Houston Rockets: How Christian Wood can bring balance to the offense

The Houston Rockets have never had a big like Christian Wood in the James Harden era. They’d be wise to adjust their offense accordingly.

We pondered the moves the Houston Rockets would seek in free agency to entice James Harden to retract his desire to play elsewhere and whether any of those potential signings would address their unique circumstances at the center position.

The answer to both was made clear once ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Christian Wood was headed to Houston on a three-year, $41 million deal.

In a relatively weak free-agent class, Wood stood out as a potential steal. He crept onto NBA radars following a blazing finish to his shortened season with the Detroit Pistons in which he averaged 22.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists a night in his final 13 outings.

$13.6 million a year is a lot of value to place on just 13 games in which Detroit was just 1-12. There’s no telling whether Wood is worth that money or if Harden will stick around long enough to find out. Until that breakup comes, it’s worth examining how the Rockets’ latest addition can potentially spark some much-needed change in their offense.

Trading for Russell Westbrook had a lot to do with the simplification of Houston’s offense this past season. Two non-shooters wasn’t sustainable. Westbrook’s talent alone was worth prioritizing over Clint Capela, not to mention the draft capital sacrificed to acquire the former MVP.

Implementing a five-out isolation-heavy offense was the best way for Mike D’Antoni to maximize the talent of his backcourt while minimizing the creative limitations imposed on him everywhere else by cap restraints Daryl Morey had to circumvent.

As long as Russ remains a Rocket, spacing must be prioritized hand-in-hand with the need for size up front.

Wood hit 40.4 percent of his 114 catch-and-shoot triples last season and 38.6 percent overall on a modest 2.3 attempts per game. Though not backed by enough volume to project long-term success, Wood’s perimeter showing should still be enough to allow both Harden and Westbrook to continue thriving in isolation, sets new head coach Stephen Silas should by no means completely abandon.

But the two All-Stars had all the room to do just that last season and it barely got them out of the first round before a second-round stomping.

Let’s assume the Rockets knew of the signing to come when they freed up the cap space that started by trading Robert Covington. Replacing the 3-and-D wing with something closer to a traditional big man in Wood has to foster change beyond names on the lineup sheet. Stylistic adjustments must be made to better Houston’s chances of cracking postseason-level defenses.

Of players with more than 100 such plays, only Brand Clarke generated more points per possession than Wood did rolling to the rim this past season. He’s a bouncy 6’10” with a 7’3” wingspan and incredible hands who finished in the restricted area at a 77.0 percent clip.

That he ranked above the 95th percentile as a roll man while receiving a majority of his passes from names like Bruce Brown Jr. and Tony Snell is a testament to abilities that should only be further maximized alongside an elite initiator like Harden.

For all the increase in perimeter-oriented play and the influx in talent at either guard position, the NBA is still dictated by its biggest players. As pointed out by The Ringer’s Jonathan Tjarks in 2019, just one team this century (2004 Pistons) has won a title without at least one frontcourt player averaging north of either 18.0 points or 3.0 assists per game — a trend that continued with the 2020 champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Yet in its continuous plunge into the analytical movement, the offensive responsibilities of Houston’s frontcourt have all but diminished. Covington and P.J. Tucker were invaluable to a switch-heavy defensive scheme but were confined to predetermined spots along the 3-point line. There was no cutting or screen-setting, lest they muck up the spacing that maximized Harden and Westbrook’s isolation prowess.

The Rockets may never have had a dominant frontcourt presence to shoulder the offensive load. But the players previously slotted into those positions used to be far more involved to make Harden’s life easier in other ways.

Whether it was with Capela, Dwight Howard or even Omer Asik, the Rockets leveraged the two-man game for the very shots they covet today. The only difference worked in their favor, where Harden had more energy thanks to the weight he allowed others to carry in pulling the defense apart.

Houston swapped vertical spacing for perimeter spacing to fit their personnel. Though dynamic at times, it wasn’t conducive to reaching the heights they sought. Wood might be the player to merge the two in a way that does.