Houston Rockets: 3 trades of Christian Wood to the Golden State Warriors

The Houston Rockets are in the midst of a rebuild. After years of making deep postseason runs the franchise crumbled to the league’s worst record. A large part of that was due to the Rockets’ losing James Harden, but of equal responsibility was the franchise’s lack of young reinforcements waiting in the wings.

The Rockets routinely flipped their first-round draft picks for immediate NBA-ready help as they chased a championship and as a result, they haven’t selected anyone in the first round since 2015. The team was built to win around James Harden and with him gone there simply wasn’t enough talent to compete.

The Houston Rockets need more young talent

The Rockets need an infusion of young talent and the 2021 NBA draft will offer them a chance to do just that. With the second, 23rd, and 24th picks the Rockets are making up for lost time but they will still be short in the youth department.

As disappointing as the 2020-21 season was for the Rockets, the emergence of Christian Wood, after signing for three years and $41 million dollars in the offseason, as an All-Star caliber player was a welcome ray of hope. In Wood, the Rockets have one of the most unique player assets in the entire NBA.

Christian Wood is the Houston Rockets best trade asset

Wood’s salary is that of a solid sixth or seventh man but his production makes him a borderline All-Star. Outside of players on rookie contracts, the list of centers who average 20 points a game on efficient shooting from 3-point range and are paid under $20 million annually starts and ends with Wood.

At only 25-years-old the Rockets may very well view him as a long-term building block and have no intentions of trading him. However, everyone has their price and there is one team in particular that has the assets and the need to swing a move for Christian Wood— the Golden State Warriors.

Why the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are perfect trade partners

The Warriors had their own season from hell in 2019-20. Due to injuries to two of their superstars, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry, the team limped to the worst record in the league after reaching the NBA Finals in each of the five previous seasons. And just like the Rockets this season, their worst overall record landed them the number two overall pick in the NBA draft, which they used to select James Wiseman.

The talent that Wiseman possesses jumps off the screen every time he runs down the court. No seven-foot human should move as gracefully and explode as easily through the heavens as he does. However, for all of his physical talents he remains a raw basketball talent and his lack of experience was glaring enough in his rookie season that the Warriors benched him during their playoff push.

The Warriors have an aging core that, with the right pieces around them, could still make one or two more pushes for a championship. While Wiseman might one day become a star, he won’t be one quick enough in time to overlap with the tail end of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson’s primes.

Christian Wood would be the perfect center to give the Warriors one final championship boost. His ability to stretch the floor would fit perfectly within the Warriors’ offense and many of his defensive limitations would be papered over by the still sublime Draymond Green.

The Warriors clock is ticking and Christian Wood could be their ticket to one final championship run with the core that brought them three titles. Fortunately for the Rockets, the Warriors don’t just have a need for Christian Wood, they also have the assets to pull off the move.

The Warriors had the aforementioned James Wiseman, the seventh and 14th picks in the 2021 NBA draft, and own their 2022, 2023, and 2027 first-round picks, with the ability to trade their 2025 and 2026 picks if necessary. The Warriors and the Rockets are perfect trade partners for a deal centered around Christian Wood. These are three trades that would send Christian Wood to the bay area and land the Rockets a massive return.

Next: Trade #3 

Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors Christian Wood trade #3

One of the reasons that Christian Wood is such an attractive trade candidate for the Golden State Warriors is their dire salary cap situation. The Warriors currently have $168.1 million in salary commitments for the 2021-22 season. While the NBA’s salary cap is soft, the Warriors paid $147 million last season in luxury tax alone.

The Warriors haven’t shied away from spending big but once a team goes above the luxury tax by as much and as consistently as the Warriors have, for accounting purposes, they’re essentially paying their players around 185-percent of their stated salaries. As noted before, Christian Wood’s contract is one of the most favorable in the entire league and the Warriors, more than any other team, could use a deal like his.

This trade is reminiscent of the James Harden trade in that the Rockets prioritize future assets over NBA talent. By taking on Andrew Wiggins’ contract the Rockets are saving the Warriors close to $20 million over each of the next two seasons in salary.

In many ways, this is two deals wrapped into one. In the first, the Rockets send Christian Wood to the Warriors for the seventh and 14th picks and the Warriors 2027 first-rounder. In the second, the Warriors take on Wiggins’ salary and are compensated for it with the Warriors’ 2023 and 2025 first-round picks.

Wiggins is still a useful player but he is in many ways the anti-Christian Wood. While Wood plays like an All-Star and is paid like a sixth man, Wiggins plays like a sixth man and is paid like an All-Star. This deal works for both sides in that the Warriors help their salary cap situation and add a player for another championship run and the Rockets add a bunch of future assets.

The seventh pick is a great pick, especially in a draft as deep as the 2021 draft, and the Warriors’ 2025 and 2027 first-round picks could be incredibly valuable based upon the age of their current core. This trade isn’t exciting and the Rockets could do better, which is why it’s only third, but if future assets are the priority, then this the deal to make.

Next: Trade #2 

Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors Christian Wood trade #2

If the Warriors and Rockets have any trade discussions over Christian Wood, one of the first names brought up by the Rockets will be James Wiseman. Wiseman was the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft but has already seen his stock plummet since then.

At times he looked lost on the court and the Warriors objectively played better with him on the bench. However, he remains an incredibly talented player, and playing for a team like the Rockets, who can live with his mistakes, is a much better environment for his development.

Wiseman, in a redraft of the 2020 draft, likely would not go second overall again but he’d remain a top-10 pick on talent alone. It can’t be forgotten that the Warriors run one of the most complex offenses in the league and Wiseman only played in three competitive basketball games over the course of a year due to NCAA eligibility issues before playing in the NBA.

To make the salaries work the Rockets would also land Jordan Poole. Poole is by no means a future star, but he’s young, cheap, and improved dramatically from his rookie to second season.

To finish off the deal the Rockets will get seventh and 14th picks in the 2021 NBA draft to go along with second, 23rd, and 24th picks to give them five in total. At the end of the day, the Rockets would be landing the equivalent of two top-10 picks, the 14th pick, and a late first-round pick for Christian Wood.

The Warriors would be paying a heavy cost but they end up with a center who can help them right away, opposed to Wiseman who is a ways away from being a difference-maker. The Rockets land their center of the future whose timeline matches up much better with the young core that they’re building. Both sides get what they want, and, more crucially, what they need.

Next: Trade #1

Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors Christian Wood Trade #1

This trade is a combination of trades number one and two. The Rockets get James Wiseman, Andrew Wiggins, and three highly value picks, while the Warriors get Christian Wood and the salary relief they desperately need.

If the Warriors feel they need more guard/wing depth then the Rockets could always throw Eric Gordon in the deal and land some small future asset to even the balance. That being said, this trade works for the Rockets on a multitude of levels.

The first, is they get Wiseman, the seventh pick in the 2021 draft, and the Warriors 2027 first-round pick. All three of these assets have a tremendous amount of future value. Wiseman could easily develop into a franchise center, the seventh pick is historically a valuable NBA contributor, and the Warriors’ 2027 first could be a high lottery pick.

The second is that by taking on Wiggins’ contract the Rockets have one of the most valuable assets for a rebuilding team, the salary to match. Due to the NBA’s salary cap constraints, teams are in constant need of a matching salary to facilitate a deal.

Wiggins might be overpaid but his salary can be the band-aid that makes a superstar transaction work. The Rockets won’t land a haul of picks but he’s a contract that they can move and be rewarded for down the line and in the meantime he’s a competent NBA starter.

Wiggins has been a bust since going number one overall in the 2014 draft but there’s always a chance he figures out how to tap into the talent that made him such a highly prized prospect in the first place. Not to mention with Wiggins and Wiseman swapped for Wood the Warriors will save $27 million in salary for next season, which is what makes this deal all the more likely to happen.

It’s rare for a team to be able to upgrade its roster and save money against the salary cap but this deal allows for the Warriors to do just that. The price is expensive but that’s what it takes to win a championship.

The Rockets would be insane to not listen to this offer and in all likihood they’d take it. They’d have botht the Nets and Warriors 2027 first round picks on top of five first round picks in this draft and James Wiseman. In one fell swoop the Rockets would insntanly have the brightest future of any NBA team. If moving Christian Wood is all that it takes to do that, then the Rockets should be ready to pull the trigger.