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The Dallas Mavericks have a big decision to make with center Christian Wood. By trading for Wood over the summer, Dallas took a big gamble that Wood wouldn’t walk for a total loss in free agency just a year later.
That leaves two options for Dallas: re-sign him over the summer or trade him to recoup some assets ahead of the February deadline. And according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, teams around the league are preparing for the latter.
“Rival teams have begun monitoring what the Dallas Mavericks intend to do with center Christian Wood. Dallas has yet to show any indication that he has been made available for a trade, but some teams believe that could change soon.”
The news comes during a rough stretch of the season for Dallas. The Mavs have gone 3-5 since December 9, including ugly losses to the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves. Earlier in the month, the team looked to have turned a corner, with nice wins against the Suns and Knicks.
But at 16-16, this season has been a disappointing one for a team that made the conference finals last year. Yet the team has several decent veteran contributors if the team decides to be a seller at the trade deadline.
Mavericks ‘Very Hesitant’ to Move Josh Green
One of the players Dallas is not interested in moving is third-year upstart Josh Green. According to Tim Cato of The Athletic, the Mavericks think highly of Green, so much so that he might be untradeable for Dallas.
“[M]y understanding is that the Mavericks would be very hesitant to trade Green at this point. One person in the front office told me that he considered him the team’s third-most important player after Dončić and [Spencer] Dinwiddie. It’s a stance I agree with for the reasons listed above.”
It makes perfect sense for Dallas to hang onto Green. The 18th pick in the 2020 draft, Green struggled in his first two seasons in the league before coming on strong this year. He’s getting just 20 minutes per game, but his per 36 numbers suggest he should be earning more time. His three-point percentage (44 percent) leads the team among players who’ve appeared in at least three games.
If Green could improve in any area, it would be volume. That connection rate is ludicrous, but he’s attempting fewer than four threes per 36 minutes. He has the tools to be the ideal Doncic co-star — a floor spacer with defensive chops (Green has a solid 1.1 defensive box plus/minus).
If the Mavericks continue slumping, it might make the most sense for the team to look for ways to recoup assets and build around Doncic and Green. Wood could very much be part of that future, but whether he wants to stay in Dallas is another question entirely.
Wood Seeking ‘Bigger Role’ With Dallas
So far this season, head coach Jason Kidd has been reticent to throw Wood into the starting lineup. According to Haynes, this has led to some internal tension in Dallas.
“The fit in Dallas hasn’t been the most fruitful, and Wood has publicly and privately petitioned for a bigger role.”
That’s not to say Wood hasn’t seen solid minutes this season. In October and November, Wood earned roughly 25 minutes per game. And it looks as though Kidd might have finally heard the calls for the Mavericks to put Wood in the starting lineup. Wood has started in four of the last seven games, including the last three straight.
Given that he’s entering free agency this summer, it’s only natural for Wood to want a bigger role. This is his last chance to show off his skills in order to earn a $77 million contract he’s eligible for in the offseason.
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