New Orleans Pelicans: Top players to watch in NBA Summer League

3. Christian Wood

The 2018-19 New Orleans Pelicans season was certainly one to forget due to the whole Anthony Davis situation. With most of the attention being on how all of that would transpire, the team ended up taking a step back on the court as well. However, with all of the disappointment that went on during the season, Christian Wood was one player at the end of the season that showed some promising things.

As a late-season addition after being waived by the Milwaukee Bucks, Wood joined the team in late March and had an immediate impact. In only his second game with the team, Wood put up a stat line of 23 points, nine rebounds and six blocks against the Atlanta Hawks.

He then followed that up with a 25-point, nine-rebound performance against the Sacramento Kings, and in his season finale against the Golden State Warriors, he put up 26 points and 12 boards. Wood only played in eight games for the Pelicans, but was able to reach double-digits in the scoring column in six of those contests.

Although at that point in the season a lot of teams weren’t too invested in the outcomes of the games and most of them were meaningless, Wood still proved that he is more than capable of making a difference to an NBA game. Starting the season on the loaded and eventual No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks, Wood did not get a chance to prove what he could do on the court. However, once he got that opportunity with New Orleans, he made the most of it.

Coming into Summer League, it will be interesting to see if Wood has added anything to his game. Some things in particular would be shooting from 16 feet and out, and improving his strength in the post. Coming off his encouraging end to the season, hopefully he can build on that and end up contributing to this team once the regular season comes around.