Over the past month, the outbreak of Pistons' Christian Wood has been a Cinderella story that the league has not seen in a long time. It can even be said to be the best peak story of the league after "Linsanity".
In the 13 games after being moved to the starting lineup by the Pistons, Wood's performance was not only excellent but also stable. When he plays well, he can produce high-quality performances such as 30 points and 11 rebounds against the Jazz, or a career-high 32 points on 18 shots against the Sixers; when he plays poorly, he is actually pretty good too. . He scored more than 20 points in 9 of these 13 games, and scored less than 17 in only 1 game. Grabbed at least 7 rebounds in every game. As you can imagine, his average statistics during this period are also very good: 22.8 points (56.2% shooting percentage, 40% three-point shooting percentage), 9.9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.0 blocks, and 0.8 steals.
His outburst is almost mission impossible. Like Jeremy Lin, Wood entered the league as an undrafted rookie. However, unlike Jeremy Lin, who became a civilian hero in his second team, the 24-year-old Wood entered the league with his fifth team in the fourth season of his career. The team just emerged from the cocoon, and his experience in the league is even so old that he once participated in Philadelphia's "reconstruction process"!
After Philadelphia, he wandered to Charlotte, Milwaukee, and New Orleans, but was unable to perform well and consistently. And he even has to compete with Joe Johnson, the MVP of the Big 3 league last season, for the last starting position in training camp this season.
Looking at his current performance, it's hard not to fantasize about "What if the Pelicans kept him because of his strong performance at the end of last season and formed a mobile twin tower with Zion Williamson?" But in fact, joining the Pistons may be the best scenario Wood can choose. The Pistons were the first team to really give him consistent playing time. He played 1,286 minutes in Detroit this season, more than twice as many as the previous four seasons combined (503 minutes). His recent outbreak is not without warning. At least in the first half of this season, he has been one of the most productive substitute players in the league.
Wood is not only the kind of player who can produce good statistics on a weak team, whether he is a starter or a substitute, he can make the Pistons a better team. First, let’s take a look at the Pistons’ data before and after the Andre Drummond trade (Wood averaged 18.0 minutes per game / 33.8 minutes per game):
| Christian Wood | net rating | Final net efficiency value |
| Before trading | +3.7 | -6.2 |
| after transaction | -1.2 | -26.0 |
With Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson and even Luke Kennard all missing due to injuries, it has been a bit difficult for the Pistons to compete for the eighth place they are accustomed to (their wins in the past four seasons have been between 37-44 wins). It also allowed the team to decide to press the rebuild button. After trading Drummond, buying out Jackson and Markieff Morris, and even the remaining scoring leader Derrick Rose being inactive due to injuries, the Pistons no longer have much talent to speak of.
The most valuable thing about Wood is that even if the team's lineup is in turmoil, he still delivers stable performance. He has never played more than 75 minutes with any lineup this season. Even if the combination of teammates around him keeps changing, Wood can always find a way to affect the game. If you take the time to watch him play, you'll see that the results of all this are normal and moisture-free. Wood is a modern unicorn with the physical strength, skills and size (6 feet 10 inches, 214 pounds, 7 feet 3 inches wingspan).
His touch is soft, and his shooting distance has been extended to the three-point line. This season, he averaged 2.2 three-pointers per game, with a field goal percentage of 37.5% and a free throw rate of 7.2%. Nowadays, defenders will no longer leave him a complete gap outside the three-point line, but his shots are quick and his height and wingspan are outstanding. Unless the opponent does not leave his side, there is almost no way to interfere with his shots.
His dribbling skills are also mature enough. Now he can get off the ball, take a step or two, and dunk over anyone. Look at his good shots against the Thunder's two centers, Nerlens Noel and Steven Adams.
His ability to finish at the basket allows him to maintain his contribution in games where his hands are cooling. Wood's skill package is very special. He is both the extension number 4 and the pie-eating number 5. Judging from the shot distribution data, he is the top 151 TP3T player in the league who most often uses fixed-point jumpers, and he is also the top 51 TP3T player who responds to the basket after the pick-and-roll.
Another specialty of his is his versatility on defense. Facing the shots under the basket, he may suppress the opponent's shooting percentage to 54.2%, which is better than Drummond's data. But what really makes him unique is his face-up defense. Watch the video below. There are very few players of his size who can switch to Chris Paul, De'Aaron Fox or CJ McCollum without being completely blown away.
Wood has proven himself successful in a variety of roles. He can space the court, guard shorter players in front of the frame, and can fill the center position in small lineups. So here comes the question. Why have such talented players been ignored or even turned into rogues? (Original article) League managers I interviewed pointed to several key factors.
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