Welcome to the Christian Wood Fantasy Basketball Dynasty article! If you haven’t already, check out our Dynasty Outlook articles on Brandon Ingram and Bam Adebayo.
Christian Marquise Wood was born on September 27th, 1995, in Long Beach, California. Wood is 6-foot-10 and weighs 220 pounds. He has a GIGANTIC 7-foot-3 wingspan, which helps him shoot over most defenders.
Before committing to play for Dave Rice at UNLV, Wood had another offer to play for the University of Southern California.
College
Wood was the No. 71 ranked prospect coming out of high school according to ESPN. Wood committed to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and played there for two years.
He didn’t receive much playing time during his freshman year playing behind Khem Birch, but his sophomore year was a different story. With Birch forgoing his final year of eligibility and entering the NBA draft, Wood had the front-court all to himself.
As a sophomore, Wood averaged 15.7 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks while shooting just under 50% from the field while playing 33.7 minutes per game. He earned 1st Team All-Mountain West honors.
After the conclusion of the 2015 season, Wood declared for the 2015 NBA Draft.
Early Career
Even though most mock drafts had Wood being taken in the late first/early second round, he surprisingly went undrafted. After the draft, he joined the Houston Rockets for the 2015 Summer League before ultimately signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.
He only played 17 games for the 76ers during the 2015-16 season while shuttling back and forth between them and the NBA Development League. On January 4th, 2016, he was waived.
Wood was then signed by the Charlotte Hornets during the 2016 NBA offseason. Similar to his rookie year, Wood shuttled back and forth between the Hornets and the NBA Development League.
Failing to make an NBA team following the 2017 NBA Summer League, Wood took his talents to China and signed to play in the Chinese Basketball Association. Without ever playing a game, he was waived. Wood returned to the states and latched on with the 76ers’ developmental team.
On August 14, 2018, Wood was signed by the Milwaukee Bucks.
After being waived by the Milwaukee Bucks in March of 2019, the New Orleans Pelicans claimed him off waivers. The Pelicans signed him following the trade demands of Anthony Davis and also after trading away Nikola Mirotic. There were plenty of minutes available to Christian Wood for the first time in his career.
Wood played the final eight games of the 2018-19 season for the Pelicans and averaged:
- 16.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 1.3 blocks in just 23.6 minutes per game.
Here were his per-36 numbers during that eight-game stretch:
- 25.7 points, 12 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 2.5 blocks
Despite impressing during his short time with the Pelicans, Wood was waived on July 15, 2019.
Present Year
Wood was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Pistons on July 17, 2019. It was a great landing spot for him to carve out minutes as the backup big man to Andre Drummond.
Before the All-Star Break, Wood only played 19.1 minutes per game. In those minutes, he averaged a decent 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and 0.8 blocks, but he barely cracked the rotation with Drummond in front of him.
The door swung WIDE OPEN for Wood after the Pistons traded Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Here were Wood’s averages post-All-Star Break (sans Drummond):
- 24 points, 1.6 three-pointers, 9.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.0 blocks a game
After Drummond was shipped out of town, Wood started and averaged 34.6 minutes per game. The Pistons seemed willing to give Wood all the minutes he can handle heading into the 2020 offseason. He didn’t disappoint.
Dynasty Outlook
It took Christian Wood four years and five different teams to FINALLY earn consistent playing time. Once Blake Griffin went down for the year, the rebuild was ON for the Pistons, which meant more minutes for Wood.
Wood took FULL advantage of his new opportunity. In the 13 games following the trade, Wood produced Top 25 numbers in nine-category leagues according to Yahoo Sports.
Where will he play next year?
Wood will be an unrestricted free agent following the conclusion of the 2019-20 NBA season. The only two teams that have shown public interest in signing Christian Wood this offseason are the Pistons and New York Knicks.
Detroit Pistons
Wood took the minutes left behind by Drummond and RAN WITH THEM. The across-the-board stats he produced over the last 13 games is what you can expect from Wood moving forward IF he re-signs with the Pistons.
New York Knicks
The Knicks’ front office is reportedly “enamored” with Christian Wood. This may seem like a lateral move for the Knicks given their insane (albeit porous) depth at the Power Forward/Center position, but they are fully expected to move on from Bobby Portis and Taj Gibson. If the Knicks sign Wood and let Portis and Gibson walk, he could be looking at massive minutes playing for a rebuilding Knicks team.
The 24-year-old’s potential dynasty value are wholly dependent on the situation he goes to this summer. If he signs with a rebuilding team, he will be a fantasy STUD. If he signs with a contender, it will be tough for him to carve out enough minutes to produce consistent fantasy numbers. Given his young age (24), I expect a rebuilding team to PAY UP for his services.
Strengths: FG%, PTS, REB, 3P Semi-Strengths: FT%, STL, BLK
Weaknesses: N/A
Wood is a prime target for dynasty owners in the 5th round (Picks 60-65). Despite not knowing which team he’ll play for next season, Wood’s ability to produce across-the-board stats give him a high-floor in fantasy. A young big man who can score, rebound, hit three-pointers, steal, and block while providing a high field-goal percentage and a decent free-throw percentage is who you should want on your team.
He shouldn’t slip past the fifth round of any dynasty draft.
For context purposes, I have given a list of players that have a similar Dynasty ranking to Christian Wood going into next season:
I’m taking Christian Wood OVER
Players I’d take OVER Christian Wood
Questions?
Feel free to ask us any fantasy or real-life questions here on the website or on Twitter.
You can find us on Twitter: @AintDunneYet, @starks_industry, @SageNetworkX, @FantasyCentral1, @_c_gutierrez,@drewthompson116
Don’t forget to subscribe to NewLifeFantasy.com mailing list and sign up as a member for FREE to get all updates from us. Also, please subscribe to Take A Ride Podcast and to our YouTube Channel. It helps us keep the site, podcast, and YouTube channel going.
God bless all of you!
Jacob W. Dunne
