Getty Christian Wood
At some point, the Chicago Bulls may be forced to make a deal to add a power forward. The question is: what will the Bulls be willing to give up to add a needle-mover at the 4?
One recent trade proposal concept was floated by Fred Pfeiffer, a host on the Big Red Bus podcast. The object of Pfeiffer aka SeeRedFred’s poll was the Houston Rockets’ Christian Wood. The question Pfeiffer posted was should Chicago give up Patrick Williams, Coby White or both in an effort to acquire Wood?
Would you trade Patrick Williams and/or Coby White in order to acquire Christian Wood, the Rockets solid Power Forward, in order to compete for a title this year?
According to ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine, the deal would work financially, but only if the Bulls send both White and Williams to the Rockets. There are four options on the poll and the one leading midway through shows Bulls fans love their young players.
The highest percentage of voters feel the Bulls should keep White and Williams, but it’s pretty close.
Christian Wood Might Be the Ideal Option for the Starting Lineup
Wood isn’t a household name. It’s mostly because he plays for a pretty bad Houston Rockets team, but Wood has broken out over the past two seasons.
In 41 games during the 2020-21 season, Wood had a career year for the Rockets. The 26-year-old, 6’10” forward averaged 21 points, 9.6 rebounds and blocked 1.2 shots per game. Wood also shot 51% from the field and 37% from the three-point line.
He also averaged just under 5 free-throw attempts per game. Through 8 games this season, you could make the argument Wood has been even better. For the woeful Rockets, Wood is averaging 19.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and blocking a shot per contest. He’s making 48% of his shots, but his three-point shooting is up to 38%.
If you add a player like Wood to a starting lineup that includes Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls’ attack would be even more deadly. Wood would give the Bulls some much needed size and another legit rebounder alongside Vucevic.
The Bulls could get away from playing too small with their starters. The bench would still have some size issues, not to mention some new problems.
The Deal Likely Cripples the Bulls’ Bench
The Bulls bench desperately needs a scorer who can get his own offense. That player is White, who is due to return some time this month. If the Bulls let him go without finding someone who can fill the role, the bench will remain devoid of a primary scorer for the second unit.
Rookie Ayo Dosunmu would remain in the guard rotation with Alex Caruso, which is great from a defensive standpoint, but not quite as strong when it comes to scoring. The forwards Derrick Jones Jr. and Javonte Green have been scrappy this season, and the same can be said for steadying backup Tony Bradley, but Chicago would definitely have to continue to stagger a top scorer from the first unit to keep the bench dangerous.
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