12-27-2022, 12:10 PM
(12-27-2022, 11:34 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: I mean, arguments could be made for either. And, to this point, Vanderbilt has been a little slow to develop on the offense end (showing improvement this year) but he's a special defender in the body type the Mavs don't have with an ideal motor/athletic skillset. Think bigger than DFS, but clearly able to play forward, with a Powell-like motor. Tough, too.
In fact, if you didn’t already have Dorian (or dealt him for something else), V and Green would be the kinds of guys you’d want next to starting center Wood to try to make him more passable as a defender.
Today’s 77 Heaven Podcast (I got halfway through it driving to the office) takes a dim view of Wood being a viable starting center in the playoffs. One of the panelists said something like “you just can’t do it” as it stands no chance of working.
Two questions: Is there a playoff team that Wood would start for? Other than maybe Charlotte, is there a cap room team this summer that would pay more than the MLE for Wood?
As a reminder, when Wood was traded TO Houston after a very promising season, Detroit sent (yes, I said sent) a Future First and a Future LA second with Wood for Ariza’s corpse, Isaiah Stewart (who had just been taken 16th) and a future second. Net out the seconds and net out the protected future first for Stewart at #16 and Houston basically give up Ariza for Wood. Two years later, Houston got a later first and had to eat some contracts for Wood. I don’t think Wood is nearly as highly valued around the league as we think he is. His per minute stats this season are nearly identical to that season in Detroit.