Before Friday night, it was tempting to declare the Dallas Mavericks as BACK. Dallas reeled off three straight wins, including a blowout against the Phoenix Suns and a nail-biter over Denver Nuggets. But perhaps the most encouraging of all was a one-point loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, a team usually tiered in the NBA’s elite.
Then came Friday. A rough loss on the second night of a back-to-back over the lowly Chicago Bulls. Dallas coughed up 144 points and looked offensively stunted without Luka Doncic, who rested. But Doncic’s exclusion from the starting lineup wasn’t the only noticeable difference for the Mavericks. Head coach Jason Kidd turned some heads by starting Christian Wood.
Last week, it would have sounded outlandish for Wood to be inserted into the starting lineup, per one league insider.
“Look, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s going to take something unforeseen for Jason Kidd to budge on putting Christian Wood in the starting lineup,” ESPN’s Tim McMahon said on The Hoop Collective podcast.
But against the Bulls, that “something unforeseen” came to fruition.
Kidd: Wood ‘Comfortable Just Playing His Role’ for Mavericks
In just about any statistical category for Dallas this season, expect to find Wood’s name near the top. Usage? Wood is third on the team. Points per game? Wood is behind only Docic, with 16.8. Even three-point percentage (40.7 percent), Wood is just third among Mavs who’ve appeared in at least 10 games.
So why hasn’t Wood gotten the nod as a starter? Two reasons: defense and depth. The Mavericks have a glut with its big men: JaVale McGee, Dwight Powell, and Maxi Kleber all makeup decent options at the five for Dallas.
And defensively, his block and steals rates just aren’t good enough for his position (though his rebounding very much is). He can still be seen getting lost on the defensive end, usually on switches in which he loses his man.
Because of that, head coach Jason Kidd has been reticent about starting Wood. Instead, Kidd insists that Wood get comfortable in his role off the bench.
“I think that you can see that he’s comfortable playing his role,” Kidd said, per Doyle Radar of Forbes. “He’s doing a great job for us on both ends, offense and defense. Just understanding that we’re trying to get the ball offensively because he is a talent. The nice part about that is he’s really unselfish, and he’s looking to make the right play, and he’s doing that at a high level for us right now. And we need that.”
The odds of the Mavericks starting Christian Wood were discussed on “The Hoop Collective” podcast: “Look, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, it’s going to take something unforeseen for Jason Kidd to budge on putting Christian Wood in the starting lineup.”
(via @ESPNNBA)
So far this season, Wood isn’t the only new Mav looking for more playing time.
Luka: ‘I’m Not The Coach’
Against the Bulls on Friday, rookie Jaden Hardy cashed in for a career-high 15 points in 23 minutes in what came as by far the biggest game of his career. But it wasn’t long ago that Hardy was completely out of the rotation, which drew some raised eyebrows from Hardy’s teammates.
“I think you’re asking the wrong person. I’m not the coach,” Doncic said when asked whether or not Hardy could help the Mavericks this season. “I just work here, man.”
Hardy was a second-round pick this summer, but history tells us that he might have much more in the tank. Prior to a let-down season with G-League Ignite, Hardy was the No. 2 recruit in the country, wedged between Chet Holmgren (No. 1) and Paolo Banchero (No.3), both of whom were top picks last summer.
In Hardy, the Mavs essentially took a gamble on pedigree. It’s not a bad bet — the NBA has seen former top high school recruits like Tyrese Maxey fall in the NBA draft, only to resurface after a season or two of constant play. If Hardy could become a solid scorer for Dallas, it would mean an added shooter to float around Doncic, which is precisely what Dallas needs.
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Insider Reveals What it Would Take for Christian Wood to Start for Mavericks