Mavs 'Want to Keep' Christian Wood - But Is 'Dynamic' Big Man Tweeting 'Goodbye'?
DALLAS — After trading the No. 26 overall pick and a slew of small contracts in exchange for Christian Wood last offseason, the Dallas Mavericks are at risk of losing a talented player in exchange for nothing just one year after the same happened with Jalen Brunson.
"You don’t give up a first-round pick just for one run at a playoffs,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban recently said of trading for Kyrie Irving (but applies to Wood).
Wood is coming off a productive 2022-23 campaign with the Mavs, averaging 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 26.0 minutes per game. Among all 82 players that logged at least 1,000 scoring possessions, his output of 1.105 points per possession ranked 16th.
And while the Mavs are suggesting they'd like to retain him, Wood on Twitter seems to be talking about Dallas in the past tense.
"I want to thank everyone and Mavs fans especially for (their) support this season," Wood tweeted. "Dallas has a special place in my heart, Back to the grind ..."
Wood stated publicly on Media Day that his goals were to win games and to be an All-Star. Neither of which occurred with the Mavs this season. It's important to also take into consideration, JaVale McGee was promised a starting role before in order to get him to agree to sign a three-year, $20.1 million contract in free agency. The reporting surfaced long before the team even started training camp, meaning that Wood's bench role had formulated before players competed for jobs.
Wood began the season in a bench role and the Mavs' opening night loss against the Phoenix Suns proved to be a microcosm for his first season with the team. He scored 16 consecutive points early in the fourth quarter to push the Mavs' lead to 15 with 8:31 remaining in regulation, but was not given the opportunity to close the game.
Wood had started just one of his first 26 games played before being inserted into the starting lineup due to Maxi Kleber's torn hamstring. During that stretch of the season, Wood averaged 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds, while shooting 55.0 percent from the floor and 40.2 percent from beyond the arc.
Even after Wood thrived as a starter while Kleber recovered from a torn hamstring, the Mavs didn't continue to utilize him in that role. Dallas went 9-8 when Wood started overall, but specifically, the team was 9-4 when he started alongside Luka Doncic. Wood averaged 20.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.3 blocks as a starter.
"Initially, it was very difficult. I'm going to be honest," Wood said of beginning the season off the bench. "But I stayed levelheaded. I knew I was on a new team, a team that had just gotten to the Western Conference finals. I just wanted to do anything that could impact winning, whether that's coming off the bench or starting."
Wood sustained a fractured thumb during a loss against the Atlanta Hawks in January after thriving in a starting role. He ultimately missed eight games and made his return to the lineup two games before the Feb. 9 trade deadline. Still, there was no contract extension in place.
“He gives us a dynamic that we haven’t had in a long time,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban told NBA.com in mid-January. “He’s somebody who can post up, make a 3, attack, close out, block a shot, and rebound. He’s really helped us..
Cuban also stated in the interview: "We'd like to keep him."
After losing Brunson for nothing after a late-season breakout just one season ago, the Mavs diminished Wood's playing time after the trade deadline. He averaged just 21.0 minutes per game since that point and played more games receiving 18 minutes or fewer (nine) during this stretch compared to games with 25 minutes or more (eight).
"That's really more of a coaching question than me. I don't dole out minutes," Harrison said. "Just because you're an efficient scorer, there's more to the game than just that. I think it is important to note that."
While minutes may be a coaching question for most organizations, even when the question was raised, the explanation didn't necessarily answer the questions regarding the situation. Kidd explained that due to Maxi Kleber returning to the lineup, Wood had already seen a reduction in minutes before Kleber returned on Feb. 28. Keep in mind, Wood averaged 19.0 minutes per game in the eight games he played since returning from his own injury prior to Kleber's return.
"You look at just the depth that we have with all the bigs, we're trying to get them in the game and see who has the hot hand, and right now, with Maxi [Kleber] back, that's going to cut some of his minutes down, especially when we're healthy," Mavs coach Jason Kidd said in mid-March after a road loss against the Memphis Grizzlies. "That's just the way it is right now, and it can change as we go forward."
The Mavs ultimately failed to even qualify for the play-in tournament despite trading for Kyrie Irving, making them the only team with multiple NBA All-Star starters. Despite appearing in 16 games with Irving and Luka Doncic, Wood played a total of 75 minutes with both players. Among all 141 three-man combinations that played at least 15 games together, this trio ranked 110th in total minutes.
Given an inconsistent and often diminished role despite being in a contract year, Wood remained a highly efficient scorer. He is set to reach unrestricted free agency after finishing the final season of a a three-year, $41 million contract. He has been eligible to sign a four-year contract extension worth $77 million since Christmas Eve after initially being eligible to sign a two-year extension since the trade.
"I thought Christian Wood was efficient," Harrison said. "He made the most of the time that he played. Offensively, he was amazing."
On Monday, Wood tweeted a seeming "thank you'' post on his official Twitter account to Mavs fans for the support that was provided to him during the offseason — calling Dallas a place that has a special place in his heart.
The Mavs have Wood's Bird rights, meaning they can exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. However, when discussing his impending free agency outlook, a theme will be to look at the teams with salary cap space and not consider much beyond that pool. There's more to take into consideration when surveying the landscape.
While the circumstances are different, the New York Knicks showed the Mavs last summer that salary cap space can be created when needed. Other possibilities that are present with free agents include sign-and-trade scenarios, but require cooperation from both sides and a contract that spans at least for three years.
Given the NBA CBA change that will allow teams to discuss contracts with their free agents after the final game of the NBA Finals, more of the onus will be on the Mavs to discuss price points with Irving and Wood before they reach free agency as opposed to it being easier for the market as a whole to dictate that initial value.
Before the Mavs' trade options can be known, greater clarity will be required from the outcome of the NBA Draft lottery. There is a 20.8 percent chance Dallas loses its first-round pick since it's top-10 protected and it has the 10th best odds for the top overall pick. There is just a 3.0 percent chance of the Mavs landing the top pick and a 13.9 percent chance of ending up with a top four selection.
There will be a need for the Mavs to improve defensively regardless of whether they can retain Irving and/or Wood. The team fell from being a top defense but with declines from their aging top defenders after a long Western Conference Finals run and physically over-taxing Doncic early in the season, their approach had caught up to them.
"The two biggest things we need: defense, period," Harrison said. "And then rebounding. So, that's going to be addressed."
And it might have to be addressed in the form of a big man not named "Christian Wood.''
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