THE CRUCIFIX: Cato: Wood isn't thrilled w/ his role...Will depart in the summer

[loki]

Maybe it's somehow about a free agency quest coming. But there's another way to look at this other than it being a plan powder play.

1st we need to notice that, if McMahon's inference is accurate, Wood is good on an extension of some sort. It's just the Mavs who have hesitations. That tells us something different that was being assumed.

2nd it's looking like the Mavs aren't all fully convinced yet they want to be stuck with Wood - or that anyone else will be either.

If that's the case, then the shorter contract is a compromise in multiple ways. It lets them make a commitment to keep him, without so much commitment that it will strangle them if it doesn't work. It also allows Wood to up his game, so that he has a longer window (rather than just a few months) to show the Mavs they need him for much longer.

It becomes a 2-year tryout. In which he still gets paid with a raise (presumably) over what he was making before. And if he does become an all-star by playing in Dallas, as he hopes, then he gets to a new contract sooner, so there's incentive and upside for him as well.

That may well be their opinion, and in my view this is how you lose him for nothing. I see no reason for Wood to accept a 2 year tryout when this season was supposed to be the tryout. Might as well hit free agency if the organization doesn't believe in you. 

I also think Cuban is likely focused on possible trades. He did the same thing last year by refusing to offer extensions to DFS and Brunson until after the deadline. I think this is a terrible approach as well. Cuban is the only person on the planet who seems to think another team will dump a star in his lap for someone on an expiring contract.