Christian Wood – Detroit Pistons – 2019-20 Salary: $1.65M (Expected: $8M-$12M)
Christian Wood is a player that has not received the credit he deserves over the last year and a half and deserves to get paid this offseason. The 25-year old big man went undrafted in 2015 and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia 76ers. In his first three seasons, Wood bounced around from Philly, to Charlotte, to Milwaukee, and could not get any opportunities to show what he could do on the court.
During the 2018 Summer League, Wood got what seemed like a final chance to make an NBA roster, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks Summer League team, and made the most of his opportunity. The 6’10” forward was named to the All-NBA summer league first team after he averaged 20.4 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in five contests with Milwaukee, leading the team in all three categories.
After a stellar G-League season and Summer League performance, Wood got his opportunity at the NBA level starting the season with the Bucks, but ultimately being traded to the Pelicans and making a major impact in 2018.
This past season, Christian Wood averaged 13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocks while shooting 56.7% from the floor in 62 games with the Detroit Pistons. After battling for one of the last few roster spots a few years back, Christian Wood has earned his place as a starting power forward in the NBA and deserves every bit of what he will be getting paid this offseason.
When looking at the Knicks roster, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson fill out both of the big man positions, but with trade rumors circulating around Robinson’s future in New York, Christian Wood could come in and be a reliable option behind either player.
Believe it or not, the Knicks were top 3 in the league last season in rebounding, and adding Christian Wood can add to their rebounding efforts. Having a reliable option behind both Randle and Robinson would be extremely beneficial to the Knicks and if there is one thing we know, it is that Tom Thibodeau likes to have options at the big man position.
