Rockets trade Christian Wood to Mavericks

A big move a week before the draft.

The Houston Rockets made a major move just before the NBA Draft, trading Christian Wood to the Dallas Mavericks for a package that includes Boban Marjanovich, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss, and the number 26 overall pick in the upcoming draft.

Wood was long rumored to be on the trade block, as he was in the last year of his deal, and the Rockets are expected to be drafting at least one, if not two big men in the upcoming draft. And now with three first-round picks, that becomes an even bigger possibility.

It also signals that the Rockets are likely not drafting Jaden Ivey and will instead be taking whichever of the top three big men in the draft falls to them. Right now, that’s expected to be Paolo Banchero.

As for the haul, if you recall, both Chriss and Brown have both played for the Rockets before, while none of the four players would be considered difference makers. It remains to be seen what GM Rafael Stone does with the these guys, but it’s likely at least some of them will be flipped and never play a second. All four of them have expiring deals.

Add in the draft pick, and Wood was ultimately traded for immense flexibility and even gives the Rockets ammo to trade up in the draft with the 17th and 26th pick if they so choose. While Houston got not much of note in the player department, we’ll see what Stone does before we can make any final determinations on the deal.