3 reasons why the Mavericks will regret the Christian Wood experiment

2. The Dallas Mavericks lost Christian Wood for nothing

When Jalen Brunson left for more glamorous ventures in New York during the summer of 2022, it gave Mavericks fans PTSD to Mark Cuban refusing to pay Steve Nash in 2004, and Nash then winning back-to-back MVP awards shortly after.

Perhaps an underperforming and disgruntled Christian Wood doesn't warrant as much fan sentiment, but Wood's exit from Dallas has merely been accepted more by fans since Dallas had a good offseason, rather than something that fans are willing to forgive the front office over completely.

It's hard to gauge exactly what Christian Wood's value was this past season. Wood's production hinged on his minutes to a certain extent, and despite Wood's lack of stout rim protection, the argument can be made that Jason Kidd definitely should have ridden the hot hand more with Wood when he was playing well offensively.

Wood's counting stats look eerily similar across the board when you compare the 50 games that he came off the bench versus the 17 games he started last season for Dallas. However, he averaged 2.3 blocks per game in the games that he started. Wood had moments last season where he flashed some defensive ability, but oftentimes, it seemed as if it was co-dependent on his situation being good as well, as he struggled defensively amidst adverse situations (when he wasn't starting or closing games).

Ultimately, Wood's inconsistencies defensively limited him from seeing more playing time in Dallas, but the whole situation is a little sketchy given Jason Kidd's sporadic inclinations to take Wood out of the game despite him playing well throughout certain stretches last season.

Perhaps if Wood was showcased more or bought into the Mavericks' defensive system more, Dallas could have extracted value from a player who was supposedly digging out of a deeper hole than most from Jason Kidd (since Kidd reportedly never wanted him). Unfortunately, Dallas lost Wood for flat-out nothing, despite it being a forgone conclusion he'd be gone after the season ended.