Christian Wood’s time with the Dallas Mavericks may have already come to an end.
With the NBA Finals wrapped up rather succinctly by the Denver Nuggets, the 2023 NBA offseason is officially underway, and the rumors are already swirling.
One of those from NBA insider Marc Stein involves Mavericks center and upcoming free agent Christian Wood, who, Stein says, Dallas has already “moved on” from internally.
“Wood is bound for unrestricted free agency,” Stein wrote in his Substack newsletter. “With the Mavericks, as I reported here April 9 and have subsequently reconfirmed this week, not expected to make him an offer to return. The Mavericks, sources say, have moved on and are looking to remake their center rotation.”
Wood, who was acquired from the Rockets prior to last season in exchange for Dallas’ 2022 first-rounder and a handful of spare parts, has had one up-and-down season in Dallas in which he averaged 16.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. He started just 17 games during the 2022-23 season, never really seeming to mesh with head coach Jason Kidd. Mavericks GM Nico Harrison’s comments about Wood in April didn’t inspire much confidence in the free agent making a return to Dallas.
The Mavericks’ primary goal this offseason, obviously, is to re-sign star free agent guard Kyrie Irving, and Wood could be a casualty of that. It doesn’t look great that the Mavericks finished 25th in defensive rating and dead last in rebounding in a season where Wood was their headline offseason acquisition, and Dallas has had rumored interest in adding a No. 1 big man via the trade market, as well.
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