Among the leading questions after the three-year agreement between the Houston Rockets and free agent center Christian Wood are these:
Is that deal enough to satisfy superstar guard James Harden, who recently requested a trade to Brooklyn? And what kind of on-court chemistry might the 31-year-old Harden and his new big man have?
On Saturday night, longtime beat writer Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle offered some optimism: It appears that Harden and Wood have already played together in recent weeks during pickup games.
Though Wood’s rise from having to play his way onto the Pistons roster before the season to coveted free agent after made him a bit of a sudden sensation, Harden should know his game well. He and Wood played together in Los Angeles pickup games this offseason.
New #Rockets at #TXSN – Landing Christian Wood a vital first step in retooling Rockets https://t.co/goDgZnwNBQ
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 22, 2020
An athletic 6-foot-10 big man with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, Wood averaged 13.1 points (56.7% shooting, 38.6% on 3-pointers) and 6.3 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game in Detroit last season. He is only 25 years old, which gives Houston — one of the NBA’s oldest teams — both a short-term frontcourt upgrade and a key building block for years to come.
Perhaps the best part of all for Harden and the Rockets is that Wood might not be done improving. After the Pistons traded starting center Andre Drummond in early February, Wood took advantage of a larger role by averaging 22.3 points (56.2% FG, 41.0% on 3-pointers) and 9.5 rebounds in 34.1 minutes per game over the rest of Detroit’s season.
It remains to be seen if that production will hold over a full season, and whether it’s enough to reconvince Harden about the Rockets as his long-term NBA home. But with training camp for the 2020-21 season set to open on Dec. 1, his offseason experience with Wood certainly can’t hurt.
