CHRISTIAN WOOD TRADE GRADES

UPSYDE SPORTS PRESENTS:

CHRISTIAN WOOD TRADE GRADES:

One of the biggest critiques by pretty much anyone that watched the Mavericks this spring was the lack of depth in the paint. While Dwight Powell performed admirably and Maxi Kleber did his best to slow down opposing defenders, both looked completely overwhelmed at every level in the playoffs. Powell was used sporadically, and Kleber was constantly lost between his preferred position on the perimeter and trying to defend the paint. Both were asked to do too much and aside from bringing back Jalen Brunson.

That being said - every trade needs winners and losers.

Let's start with Houston.

GRADE: B

Houston Receives: Boban Marjanovic, Trey Burke, Sterling Brown, Marquise Chriss, and #26 Overall

This does a lot for Houston, but also doesn't do a lot for Houston. The big thing for Houston it does is confirm the youth movement. Christian Wood was a major obstacle in the way of Alperen Sengun getting minutes. Houston gave up two picks to get Sengun and the former Euro MVP was buried in a depth chart on a team trying to lose. He got a little more play toward the end of the season but in the meantime, alienated Christian Wood. It was obvious for a while Wood was on borrowed time. Houston did not want to take on any long-term veterans, as their eventual goal is to improve through their young players. Many of these veteran players will either get bought out or traded at some point this season. Houston is unlikely to be done with moves as they still have John Wall, David Nwaba, and Eric Gordon as the last remaining veterans.

What this also does for Houston is confirm that they are taking a big man with their top 3 pick. Depending on who they fall in love with will likely determine if they need to move up to get him. Realistically, it will be Paolo, but I've seen some strange things on draft night. The Rockets also acquire another first round pick in this trade. There will be a lot of guards and wings available in this draft, both of which they would need to shore up. I think their best fits would be Dalen Terry if they go guard and Jake LaRavia if they go wing. Dalen Terry is a massive point guard and is sort of that Andre Iguodala or Evan Turner frame work. He's not an elite shooter but his passing and defense has more upside than Kevin Porter Jr, who is a shoot first guard. Jake LaRavia is just a really complete player for a selection this late in the draft. He's not super athletic, but has playmaking potential from the wing, is a fringe elite defender, has a developing outside shot, and good size. The fact that these were upperclassmen should not concern the Rockets, as they are still around the same as some of the older freshmen - including Chet, TyTy, and Kennedy.

What this does not do is move the needle for them in the win column. Maybe that is their goal, maybe not. Next season's draft has one of the best guard prospects since Kyrie. Scoot Henderson has drawn comparisons from every elite point guard from Ja Morant, to Russell Westbrook, to John Wall, to Derrick Rose. While many of his peers just graduated High School, Scoot was working a full time job as a starter for the G-League Ignite. The 2023 draft also has one of the best center prospects of all time. Victor Wembanyama could end up being Gobert with a 3-point shot and consistent scoring. He could grow into an Embiid-like MVP-level player. Both of these prospects give the Rockets plenty of reason to take their time trying to win.

Now, let's look at the Mavericks.

GRADE: A

The Mavericks clearly won this trade. I had to make you guys read through my geeky NBA rant just so that I could build up for this. The Mavericks did a lot of things all at once with this trade. First of all, it solved it's center problem temporarily. I think the Mavs still need to go out and get a reliable veteran center for depth - someone like JaVale McGee, Andre Drummond, or Dewayne Dedmon. This would take some of the pressure off of Christian Wood who has looked good on bad teams. I like Andre Drummond because they did play together in Detroit, but we'll have to see what salary expectations are on these players. Based on how the mock drafts have been playing out, all of the elite centers will have been taken up within the first 25 picks, so this was probably their easiest path to improve.

The major thing this trade does above all things is that it keeps the core. None of the major rotation pieces in the Mavericks playoff run were demanded to execute this trade. Dinwiddie, Bullock, DFS, and Luka all remain together. Because of this, I think this drastically increases the Mavericks' chances to re-sign Jalen Brunson. He has said that he does not wish to change teams and the fact that the roster improved without disrupting the chemistry of the team could be what inevitably wins him over.

Finally, this gives the Mavericks a lot of roster flexibility. In a worst case scenario where Jalen Brunson decides he wants to get paid beyond Cuban's comfort level, there might be options to still remain competitive via sign-and-trade. The Mavs still have several bullets in the chamber as far as core pieces go, and I don't think anyone sans Luka Doncic is considered untouchable. Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine both have very important decisions to make this off-season, and there could be a scenario to where Brunson is traded to one of those teams for either of these two players' extensions. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but having either of those wing/guard combo players would be a very acceptable consolation prizes to losing your fan favorite guard. For a team where Luka sees a title within grasp, the front office of the Mavericks don't plan on sitting on their hands any longer.

- Adam Safianow - NBA Analyst - Upsyde Sports [Copyright 2022]

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