Detroit Pistons 2019-2020 player grade: Christian Wood
What Wood did well
At this point it’s been hammered home about as much as it can be that after the Drummond trade Wood became someone for the Pistons that they never expected.
Prior to the suspension of the NBA season, Detroit had played 13 games following the trade deadline, with Wood starting in 11 of them.
In those 13 games he averaged 22.8 points 9.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on 56.2 percent shooting, and 40.0 percent from three-point range.
This included scoring career highs in points in three of Detroit’s last four games. There’s a plausible chance that had the season resumed as scheduled and Wood continued to play the way that he did, he could have been in the conversation for the Most Improved Player award.
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He wanted to dunk on everybody all the time. His sheer force at the rim was nearly unstoppable for even the best defensive centers in the league. After spending the first quarter getting pushed around by Rudy Gobert, Wood flipped a switch.
He went on to score 30 points (which at the time was a career high) and secured 11 rebounds.
His fearlessness at the rim is what fans love the most. The tenacity with which he rebounds is off the charts.
Wood is a solid rim runner. His movement away from the ball needs improvement, but for someone who was hanging onto his roster spot by a thread, he was consistently providing quality minutes and made his teammates lives easier.
His ability to space the floor can help turn Detroit’s offense into something more versatile, which they never had with Drummond.