Getty Christian Wood, formerly of the Rockets
Scratch Christian Wood off the Philadelphia 76ers’ offseason wish list. The 6-foot-11 big man will head to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the No. 26 pick in the 2022 NBA draft and four players with expiring contracts, according to ESPN.
The Houston Rockets are getting Boban Marjanovic, Marquese Chriss, Trey Burke, and Sterling Brown in return for Wood. The multi-player trade cannot be completed until draft night on June 23. Wood averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game last season for a Houston team that finished with the worst record in basketball. The Rockets were interested in moving Wood to free up playing time for 2021 first-rounder Alperen Sengun, per ESPN.
Wood had loosely been connected to the Sixers as a possible backup center or oversized forward to pair with Joel Embiid in the paint. The 26-year-old is entering the final year of his contract at a price tag of $14.3 million for the 2022-23 season. He began his career in Philadelphia as an undrafted rookie in 2015 and made his NBA debut for them on October 28 when he grabbed two boards in six minutes.
Dallas will also include Sterling Brown in the deal, source said.
The Sixers rostered him on four different occasions, via 10-day contracts — and he served multiple stints on their G League affiliate in Delaware. Wood averaged 3.6 points and 2.2 rebounds in 17 career games for the Sixers. According to reports, Wood clashed with then-coach Brett Brown and vented his frustration to teammate Tony Wroten: “Bro used to be in Philly with my like, “man what does coach brown see. I’m better than everybody in front of me Tone. He’s Buggin.”
Christian Wood putting the league on notice in his first four games as a Rocket 🚨 @ESPNNBA
∙ 31 Pts, 13 Reb, 1 Blks
∙ 23 Pts, 3 Reb, 2 Blks
∙ 21 Pts, 12 Reb, 2 Blks
∙ 20 Pts, 15 Reb, 4 Blks
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Rockets-Mavericks Trade: Sixers Connections
Wood isn’t the only player from the Rockets-Mavericks trade with Philly connections. Boban Marjanovic joined the Sixers in 2019 as part of a deadline deal with the Los Angeles Clippers that landed Tobias Harris. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while backing up Joel Embiid. The 7-foot-3 Serbian left for Dallas in free agency on a two-year contract. However, Marjanovic’s fast friendship with Harris – and his budding acting career – have made him a fan favorite.
Meanwhile, Sterling Brown was initially drafted by the Sixers in the second round of the 2017 draft. His rights were flipped to the Milwaukee Bucks on draft night for cash considerations. Trey Burke signed with the Sixers as a free agent in 2019 and saw action in 25 games. He averaged 5.9 points per game while shooting 42.1% from three-point land. Burke was waived and later inked a three-year contract with the Mavericks.
Impressive win by Dallas last night, their guards were a real problem and LAC couldn’t contain the ball without PBev.
Also, remind me again why the Sixers cut Trey Burke?
Sixers Bringing Back Shake Milton
The Sixers intend to exercise a $2 million team option on backup guard Shake Milton, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype. It’s a super cheap contract for a talented young guard with huge upside. The 25-year-old served as the primary backup point guard behind Tyrese Maxey prior to the James Harden trade.
Milton was also in the running to be a starter last season following a strong training camp until a sprained ankle ended his preseason. He averaged 8.2 points and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 42.9% from the field in 55 contests.
5 points in 5 seconds. 😤