Christian Wood EXCLUSIVE: Mavs Film Study; Why He Must Start, Never Should Have Stopped
DALLAS — Christian Wood entered the season in a bench role for the Dallas Mavericks, behind JaVale McGee as the starter. Later on, Dwight Powell went from being out of the rotation to starting, then McGee became a DNP-CD. Often times, the Mavs were closing games with Maxi Kleber on the floor.
"So,'' as Wood tells DallasBasketball.com in our exclusive interview and Film Study, "it's nothing new to me."
But Wood does concede, "It's frustrating going switching roles and finding out what my role is for sure. Through it all, I think I can settle in any role.''
Wood wasn't inserted into the starting lineup until Maxi Kleber sustaining a torn hamstring in mid-December. The Mavs inserted Wood into the starting lineup at that point and achieved substantial success. In 20 starts, he's averaged 20.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
As Wood played his best basketball of the season, he sustained a fractured thumb, which ultimately sidelined him for eight games. He went from starting at center amid displaying defensive improvement before the injury to initially being the third center, behind Powell and McGee, upon his return to game action. He's inexplicably averaging only 20.0 minutes per game during the month of February.
Whether it's been as a first, second, or third center in the Mavs' rotation, Wood's talent has managed to shine through. There's no greater example than when he played just 12 minutes against the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 10. He scored 13 points to fuel the team without Luka Doncic in the lineup to their most explosive opening half of offense in a game this season.
"Luckily, throughout my career, I've been used to coming off the bench and playing behind All-Star guys," Wood told DallasBasketball.com. "When I was in Detroit, I was coming off behind Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin. So, it's nothing new to me."
While Wood initially wore a brace on his hand, he made clear that he's not bothered by the injury. He is "100-percent now" and was wearing the brace out of caution. He's glad to now have full use of his hand so he can get back to his usual game.
"I'm 100-percent now. I finally got to take [the brace] off. I was a 100-percent actually like a week ago before the All-Star break," Wood told DallasBasketball.com "But I just left it on to be cautious. But now I'm good and hopefully, I can start shooting 40 percent from three."
With a consistent change in roles, Wood has continued to make strides in key areas of his game. A lot of free throw shooting comes down to focus and discipline. He's shooting 92.9 percent from the line in February after upping his percentage to 84.1 percent in January. He's improved his efficiency from the line each month of the season and is converting at a 76.3 percent clip after shooting 62.3 percent last season.
"Just getting a lot of reps in with (assistant) Sean Sweeney. I don't think it was necessarily a thing of me being a bad free-throw shooter, but I think it was all mental," Wood said. "Once I started getting the reps and start feeling more comfortable with the free throw line, my team trusts me to make big free throws in games. It just started becoming second nature. And that's when I started finding the rhythm as of late and now I'm shooting my best percentage of my career."
The level of scoring efficiency that Wood has played with has enabled him to enter games and still put up a high volume of points despite seeing limited minutes. Throughout the season, he's executed, whether he's playing off the catch in spot-up, setting a ball screen and playing out of a roll or pop, or getting an isolation or post-up bucket when the offense needs someone to make a play.
On a team with a lot of 3-and-D wings and play finishing bigs, Wood presents one of the rare options you can simply dump the ball to and trust to get a bucket. Particularly in the post, he's generating 1.041 points per possession (PPP) and has comparable efficiency to Doncic (1.079 PPP), while being one of the Mavs' two only regularly used options. Whether he's attacking the rim or getting to his jumper, he's tough to stop.
Wood explained his success in the post as being a combination of making the most of opportunities to attack mismatches and generally getting to his favorite spots, whether he's attacking middle or baseline. When it's not a mismatch, he can get into a backside action and involve one of the team's superstars for a more efficient look.
"It's really just taking the right shots. Making the right reads, not trying to force it. If I have a mismatch, then attack the mismatch," Wood said. "If it's not really such a mismatch, do a uphill [dribble handoff] to give it to Luka, then set a screen and roll to the basket and now you play on our backside because we have winning passers like Kyrie and Luke to make the play. But just being patient in the post going middle, going baseline, just getting to my favorite spots."
When teams allow Wood to operate against neutral pick-and-roll coverages, he's done major damage. He has shown off the full package, between being an athletic lob threat, crafty finisher on paint touches, a tough shot maker on the pop, and a threat to drive off the catch after the pop.
Particularly on rolls to the basket, Wood is generating a staggering 1.762 PPP. It's been essentially too damaging for the defense to allow him to screen and face a traditional drop coverage with Doncic orchestrating the pick-and-roll. The combination of patience, touch, and ability to play through contact have all been on display when the simple lob finish isn't there.
Again, what makes Wood such an intriguing talent is that not only is he such a versatile roll man threat, he's tough to contain on the pop, too. With an output of 1.338 PPP as a pop threat, there are few players that match his talent in that respect. He has shown to be a tough shot maker in situations many would turn down shots.
Wood now has the luxury of being the screener for two perimeter superstars. However, both Doncic and Irving play with different styles when it comes to setting up and orchestrating pick-and-roll sequences. What has Wood observed already when comparing the approaches of both players?
"They're both willing passers. They both get double-teamed, but I would just say the pace of it [is different]," Wood said. "Luka kind of, when the offense slows down, he's a great half court player. When they double him, Luka's going to always make the right play. To always put you in a position to play a four on a three on the backside."
Said Wood: "Kyrie is a shifty player. He can, he could come off the screen, race and beat the big and beat a double team, or he hit a quick pocket pass. I'm normally getting late pocket passes from Luka. Now it's a quick pocket pass from Kyrie. So that's what I'd say is the big differences."
While it'll be more challenging to blitz in ball screen coverage against Doncic now that Irving is in the fold, it's still crucial to have a threat that can attack on the catch on the short roll. Wood is the only big man the Mavs have capable of imposing his will on the catch in the middle of the floor as opposed to just looking to find a shooter.
In the playoffs, this will be necessary to have on the floor. ...
It's also pivotal to have multiple ways to attack weak points in isolation in the playoffs. Against the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Western Conference Finals, it was apparent that the Mavs lacked an isolation threat with size. They often placed Draymond Green on Jalen Brunson while overloading the strong side against Doncic. With a talent like Wood, they can trust him to attack to take advantage.
Going forward, there is significant optimism about the impact Kleber can provide the team once he returns to the lineup. The Mavs achieved real success when Wood shared the floor with Kleber. In those 351 minutes, the team has produced a 111.5 offensive rating and a 106.2 defensive rating, resulting in a 5.3 net rating.
Said Wood: "His ability to be able to defend the bigger guys. His ability to space the floor. I love playing with Maxi. Me and him complement each other really well, and not even just me and him. I feel like he complements Luka and especially having Kyrie come in after the trade, he complements him as well ..."
Wood continued: "So just having that space on the floor for those guys to be able to operate. It's going to be tough for teams to double team Luka and the double team Kyrie, because now you have five shooters all on the floor. It's a nice thing to try out. Whenever he comes back, we'll be ready for him."
As Wood mentioned, his ability to knock down catch-and-shoot 3s when spacing the floor affords the Mavs the option of playing out of a five-out. With Kleber on the floor, that ability is only enhanced.
What separates Wood from the traditional five-out spacing threat among other big men is his ability to attack off the catch. It's something the Mavs didn't have during their playoff run from Kleber. When his 3-point shot wasn't dropping, there wasn't a way for him to get aggressive
"Part of the versatility of my game is just being able to beat bigs and now even some guards off the dribble," Wood said. "It's just reading their feet, reading the spacing. Maxi coming back is going to bring a ton of space for me to just shoot it or drive it because most guys can't stand in front of me."
Among the top priorities for the Mavs to improve is in the team's paint defense. They have allowed 60.4 opponent points in the paint per game over their last 10 outings. Only the San Antonio Spurs have allowed more within that span. Since trading Dorian Finney-Smith, the Mavs have lacked a wing defender with size to play the four. Kleber's return will help, but it's important to not put too much pressure on one player.
"I wouldn't put all that pressure on one player [Kleber] because, you know, even right now we have better definitive thing," Wood said. "I don't think one person coming back is going to just fix all of our problems, but I think it is more so a team thing."
In the meantime, Wood has settled in well with Kyrie Irving in plug-and-play lineups throughout games when Doncic is on the sidelines. With Irving, the Mavs have played at a faster pace than the typical slower, half-court oriented approach with Doncic. Wood has enjoyed the change in pace with Irving and appreciates the superstar's willingness to do the little things off-ball and to take over games.
"I love his pace, the way he controls the game, the way he allows, you know, the way he's able to play off ball. Most superstars aren't able to kind of play off ball," Wood said. "He's a tremendous screen setter. He's tremendous off ball. He lets people operate and then when that time comes, then things buckle down to get gritty and do do what he needs to do. He takes over the game. So that's what I love about it."
In terms of playing faster, a common way that Wood makes an impact within the flow of any given game is to be aggressive as the ball handler in transition. He has an impressive ability to Veer-step into a finish, using his length and athleticism in the open court in ways the defense cannot contain. With how teams like to deny Irving, or Doncic, for that matter, Wood can counter by bringing the ball up.
"Most of the time Kyrie's denied. Luka's denied taking the ball down inbounds, guys are kind of pressing, so they're looking for me to be that kind of guy to clear things out, take the ball downcourt and call a play," Wood said. "Just having that trust in me to do stuff like that. When we're in the game and transition and the guys run to Kyrie and deny him, now it gives me an open lane to play three on four on the backside."
Ultimately it remains to be seen what particular startling lineup combinations the Mavs will continue to deploy as Kleber gains a rhythm. There is at least the sense that Kleber and Wood will share the floor together.
"The numbers will say that they are good together," Kidd said of Wood and Kleber sharing the floor. "When we do get Maxi back, we will look to putting those two together, and hopefully, those numbers hold up. But with the time that Maxi's missed, it's gonna take him some time to get a rhythm. If those numbers don't hold up, that doesn't mean that we go away from it."
Kidd added: "We gotta work slowly with Maxi. We can't expect him to come back and be the one that pulls the defense together. It's gonna take him some time."-
Wood has made a diligent effort since being acquired by the Mavs in the offseason to improve defensively. He's proven to be a tremendous fit with Doncic, and the same surely will prove true with Irving. Wood presents the only dynamic offensive option among the team's big men and has shown shot blocking upside.
With the lack of size the Mavs face with Powell as the starting center, the team would be best served utilizing Wood as the starter. This was true on opening night, on Christmas Day, today, and it will be true come postseason time, too.
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Dallas Mavericks? Click Here.
Follow DallasBasketball.com on Twitter and Facebook.
Follow Grant Afseth on Twitter.
