Grade the Trade: Rockets Deal Christian Wood to Mavericks

Wood is heading up north I-45.

Jeremy Brener | Jun 15, 2022

The NBA world saw a bit of a spring in its step Wednesday night after the Houston Rockets traded Christian Wood to the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 26 pick in next Thursday's NBA Draft and four players.

A common practice when trades like this happen is to immediately judge those who made those decisions in the Houston and Dallas front offices ... so let's get those report cards out.

Dallas Mavericks

Acquired: Christian Wood

Traded: No. 26 pick, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss, Boban Marjanovic

The Mavericks get an immediate upgrade at the center spot with this move. Going from Dwight Powell, who struggled in this year's playoff run, from Christian Wood, who averaged nearly 20 and 10 in his two Houston seasons is a positive.

There are concerns with how Wood will fit in Dallas' defensive schemes given how poor he was at protecting the rim in Houston, but the pros outweigh the cons here.

Ultimately, the Mavs gave up a late first-round pick that wouldn't have made as much of a difference next season than Wood will. This is a win-now move for a Mavs team that was three wins away from the Finals and the low risk in the move makes this the correct decision for the Dallas front office.

Grade: B

Houston Rockets

Acquired: No. 26 pick, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss, Boban Marjanovic

Traded: Christian Wood

The Rockets check off a lot of boxes with this trade. By jettisoning Wood, the team opens up playing time in the frontcourt for Alperen Sengun and the No. 3 pick, likely to be a big man.

The team also grabs an additional first round pick, which opens up even more opportunities for the Rockets.

Houston needed to find a new home for Wood before his contract expired at the end of next season, otherwise it would have risked him walking away for nothing.

Wood's value also had no guarantee of skyrocketing this season, which makes the timeliness of this trade worth it. The team could have traded him earlier and might have gotten a better price for him at this year's trade deadline, but getting a first-round pick is still solid value.

Now, Houston can go into the draft next week with more options and a clearer vision as to what the team will look like this upcoming season.

Grade: B

Published Jun 15, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.