Why the Houston Rockets need to trade Christian Wood

When an NBA franchise decides to enter a rebuilding phase they have a tendency to massage the truth and the Houston Rockets are no different. In a recent press conference, Rockets’ general manager, Rafael Stone, had an interesting take on the state of the Rockets in relation to the James Harden trade.

“[We think it helped] position us to maybe not have to be bad. There’s some other things we’ve done to help that too, but it’s primarily that deal that’s allowed us to say, ‘Hey, we want to compete on a slightly quicker time frame.’ We’re not going to go down this path of intentionally trying to lose games for years on end.”

While details have never fully emerged, the Rockets, through the James Harden trade, could have landed Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert from the Brooklyn Nets. Both are young talented players that would have instantly made the Rockets better this year and next.

It can’t be forgotten that Ben Simmons was reportedly offered by the Philadelphia 76ers for Harden, which makes Stone’s comments about wanting to, “compete on a slightly quicker time frame,” appear to be disingenuous. If the Rockets wanted to compete quickly, why would they eschew trades that would have landed them competent NBA players for a draft pick haul that won’t have much value until 2025?

Rafael Stone is massaging the truth. NBA general managers do it all the time and there is nothing inherently wrong with it. However, if the Rockets are lying about having a quick rebuild, then it’s reasonable to believe that the Rockets are engaging in a process-esqu teardown.

The Rockets’ return for James Harden won’t make their rebuild quicker, it might make their rebuild better, but it definitely won’t make it quicker. With that in mind, if the Rockets really want to speed up their rebuild’s timeline then they should seriously consider trading Christian Wood.

Next: Christian Wood's trade value is at an all-time high

Houston Rockets: Christian Wood’s trade value is sky-high

The Rockets signing of Christian Wood was the best move of the offseason. The Rockets were able to land an All-Star caliber player at the ripe age of 25 for the modest commitment of three years and $41 million.

Wood is currently the 96th highest-paid player in the NBA and is making only $2,174 more than J.J. Reddick. Needless to say, Wood is vastly underpaid compared to his production and locked down at that rate for two more seasons.

If it wasn’t for an ankle injury that prevents him from qualifying on leaderboards, Wood’s 20.9 points per game would rank 30th in the league, his 9.3 rebounds would rank 14th, and his 1.3 blocks would rank 11th. Wood has been elite across the board and he is one of five centers to take over four 3-pointers a game and he has converted them at a 36.7-percent clip, which is exactly the league average.

Add it all up and Wood is an elite center that’s paid like an NBA rotation piece. His value through trade is up there with the best players in the league because while his production isn’t at that level, his salary could fit nicely into just about any team’s ledger.

The NBA salary cap is the driver of a player’s trade value. A team can only fit so much salary into their roster so players that are underpaid compared to their production have outsized value through trades.

Almost every contender has maxed out their cap space which forces them to bargain hunt in free agency or scour the buy-out market in season. Wood is one of the lone impact players that could be added without eschewing an entire roster’s worth of rotation players just to match salaries.

James Harden landed the Rockets four first-round picks and four pick-swaps, and while Wood won’t land a return that robust, he could easily secure the franchise multiple first-round picks and an intriguing young player at the very least. If the Rockets are serious about a drawn-out rebuild, moving Wood, while he has maximum value, would be the smart move, no matter how painful.

Next: Trading Wood now is what's best for the Rockets

Houston Rockets: Why trading Wood sooner is better

Wood’s sky-high trade value is tied up in his contract. He’s an immensely valuable player at around $13 million a season, but most of that value will be eaten up if he’s making over $30 million a season.

Fortunately for the Rockets, he still has two more years after this season on his deal, and moving him this offseason could land the Rockets an immense haul for a team trying to gear up for a title run or a franchise trying to finally break into the playoff picture.

A team like the Charlotte Hornets or Boston Celtics who both need a center and have ample draft assets could make a perfect trade partner for the Rockets. There are few teams that couldn’t use Wood’s on-court production and even fewer that couldn’t figure out a way to squeeze him into their cap sheet.

Another reason the Rockets should aggressively shop Wood is that he alone won’t make them a playoff team. The reality is, the Rockets won’t be competitive until Wood is much more expensive. Once he’s on a max deal, he’s merely a fairly compensated player and not a gold mine of surplus value.

The Rockets 2020-21 season has been awful on so many levels but their acquisition of Wood was one of the best moves of the season. They should read the tea leaves and let one of their few good decisions become a bunch of good decisions by the time they’re ready to compete.

Next: The Rockets time to rebuild is right now

Houston Rockets: What would trading Christian Wood means for next season

If the Rockets do go ahead and trade Christian Wood, their 2021-22 season, regardless of who they land in the draft, won’t be pretty. However, the Rockets outright own their 2022 and 2023 first-round picks and it makes sense for them to aggressively tank within that window as they still owe the Oklahoma City Thunder two top-four protected picks in 2024 and 2026 and a 2025 first-round pick swap.

The Rockets’ window to tank is effectively over the next two seasons, which are the final two years of Wood’s deal. Giving up a player of his talent would hurt the Rockets tremendously but it’s the best way for the franchise to get back into contention.

Tanking has become a dirty word in sports circles, but until the major American professional sports leagues stop rewarding ineptitude, franchises will continue to bottom out in the hopes of building a competitive roster in the future. Teams have championship windows but they have tanking windows as well.

The Rockets’ window to tank is in 2022 and 2023. They need to seize the moment and tank their hardest over the next two seasons so they can have a real championship window come 2025. If they’re able to land high lottery picks over the next three seasons and coupled with the Brooklyn Nets picks coming their way the Rockets will have a chance to have one of the best young teams in the entire NBA.

Christian Wood is a very good NBA player and his presence alone will make it harder for the Rockets to bottom out when they really need to. The assets he could bring back in a trade when combined with their war chest of picks would put them in a position to acquire a superstar right as their roster is ready to compete again.