I’m on the side of letting Wood go was a mistake in my opinion. I read a couple of articles that indicated (despite his comment on Instagram) that he absolutely would have have come back if the Pistons paid him. And it wouldn’t have taken much. Highly doubt it was an either/or with Grant. No idea of how much they paid Plumlee, probably less is my guess but he’s about 30 years old I think and Wood is only 25. I bet the Rockets are ecstatic the Pistons let him go. He’s being called the steal of the offseason.
I’m no GM, and don’t pretend to keep up with salaries, player evaluations, and such, but even I would’ve kept Wood and drafted Mitchell and Haliburton…just sayin.
They absolutely could have brought Wood back. It wasn’t a matter of money. But if you bring Wood back, you’re not signing Grant because that’s a combo that would put you on the bubble for a playoff spot. Which is not where you want to be for a rebuild.
Dealing a guy putting up a 22/10 getting paid $13 million/ year for 3 years could be pretty fetching in the draft market.
Also, here is the thing I do not understand…you want a top 5 pick to draft good players. Is the guy putting up 22/10 not good? Draft picks seem to lose massive amounts of value in people’s eyes when they are converted to a human being.
Massive? I think that’s overstating it. I think he’s definitely a good trading asset. But I don’t think you’re going to get a lottery pick for him until he proves he can stay on the floor on defense in the playoffs. If he went to a good team, I don’t think he’s a starter. He’s be a very good big man off the bench.
Personally, I take Cunningham, Suggs, Green or Mobley over Wood. I think long term, all four of those have much higher ceilings on both ends of the floor. And if we had signed Wood, we wouldn’t be in position to get any of those players and wouldn’t have been able to trade into that spot without giving up more than just Wood.
Guys who put up 60%+ true shooting on usages over 25% don’t come off the bench. They could sit cross-legged on the floor on the other side. My point is this: whatever you could trade Wood for now is multiple times better than Josh Jackson and Delon Wright - effectively what they traded him for.
And also yes draft picks are unpredictable. But I’d rather have a shot at Cade, Evan Mobley, or Jalen Suggs that fit the pistons timeline much better than a 27 year old Christian Wood
In the regular season. I can’t seem him keeping up that level of production in the playoffs where he’ll also be a liability on the other end of the floor. I gotta see it before I believe it.
I don’t think that’s an argument for resigning him because signing Wood (in addition to Grant) most likely ensures you don’t get the biggest asset of them all - a top 5 pick in a loaded class.
It seems weird to simultaneously argue he’s not a starter caliber player AND that he’d carry the out of the lottery. He either is good and drives winning substantially enough to make the currently 5-15 Pistons no longer a bottom 5 team, or he’s not good, does not drive winning, and would not do that.
I said he wouldn’t be a starter quality player on a good team. Ie a championship contender. At least not until I see him play good defense in a meaningful game. The step from bad team to mediocre team - especially in the East - isn’t that big. Falling out of the top 5 would be a doomsday scenario for the Pistons. And signing Wood - if you are also signing Grant - does that.
If it’s either/or, then yeah sign Grant. But I’ve read nothing to suggest they couldn’t have signed both if they really wanted to. And this idea of trying to guarantee you’ll be bad enough to hopefully get a better player in the draft doesn’t make any sense especially if said player only has one or two teammates who are any good to play with.
Add to that, the Pistons talent evaluation from a draft perspective has frankly been pretty poor for awhile now. And even the ones that eventually pan out, such as Middleton, don’t do it until they get to other teams. #7 is a pretty high pick, and the Pistons could have made a much better selection last year. So I’m not sure how getting a top 5 would necessarily make much of a difference. Wood is/was really an extreme bargain at his price point.
You aren’t going to get out of mediocre purgatory until you get a superstar. The NBA is a superstar league. It’s far more likely to get a superstar if you draft top 3 versus the 7-15 range that the Pistons have drafted for the past decade. Pistons have been trying to put band aids on the organization for too long. It was long overdue to do a proper rebuild and stop trying to sneak in the playoffs. And if they can somehow land that top pick and get Cade, I think the future finally looks pretty bright.
No argument there, but even superstars need a solid supporting cast. Just ask Giannis and Steph. Leonard obviously has done well, but he’s had a lot of help.