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

[Dundalis]

I haven't read the article, but I saw the disagreement earlier, and my take from personal observation is this:

PJ Washington can be a difference making player on both ends of the court...when played at center. I believe the truly false opinion about him that floats around here regularly is that he's multi-positional. For comparison sake, I'm not sure I feel like he's as versatile, offensively or defensively, as Kleber. 

Just my two cents.

Heres the part of the article relating to his defense:

Defense. Defense. Defense. This is PJ Washington's calling card, making him invaluable to this Charlotte team. Surrounded by incapable defenders Washington was asked to fill in the holes to keep the Hornets above the float. Washington has legitimately covered shifty guards like Trae Young to a strong big man like Joel Embiid. He has a rare combination of foot speed to keep up with guards and the upper body strength plus length to give seven-footers issues. This just isn't normal. Washington is the same height as LaMelo Ball and the Hornets felt extremely comfortable playing him at the center position to be the defensive anchor. PJ Washington averaged 1.17 steals/75  (81st percentile) and 2.84 deflections/75 (79th percentile). Additionally, he was in the 89th percentile in rim protection (per B-Ball Index). As you can see the stats back up the Hornets confidence to use PJ as a primary defender for players across all five positions. I have no doubt that Steve Clifford is going to love coaching him this upcoming season. 

But fair enough I really haven't watched him enough to know.

[KillerLeft]

So you want a 6’7” C who has been playing PF this whole time. I think that is fine for spurts during the game, not night in, night out.

Yeah, for me, those stretches of small ball center are what makes him an intriguing target. I think he's just a guy in any other situation. 

You argued with me when I said this about Claxton, too, remember?

[KillerLeft]

@"ItsGoTime" to add further clarification, I don't think he's a 30 minutes per night player, I think he's a 20-25 minutes guy, kind of like you think about Kleber. (I think Kleber is better than that, if you can keep him healthy). 

So, my interest in him would be as a lower minute player, playing mostly center. 

But then again, my approach would be to have him, Kleber and one more just like them. NO players like McGee would be on my team earning more than the minimum.

[ItsGoTime]

I think he's a 20-25 minutes guy

If this is all he is, I'm not interested in him. I think he's much more than that.

[KillerLeft]

If this is all he is, I'm not interested in him. I think he's much more than that.

Well, you might be right, but, while I know there are other factors (obviously) I feel like he'd be making CHA a little better if that was the case. 

MY interest in him is as a bench big (or a starter, whatever) who can move his feet against the pick and roll. However long he can THAT every night is how much I'd play him.

[Dundalis]

I kinda just realized that if we trade Wood and don't get a big in return (or someone who can play well there), we have only one big in Maxi that we can rely on to play big minutes in the playoffs. There's a reason Powell got buried in the rotation last years playoffs and the reason isn't gonna change any time soon. You drop in the PnR, and we are playing with 4 players on offense when Powell is out there.

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/chriswood_5/status/1...91808?s=46&t=5TKhTeZ7dlAkJc2Qq_gUMg


Alright.

Wood's our guy. Kidd has to enact Operation: Make Wood a Playoff Caliber Center and he has 3 months to do it. 

If Kidd keeps dicking him around there is no way he'll be able to be useful come playoffs. I was never a huge believer in Wood's empty calories, but he CAN be a solid 15/10 guy, with potential to go off for 20-30 a night. 

That doesn't grow on trees. I would've moved him, but the fact that there was zero interest goes to show what Wood's market will be come the summer. He should have a vested interest in letting Kidd make him shine.

[cow]

Tweets read like a person oblivious to the situation they are in.

[SkenfromLMF]

You know what I want to hear?

Coach Kidd, "C-Wood is gonna make a lot of money. A LOT of money!"

[SwisherPrice]

There's really nothing Wood can do. His game and skillset as a PF/C just aren't in demand around the league as much as they used to be. Same thing with Julius Randle. They are productive players but teams are not going to build around them because they want versatile front court players instead. Best thing you can do is find them a role like how Aaron Gordon is used in Denver.

[Mavs2021]

There's really nothing Wood can do. His game and skillset as a PF/C just aren't in demand around the league as much as they used to be. Same thing with Julius Randle. They are productive players but teams are not going to build around them because they want versatile front court players instead. Best thing you can do is find them a role like how Aaron Gordon is used in Denver.

[MAVS-SLO]

The only thing i'm a little afraid after reading ''there was no market for Wood'' is that other GM-s know something.

We know that he is expiring contract and that FO was/is a hesitant to give him a new contract. And we already know what happened last year and i really hope we didn't make another Brunson situation.

I'm still surprised that how low a lot of Mavs fans are on him. He is not all star, but he is doing great job and i think such type of center (with reasonable contract) will thrive in the playoffs when bigger centers are ussually exposed. 

Something similar (but better) version of Maxi last year playoffs.

The next question is, for all fans who wants to trade him, who would you want at a center? Assumming we need to make a trade also at 4-3 position?

We got Wood for a cheap and solve a lot of things, and i really hope we aren't losing him like we did a Brunson.

[MFFL]

Hopefully the agent for Wood will explain the market to him.

I think a fair deal for both the Mavs and Wood would be 2 years & $30m with a TO. Not quite the $35m he hoped for but still a good contract with a chance to build his value on the next deal.

[Scott41theMavs]

Hopefully the agent for Wood will explain the market to him.

I think a fair deal for both the Mavs and Wood would be 2 years & $30m with a TO. Not quite the $35m he hoped for but still a good contract with a chance to build his value on the next deal.

I think what SLO was saying is that Wood's agent is aware that there's a team out there willing to give him a bigger bag. Hopefully he plays well enough with others until then so as not be a distraction.

[MFFL]

I think what SLO was saying is that Wood's agent is aware that there's a team out there willing to give him a bigger bag. Hopefully he plays well enough with others until then so as not be a distraction.

I know. I just respectfully disagree.

With the way that second round picks were flying around that someone would have given us a couple for him if they wanted him. Crowder was part of a trade where 5 second round picks were involved and Crowder is just as much of a free agent after the season as Wood is.

[IamDougieFresh]

I’m going scorched Earth when Wood proves you all wrong hehe.

[DallasMaverick]

Hopefully the agent for Wood will explain the market to him.

I think a fair deal for both the Mavs and Wood would be 2 years & $30m with a TO. Not quite the $35m he hoped for but still a good contract with a chance to build his value on the next deal.

I'm thinking MLE.

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

If Wood signs the 2 year extension, Wood can play however he wants.

• He can take it easy and take the "I just work here" approach because he is guaranteed 2 years, and wouldn't care if he gets benched or not
  
• He can swipe at Kidd for benching him and be a malcontent
  
• He can be a good soldier and buy-in to what Kidd wants from him (even if Kidd's ways and strategies are questionable)
  

The smart move at this point is to be on Kidd's good side. Because like it or not, Kidd's power on the Mavs has increased by the Kyrie trade. Sooner or later Kidd will be exposed as a mediocre to bad coach and would be kicked out, but at this time, he stays and Wood.. if he signs the 2 year deal, should play along.

Now if Wood doesn't sign the extension, he has no other choice but play his best in whatever role Kidd asks him. Kidd could throw him under the bus multiple times before this season ends and that's not going to be good for his next contract wherever that may be.

IMHo, based on CWood's social media, he is going to play hard. Mavs won't get him back as long as Kidd is the coach and that's not even for the MLE, but at the very least, CWood's going to be useful for this play-of run more than we expect him to be. Just consider this:

• Maxi may not be ready yet and even if he is - he is the lone reliable big
  
• DP? Seen him be a non factor in the PO
  
• McGee, LOL
  
• Morris - meh
  

Wood has the opportunity to shine as the lone big.
I just hope Kidd uses his brain cells and not his ego.

[Dundalis]

Hopefully the agent for Wood will explain the market to him.

I think a fair deal for both the Mavs and Wood would be 2 years & $30m with a TO. Not quite the $35m he hoped for but still a good contract with a chance to build his value on the next deal.

There's half a season left plus playoffs. His value if he balls out could skyrocket based on what he does. Makes no sense for him to sign anything until then. He might have defensive issues, but he will not be played off the court in the playoffs because he can't do anything else offensively except roll like Powell, which makes him useless when teams play drop in PnR. Which means he's guaranteed plenty of minutes assuming teams do that again, limiting Powell's usefulness, which there's no reason for them not to.

[DallasMaverick]

If Wood signs the 2 year extension, Wood can play however he wants.

• He can take it easy and take the "I just work here" approach because he is guaranteed 2 years, and wouldn't care if he gets benched or not
  
• He can swipe at Kidd for benching him and be a malcontent
  
• He can be a good soldier and buy-in to what Kidd wants from him (even if Kidd's ways and strategies are questionable)
  

The smart move at this point is to be on Kidd's good side. Because like it or not, Kidd's power on the Mavs has increased by the Kyrie trade. Sooner or later Kidd will be exposed as a mediocre to bad coach and would be kicked out, but at this time, he stays and Wood.. if he signs the 2 year deal, should play along.

Now if Wood doesn't sign the extension, he has no other choice but play his best in whatever role Kidd asks him. Kidd could throw him under the bus multiple times before this season ends and that's not going to be good for his next contract wherever that may be.

IMHo, based on CWood's social media, he is going to play hard. Mavs won't get him back as long as Kidd is the coach and that's not even for the MLE, but at the very least, CWood's going to be useful for this play-of run more than we expect him to be. Just consider this:

• Maxi may not be ready yet and even if he is - he is the lone reliable big
  
• DP? Seen him be a non factor in the PO
  
• McGee, LOL
  
• Morris - meh
  

Wood has the opportunity to shine as the lone big.
I just hope Kidd uses his brain cells and not his ego.

Seems like you're pinning Wood's success or failure on Kidd's actions.

So the underlying assumption is that, in the right system, with the right coach, with the right supporting cast, he's pure gold.

However, after playing for several teams, several coaches, and several supporting casts over his career, none of his teams have wanted him badly enough to retain him. 

At some point, don't you have to blame the player?