New starting Mavericks center Christian Wood, inserted into the team’s first five in recent weeks, seems to finally be adjusting to his new Dallas teammates, and his two-way output has blossomed of late, writes Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News.
“Any time a trade happens, it’s just not the numbers or analytics. It’s not a computer game,” Dallas head coach Jason Kidd said. “A human athlete has to perform and has to make the adjustments. As much as we want trades to happen and for them to be successful overnight, it just takes time… You can see he’s starting to get comfortable, and his teammates are getting comfortable with him, and now it’s just a matter of building on the foundation that we’ve built.”
“He’s active,” Dallas All-Star guard Luka Doncic raves. “He listens to us, and that’s what he needs to do. He helped us a lot, not just [Sunday], but the last couple games he’s been amazing.”
Across the last eight contests, Wood has been averaging 20.3 PPG on 51.8% shooting and 9.1 RPG while shooting 51.8% from the floor in that span, while his net rating has improved to 8.4 points per 100 possessions.
“I feel like my defense has picked up a little bit in these few weeks,” Wood said, “and these guys just having that confidence to trust in me to make defensive plays.”
Wood is now eligible for a four-year, $77MM contract extension, but Caplan notes that neither the Mavericks nor Wood’s reps seem to have made major inroads into negotiations as of now.
There’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Maximum-salaried Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine could emerge as an intriguing trade target for the Mavericks, partnering Doncic with an elite shooter in the backcourt if healthy. Tim MacMahon of ESPN recently told colleague Zach Lowe on the latter’s Lowe Post podcast that some members of the Mavericks’ front office are interested in potentially trading for LaVine. “I just know that there are fans of him that hold prominent positions within the Mavericks,” MacMahon said. “Again, I’m not sitting here and telling you there’s some great consensus. I think there’s enough fans of him where I wouldn’t totally rule it out.”
- Though Pelicans‘ lease on their current home court, Smoothie King Center, will expire in 2024, it does not appear that New Orleans is planning to migrate in the immediate future, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “Their intention is to extend the lease,” vice president of stadiums for ASM Global Doug Thornton said. “We’re going to determine what capital improvements need to be made. We’re always putting money into the arena. The question is how much?”
- Spurs guard Devin Vassell has exhibited a skillset beyond just being an enticing scorer, writes Jeff MacDonald of The San Antonio Express News. Though Vassell has seen his scoring output improve from averaging 7.3 PPG last season to 19.6 PPG this season, the 22-year-old feels that he has grown as a leader as well for this rebuilding young San Antonio club. He is also posting a slash line of .447/.403/.800. “I’ve had a good year when it comes to scoring, but it’s not just scoring,” Vassell reflected. He is set to sit tonight against the Knicks due to a sore left knee, Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express News reports (Twitter link).