The Knicks are one of the team most interested in Christian Wood.
It is difficult to imagine that the Pistons, after making this solid discovery forward, will easily let go of Wood. The free abbreviated agency will not start for another four months – after the October 15th draft.
Wood, extracted from UNLV in 2015, became a theft for Detroit after the attacker worked anonymously in the NBA for four previous teams. Excellent work by Pistons boss Ed Stefanski, the former Nets executive who has just added OKC’s extraordinary executive Troy Weaver to his staff.
The Knicks like Wood – as SNY reported for the first time – and is well above his COVID-19 diagnosis. Wood was a team mate of Julius Randle in New Orleans for a short time during the 2018-19 season. In nine games, Wood averaged 16.9 points.
Sure, Wood has played for the terrible Pistons this season, but the 24-year-old striker has averaged 13.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 62 games.
Over the course of a stretch, a talent assessor thought that Wood was playing at an All-Star level. But another manager of the group warned: “It was with five teams – it’s not a dunk.”
The Knicks are looking for a power forward that can fire from the mid-range and the 3-point line with the likely departure of Bobby Portis. Wood shot 56.7 percent from the field – and 38.6 percent from 3.
Wood made $ 1.6 million this season. Even with the major cut in the wage cap, Wood could earn five, six times that of next season.
However, beware: the information provided by the UNLV in 2015 was not stellar, according to sources.
That’s why the Knicks, one of the few clubs with room for caps, may be reluctant to defend their 2021 cap in the long run.