1. Christian Wood
Draft: 2015
Round: Undrafted
Pick: N/A
Player Comparison: Anthony Davis
Christian Wood, went from undrafted to playing for six teams in six seasons as a bench player, to a starter averaging just under 24 points and 10 rebounds. I feel like a bad NBA fan for not seeing enough of him last year in Detroit.
I didn’t understand the hype that some people were giving him going into free agency. Wood’s numbers have increased dramatically and with his style and skill, they’ll continue to go up. Here are his points and rebounds totals each year.
- 15-16: Pts- 3.6, Reb-2.2
- 16-17: Pts- 2.7, Reb- 2.2
- 17-18: Pts- 16.9, Reb- 8.8 (**Only 8 games played**)
- 18-19: Pts- 2.8, Reb- 1.5
- 19-20 Pts- 13.1, Reb- 6.3
- 20-21: Pts-23.6, Reb-10.0
Wood became a free agency sleeper after the trade deadline last year when Detroit got rid of Andre Drummond. Drummond’s departure became a blessing for Wood as he got a lot more shots and a lot more minutes. He proved to have a lot of skills, but it was a small sample size. Come free agency Wood didn’t have that many suitors which allowed the rockets to swoop in and steal him for three-years, $ 41 million. To get a 24 and 10 guy for that amount is a robbery, and as a Houston native, I’m not upset about it at all.
Wood is a very skilled offensive talent, first of all, he rim-runs and gets lobs from James a few times a game. Second, in the halfcourt he is a copy of Anthony Davis, they both can shoot the three and even have a similar slow release. They each take it off the dribble with slow deceptive moves to get to the hole, and even though Wood is a bit lighter in weight than Davis is, he still has a lot of power.
With all of the distractions going on in that Rocket’s locker room currently, there is a possibility that Wood’s great year will get overshadowed. I’m putting this out as a public service announcement, Christian Wood is the most improved player this season, and if you haven’t seen him play, please do yourself a favor by tuning into the rockets this season.
As painful as James Harden is being right now, he and Wood are actually a great fit together, the pick and pop game is there, and so is the roll game. Wood’s numbers will stay up as long as Harden will be there getting a lot of attention from opposing defenders trying to keep him in check. These three years can’t come soon enough for Wood, he will get paid top dollar when he is up for free agency.