Mavs 'Open' to 2-Year Contract Extension For Christian Wood
The Dallas Mavericks face another pending free agency situation with their top supporting-cast talent around Luka Doncic. Last season, Jalen Brunson departed to sign with the New York Knicks after his breakout season. Now, Christian Wood is playing on an expiring deal.
Wood has taken over the starting center role over the Mavs' last eight games following a possible season-ending hamstring tear that Maxi Kleber suffered amid a myriad of injuries to key defensive players. Dallas has been left to embrace an explosive offensive identity with Wood elevating them.
The Mavs have played eight games since Kleber's injury. With many of the team's key defensive players also sidelined, there's been a full embrace of utilizing scoring firepower by starting Wood. The results have led to a 6-2 record so far, including a loss with Doncic sidelined. Dallas is 5-1 when Wood starts alongside Doncic entering Saturday's matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, which includes a five-game winning streak.
Wood has averaged 20.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks over his last eight games. He joined Dirk Nowitzki and Kristaps Porzingis as the only Mavs players to ever have 160+ points, 70+ rebounds, and 20+ blocks in an eight-game span. The growth that Wood has made defensively as the unit’s anchor has enabled him to show more of a shot-blocking presence while his usual scoring and rebounding have continued.
There was no denying how impactful Wood's fit next to Doncic would be for the Mavs. He's clearly the Mavs' second-best player and is better than Brunson was this year at this time. From the start of the 2021-22 season through New Year's Eve, Brunson averaged 16.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 5.6 assists in 30.8 minutes per game, while starting just 16 of 34 games.
Wood offers a tremendous relief option to really any coverage the defense throws at Doncic in ways that are rare for a big man. He can shoot it in spot-up situations and on the pop, drive the lane after attacking closeouts, catch lobs or finish at a high level on the roll, and generate his own offense in isolation and using post-ups. That's a rare combination, to say the least.
Wood has made defensive strides since being relied upon to anchor their defense following Kleber's injury. He's blocked at least multiple shots per game during the eight-game stretch while producing very effective rim protection efficiency stats. With Kleber sidelined, he's also the only viable stretch-five option on the team and is one of the few shot creators and tough shot makers they have. Now, the question becomes: What are the Mavs' options to retain Wood long-term to avoid getting Brunson'd again?
It was recently reported by ESPN's Tim MacMahon that the Mavs are interested in getting a contract extension done with Wood, but they are reluctant to do it for longer than two years. It was explained that keeping their 2025 cap space open is among the factors for doing so.
"I don't think they can get cute on the money part of it," MacMahon said. "I think if they're asking to do a two-year deal, I think they have to throw as much money as they legally can at him, which would be a little under $36 million over the course of that two-year extension. Again, that would set them up to have him in place here and to still have that flexibility for 2025. But it's still a short-term marriage."
When Wood was acquired by the Mavs, he remained eligible to sign a two-year contract extension similar to the deals that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bojan Bogdanovic signed. Such a contract would only pay a first-year salary of $15,033,332 with a final-year salary of $15,749,205. An important detail to consider, both players remain trade-eligible after signing their deal since they received just five percent annual raises. A deal for this kind of extension gets done early, not when it's midway through the season.
It wasn't until Dec. 24 that Wood was eligible to discuss a longer contract extension or one that involves up to a 20 percent increase from the $14,317,459 salary he's earning in the final year of his current contract. There needed to be six full months since the trade that sent Wood to the Mavs became official for that eligibility to occur.
Right now, the Mavs have the option of offering Wood a contract extension that spans as long as four years and is worth up to $76,970,660. The max contract extension offer would give Wood a 20 percent raise on the first year salary with eight percent annual raises. Again, an important detail to consider is that doing so would make Wood ineligible to be traded for the remainder of the season.
On a contract extension with a 20 percent initial raise with eight percent annual raises, Wood would earn $17,180,951 in the first year, $18,555,427 in the second year, $19,929,903 in the third year, and $21,304,379 in the fourth year. The maximum amount the Mavs could offer on a two-year deal is $35,736,378, but again, that figure would make him trade ineligible.
There are a few problems that arise when evaluating possible two-year contracts for Wood. For starters, it would be challenging to envision asking Wood to accept an offer for $30,818,330 in total salary when he's been eligible to sign such a deal since they’re eligible to pay $35,736,378. Also, he has been eligible to sign for $30,818,330 since June, making it unforeseen to transpire. All of these factors are obstacles that don't even address the major underlying problem: Why wouldn't Wood just go to unrestricted free agency to earn a bigger total salary over a longer duration of time?
The Mavs' recent history suggests they like to keep their midseason trade options open. For a team that still seeks to acquire a second All-Star to pair with Doncic, perhaps that could be the source for the team's reluctance to offer more than a two-year contract extension? For example, if a talent like Zach LaVine was to become available, it's tough to envision there being much of a pathway to a trade negotiation without Wood being eligible to at least be part of a possible deal. The team has bad contracts and while Josh Green has impressed this season, that only goes so far regarding trade value. Without a 2023 first-round pick available to offer, the options are limited in terms of constructing an enticing haul of draft capital in the short-term.
Prior to last year's midseason trade deadline, the Mavs hadn't gotten any contract extensions done with their two key players that were eligible to negotiate: Jalen Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith. With negotiations on contracts in the NBA tending to be like a slow play in a game of Poker, it wasn't until after the trade deadline had passed that an agreement on a four-year, $55.6 million contract extension was reached with Finney-Smith. The problem with Brunson? He and his representation had felt that deal no longer was suitable to entertain given his emergence in the starting lineup and overall production, leading to him entering free agency — making that slow play become more of a game of Russian roulette.
There was more pressure to find Doncic an adequate co-star after he took the team to the Western Conference Finals last season. Many felt that Brunson could be an integral part of the team going forward, but a player of a higher caliber to fill the secondary star role would be needed to pull off a championship run. After Brunson's Knicks exit, there is even greater pressure to find that talent to takes pressure off Doncic. With the Western Conference being as open as ever, trade eligibility appears to be the factor to watch.
Another problem at hand is that even a full four-year, $76,970,660 million contract extension would likely be below market value for Wood. He's averaging 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game. He's a talented scoring big with 3-point shooting talent. That's hard to find. Again, factor in continued defensive improvement, and he's all the more enticing to prospective suitors.
It isn't easy to put stock into a possible concern about future cap space in 2025, considering the Mavs have been more than willing to hand out multi-year deals lately. JaVale McGee, 34, was signed to a fully-guaranteed, three-year deal. Maxi Kleber, 30, received a three-year contract extension. Dorian Finney-Smith also began his four-year deal at 29. It didn't even take a full year for injury risk to become a concern with Kleber. Their actions do not suggest a great prioritization of their 2025 cap space.
Hardaway received a four-year, $75 million contract extension in 2021 after averaging 16.6 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from 3. After a strong start to a first-round playoff series, he received the deal. Wood's impact has been comfortably better than the regular season results that Hardaway provided before receiving that deal. The NBA salary cap will be will be significantly higher in 2025-26 compared to what it was during the final year of Hardaway's deal in 2024-25.
The Mavs are currently slotted to only have Doncic, Finney-Smith, and Kleber under contract for the 2025-26 season, worth $72,378,140 in combined salary. If the goal was to keep as much cap space around Doncic open as possible for 2025, wouldn't signing Finney-Smith and Kleber through 2024-25 have made more sense? When trying to get a long-term deal done with Wood, it shouldn’t be a concern. Having good players signed to fair-valued contracts should be the goal for any team. If a sign-and-trade deal is required in the future, if a star agrees to sign with the Mavs, they could facilitate a sign-and-trade deal.
There shouldn't be concern about a decline in long-term value. Wood is 27, has embraced whatever role he’s been given, and appreciates playing alongside Doncic. While Brunson was an effective catch-and-shoot threat that thrived at attacking closeouts, his value is limited alongside Doncic in ways that Wood's instead are maximized. There is a greater alignment of bringing the best out of one another with a shooting big that can finish in the paint. In the final year of a four-year deal, the salary cap will spike after the looming TV deal, likely making his deal a bargain.
The balance that the Mavs must establish lies between the perceived thought to keep the option open to include Wood in a blockbuster trade for a star while mitigating the risk of free agency departure.
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