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

[Kammrath]

Keith Smith on Twitter: "Christian Wood is playing the best basketball of his career. He's on a team with something to play for and has shown real growth in his all-around game. Should Wood extend or head to free agency? I broke it all down for @spotrac in Next Contract series: https://t.co/Q349wdVjmg" / Twitter

Here is Keith's take:

Putting it all together, the $77 million extension over four years is probably fair value for Christian Wood. He might be able to get more than by pushing things to free agency, but it won’t be significantly more. For a player who has made around $45 million in total salary in the first seven years of his career, it could be hard to pass up $19+ million per season.

The real deal may fall somewhere outside the four-year, $77 million extension. It’s been suggested that Wood won’t sign a four-year extension. Maybe he does a shorter-term deal, but still for the max he can extend for with Dallas. Two years and $35.7 million, or a two-plus-one deal of nearly $56 million are both reasonable too.

No matter what happens. Christian Wood is going to get a nice new contract. If it’s an extension with the Mavericks, don’t expect that to come until after the trade deadline. Dallas will exhaust all of their trade options first, as extending Wood for big money would come with a six-month trade restriction.

If a new contract comes in free agency, Wood will probably get north of $20 million AAV, either through a sign-and-trade or an outright signing with a cap space team. And that’s a contract that should hold its value for whatever length it spans for the talented, versatile big man.