabonis too..

In the way that Sabonis was sort of held back a bit by Myles Turner at the 5 in Indiana, and now we've unlocked even more consistent production from him at the 5. I think that Wood at the 4 is actually a far more appropriate pairing allowing Sabonis to keep causing his matchup issues at the 5. Wood's someone who if Sabonis throws a quick pass to can really do some fancy moves, quick fakes, into an explosive finish or soft shot, he can cover an immense amount of ground in 2 steps so if we could jsut sort of get him involved and always around the action it'd be a great fit.

Most players seem like they'd do well with Fox at PG, but Wood seems like he's built to run with such a PG.

Wood of course fits seemlessly with Keegan and HB too - All 3 with Wood at C is viable and creates excellent floor spacing.

This scenario would effectively be like if one of the Monstars from the old Space Jam movie possessed Chemizie Metu n gave him special powers.. We coulda used Wood in that playoff series vs the Warriors thats for sure...

 

[serbiangoat]

I think he fits well with Sabonis too..

In the way that Sabonis was sort of held back a bit by Myles Turner at the 5 in Indiana, and now we've unlocked even more consistent production from him at the 5. I think that Wood at the 4 is actually a far more appropriate pairing allowing Sabonis to keep causing his matchup issues at the 5. Wood's someone who if Sabonis throws a quick pass to can really do some fancy moves, quick fakes, into an explosive finish or soft shot, he can cover an immense amount of ground in 2 steps so if we could jsut sort of get him involved and always around the action it'd be a great fit.

Wood of course fits seemlessly with Keegan and HB too - All 3 with Wood at C is viable and creates excellent floor spacing.

I literally posted the same thing in the other Holmes +24th trade thread.

 

[Ozymandias]

I literally posted the same thing in the other Holmes +24th trade thread.

I mean this is increasingly becoming one of the better scenarios for the Kings this offseason I think.. Word was we were interested in Beal.. Thats a homerun swing... Word is we were interested in Anunoby and its known the Raptors are extremely difficult to deal with.. Christian Wood represents a homerun swing still, but at much, much, much lower risk

totally spectacular highlights for a 6'10 player btw.. imagine he could play like this for the Kings? he's not a '3-and-d' guy he's a legit scorer who also blocks shots.

Unless the price is in fact going to be too much... What can the Kings afford? maybe I'm missing something.. But if there's anyway they can sort of keep last years squad together AND add Christian Wood... that is such a SIGNIFICANT upgrade n I'd be plenty confident with that going into next season with the addition of Colby Jones off the bench.

We'd actually have the type of depth where if disaster strikes and injuries happen we can hold the fort and still remain competitive. n if healthy we can compete for maybe 50+ wins in a rediculously loaded western conference.

Our team looks taller and longer with Wood here too, which is something I feel is vital to our success in the playoffs moving forward.

It'd seem like a very difficult task to improve the Kings historic offense from last season, but its really quite easy you take the 1700 minutes that went to Okpala, Len, Queta, Edwards, Holmes and Metu last season and you give them to Christian Wood. Simple as that. When you look at it that way, is he really too expensive? I think not.

 

[itzcoatl]

as others mentioned, black hole, no D. Hard pass.

 

[Ozymandias]

"No D"

This is a great recovery... you have to be quite athletic to get blocks on 3pt shooters like this in todays NBA

Who are we gonna get thats gonna be some lockdown defender? Trying to squeeze blood from a stone here.


We have Davion Mitchell as our PG, Colby Jones will be in that bench unit, Trey Lyles, these are all very unselfish players, Monk and Wood can work.


"black hole" is an ancient term thats not being used correctly at all... Black Hole refers to players like Zach Randolph or Al Jefferson who used tons of shotclock, Christian Wood isnt some player who uses shotclock or needs more than a few seconds to get a bucket from anywhere, he's even able to Pumpfake the 3 and then take 2 dribbles into a floater like a guard... He's shot 60% from 2pt range in the last 4 seasons, and like 38% from 3, he's a great fit and only on sale because teams that werent great fits got their hands on him first.

 

[Ozymandias]

people want to keep plugging in short players around our already short C... It's totally ignorant.. They see names like Grant Williams on Boston or Cam Johnson on Brooklyn and want to pay them 20 mill to be our PF... Whats gonna happen when our frontcourt gets dwarfed (a la game 7 vs the Warriors?) go back to the drawing board for next summer? cuz IDK this is how I'm treating these half baked "lets win the championship with a frontcourt comprised entirely of 6'9" players" fanboy scenarios.. WE ALREADY TRIED THAT, IT DIDNT WORK!

Its like, dont you see Lauri Markannen at 7 feet tall flying around off the dribble getting downhill like that? Chet Holmgren is in the west now, Wembanyama, Bradley Beal.. It's an extremely bizarre take to think our path to victory is thru getting smaller, just think about it...

so sick of what just took place with the draft discussions about putting 6'9" frontcourt players next to Sabonis.. Same geniuses who probably wanted to take Trayce Jackson Davis 24th overall think signing Christian Wood is a bad idea.

Its like, you dont even know the price too, like what if the price is low? buncha cut your nose off to spite your face types running round here.. black hole... like the dude who called him a black hole, if you were shooting 60% from 2pt range and near 40% from 3, in Christian Wood's shoes, several seasons in a row, even in adverse team conditions -- you wouldnt keep letting it fly? I say he's clear as day a buy-low target.

Look at whos Minutes he takes too, buncha 3rd stringers n backups.. To think he wouldnt be a massive upgrade is insanity.. plus im talking short term deals here 2 years or less so flexibility is maintained, risk isnt much, he's still got trade value.. This isnt like Richaun Holmes where he got a payday based off of one big season punching above his weight/role, Wood has proven to be consistent on all different teams.

 

[Ozymandias]

those who dont like this idea; do you think Wood would be like the second coming of Dewayne Dedmon?


Cuz for me Wood would be more like the player that we hoped Skal Labissiere would develop into.

 

[Noble]

Nice take, I wouldn't mind this at all. Do you think it's possible to sign Wood, keep HB, keep Lyles and bring over Sasha?

 

[dude12]

Wood is so good that no team wants to hold onto him

 

[The_Jamal]

No on Wood for me. Maybe 3 years ago, but we're pretty sure who he is as a player now. Stuck at the 5, good offensive player, Marvin Bagley bad on defense. And it rubs me the wrong way he couldn't best javale Mcgee or Dwight Powell for a starting job or consistent minutes

 

[midtowner]

No on Wood for me. Maybe 3 years ago, but we're pretty sure who he is as a player now. Stuck at the 5, good offensive player, Marvin Bagley bad on defense. And it rubs me the wrong way he couldn't best javale Mcgee or Dwight Powell for a starting job or consistent minutes

Wood is not tough enough

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Nice take, I wouldn't mind this at all. Do you think it's possible to sign Wood, keep HB, keep Lyles and bring over Sasha?

Edit: As has been pointed out in the other thread, Lyles' cap hold is much smaller than the maximum salary that we can offer him, so by keeping his cap hold we would have about $32M to sign both Barnes and Wood. We could then use the Room MLE on Sasha and Early Bird rights on Lyles. So if you can sneak Barnes and Wood into about $32M, yeah, that's doable.

 

[Tetsujin]

Edit: As has been pointed out in the other thread, Lyles' cap hold is much smaller than the maximum salary that we can offer him, so by keeping his cap hold we would have about $32M to sign both Barnes and Wood. We could then use the Room MLE on Sasha and Early Bird rights on Lyles. So if you can sneak Barnes and Wood into about $32M, yeah, that's doable.

Since Wood was on the Mavs last season, you could presumably just expand the Richaun/24 trade to have Wood come back in a sign and trade, which is something that I would absolute not recommend we do.

 

[ockingsfan]

What about Christian Wood? (lets say 2 years $36MM with the 2nd year being a player option)

I wouldn't sign Woods for $18 mil per year. Maybe if we can get him on a team friendly prove it deal (i.e. $16 mil/2 years) then I think he may be worth a shot. Otherwise, I would try to land bigger fish with our cap space.

 

[CarlosBob]

Low IQ player who has never been part of a winning team. I think he isn't the Monte's prototype.

 

[twslam07]

people want to keep plugging in short players around our already short C... It's totally ignorant.. They see names like Grant Williams on Boston or Cam Johnson on Brooklyn and want to pay them 20 mill to be our PF... Whats gonna happen when our frontcourt gets dwarfed (a la game 7 vs the Warriors?) go back to the drawing board for next summer? cuz IDK this is how I'm treating these half baked "lets win the championship with a frontcourt comprised entirely of 6'9" players" fanboy scenarios.. WE ALREADY TRIED THAT, IT DIDNT WORK!

Its like, dont you see Lauri Markannen at 7 feet tall flying around off the dribble getting downhill like that? Chet Holmgren is in the west now, Wembanyama, Bradley Beal.. It's an extremely bizarre take to think our path to victory is thru getting smaller, just think about it...

so sick of what just took place with the draft discussions about putting 6'9" frontcourt players next to Sabonis.. Same geniuses who probably wanted to take Trayce Jackson Davis 24th overall think signing Christian Wood is a bad idea.

Its like, you dont even know the price too, like what if the price is low? buncha cut your nose off to spite your face types running round here.. black hole... like the dude who called him a black hole, if you were shooting 60% from 2pt range and near 40% from 3, in Christian Wood's shoes, several seasons in a row, even in adverse team conditions -- you wouldnt keep letting it fly? I say he's clear as day a buy-low target.

Look at whos Minutes he takes too, buncha 3rd stringers n backups.. To think he wouldnt be a massive upgrade is insanity.. plus im talking short term deals here 2 years or less so flexibility is maintained, risk isnt much, he's still got trade value.. This isnt like Richaun Holmes where he got a payday based off of one big season punching above his weight/role, Wood has proven to be consistent on all different teams.

I agree with you in that I’m hesitant to fill our PF position with someone on the smaller side considering we don’t have a defensive anchor at C with good length. Here is the crop of players that have been discussed as our PF and their standing reach and wingspan…

• Christian Wood: 9’3.5” / 7’3.25”
• Naz Reid: 9’1” / 7’3.25”
• Jonathan Isaac: 9’0.5” / 7’1.25”
• Onyeka Okongwu: 9’0” / 7’2”
• Trey Lyles: 9’0” / 7’1.5”
• Pascal Siakam: 8’11.5” / 7’3.25”
• Kyle Anderson: 8’11.5” / 7’2.75”
• OG Anunoby: 8’11.5” / 7’2.25”
• Kyle Kuzma: 8’11.5” / 7’0.25”
• Jerami Grant: 8’11” / 7’2.75”
• PJ Washington: 8’10.5” / 7’2.25”
• John Collins: 8’10.5” / 6’11.25”
• Jarred Vanderbilt: 8’10” / 7’1”
• Keegan Murray: 8’10” / 6’11.75” (using Kris’ measurements)
• Jalen McDaniels: 8’9.5” / 7’0.25”
• Dorian Finney-Smith: 8’9.5” / 6’11.75”
• Draymond Green: 8’9” / 7’1.25”
• Grant Williams: 8’8.5” / 6’9.75”
• Tobias Harris: 8’7.5” / 6’11”
• Cam Johnson: 8’7” / 6’10”
• Harrison Barnes: 8’5.5” / 6’11.25”

Again, I find myself gravitating towards a PF who is bigger/longer than Murray because his size at PF is average but well above average at SF. If we can find a PF with great size/length that gives us two above average sized forwards to cover for Sabonis’ lack of size/length at C.

If that’s the initial filter to the list above, that leaves us with…

• Christian Wood
• Naz Reid
• Jonathan Isaac
• Onyeka Okongwu
• Trey Lyles
• Pascal Siakam
• Kyle Anderson
• OG Anunoby
• Kyle Kuzma
• Jerami Grant
• PJ Washington
• John Collins
• Jarred Vanderbilt

From there, we need someone who can…

1. Space the floor (to maintain our top offense)
2. Be a difference maker on the defensive end (to hopefully improve our 24th ranked defense to be in average territory)
3. Be young enough to grow with our core

Wood fits #1 and #3 but it’s his defense which gives most of us pause. As you and I know, defense is much more than blocking shots. He has issues with making the right reads, missing rotations, defensive awareness, etc. He’s a lower IQ defensive player that has an excellent combination of length & athleticism which allow him to put up good defensive box score stats but that doesn’t mean he’s a good defender nor the type of defender that is going to help boost our defense to average territory.

He also just doesn’t seem like the type of player McNair goes after considering his IQ. McNair seems to really like high IQ, unselfish guys and Wood has question marks in both of those areas. For example, there were only two players in the league that had a higher USG% but a lower AST:USG%. Those two players are Cam Thomas and Kelly Oubre. Both have similar criticisms regarding IQ and unselfish play.

Personally, these are my thoughts on the rest of the list…

• Naz Reid: has some ability to maintain spacing (not as much as I’d like) and is young but I have similar concerns if he can be the type of defender we need at PF to boost us to that average defense territory
• Jonathan Isaac: has some ability to maintain spacing (not as much as I’d like), is young, and is an elite defender that could certainly anchor our defense and boost us to the average territory. However, he’s a massive injury risk and if ORL is trading him, it’s probably a good indicator he’s done anyway.
• Onyeka Okongwu: can absolutely be the defensive anchor we need at PF while fitting the timeline from an age standpoint. However, our spacing would collapse and our offense could take a significant step back with 3 questionable shooters in the starting lineup.
• Trey Lyles: Is the floor spacer we’d need and his age is fine from a timeline standpoint. However, Lyles is not the defensive presence we’d hope next to Sabonis. Not that he’s an awful defender but we’re trying to figure out how we get our defense to average while maintaining our elite offense.
• Pascal Siakam: I think he could improve us defensively and his age is fringe acceptable for me. His shooting is a bit questionable to me, has a high usage, and is best operating in the same spots as Fox & Sabonis (midrange/paint). I don’t like the fit l considering how much he’ll be paid and how much it would take to trade for him. I’m not opposed to acquiring someone who is the same caliber as Siakam but you better be sure they are going to be a great fit next to Fox & Sabonis.
• Kyle Anderson: Not quite the shooter I want but his ability to attack close outs with his excellent handle and passing may still work even though he shoots a low volume of 3s. I think Anderson is a very underrated defender and think he would really help us in that department. He’s a great team defender who makes smart rotations and can help protect the rim a bit. Similar to Siakam, his age is in that fringe territory but might be able to overlook it.
• OG Anunoby: Spaces the floor at a level that we want, is an all defense level talented, and is young. Seems like a perfect fit with the only concerns being injury and how much it would take to trade for him.
• Kyle Kuzma: Not quite the shooter I want considering his 3P%. Age is fine but I question his ability to be the defender we need to boost this team. Seems like an average defender but not good enough for what we’re looking for.
• Jerami Grant: Has the shooting we’d need and his age is acceptable enough. His defense has noticeably decreased since his DEN days (since his offensive role expanded) but he at least has the ability to be an impact defender (and perhaps he’s more inclined to turn up that defensive intensity come playoff time when it’s most needed)
• PJ Washington: Has the shooting and age we’re looking for. His defense is okay/solid but is it good enough to lift this team? Probably not.
• John Collins: He did have the shooting we were looking for but struggled this past season. His age is good and his defense has improved but not to the level that we’d want out of our starting PF to help anchor the defense.
• Jarred Vanderbilt: Is the defender we’d be looking for and fits the timeline really well. However, his shooting has been pretty nonexistent which would jeopardize our elite offense.

It seems like I feel most confident about Anunoby & Grant (with Isaac & Anderson being honorable mentions) considering they have the ability to be the impact defender we need at PF to bring our defense into that 10th-20th range while at the same time helping maintain our elite offense.