So the Houston Rockets sorely miss their prized acquisition Christian Wood at the moment, I saw them battle back from a 25 point deficit against a Sixers roster which was missing Ben Simmons last night and over the past 2 weeks I’ve noticed they are a poor offense with Christian Wood not being in the lineup. Christian Wood has carried on the same success he had with the Detroit Pistons last season and keeps on producing over 20 points and 10 rebounds a night while providing some rim protection and solid defense for the Houston Rockets. Kudos to John Wall for anchoring the come back last night versus the Sixers, it’s a joy to see him healthy again razzling and dazzling with the ball between his legs and blowing by defenders for showtime layups but he will need help going forward. John Wall took his time recovering from an achilles injury which kept him out practically all of last season and the results of miraculous, it would just pain me to see him waste away his prime in Houston and not play any competitive basketball.
The Rockets are practically locked in to John Wall for the next 3 seasons while his former Kentucky teammate Demarcus Cousins will be a free-agent after this season along with Victor Oladipo who could also bolt in free-agency. The Houston Rockets made a chess move by trading for the troubled Kevin Porter Jr who is only 20 years old and has a ton of talent and could become a star down the line if he can get his personal life in order and focus on his basketball career. Watching the Rockets a week ago against the Hornets I saw how poor their offense was without Christian Wood so I think the main priority for the Houston Rockets should be to find a third scorer behind John Wall and Christian Wood and no Eric Gordon and Demarcus Cousins are not the answer, sure it could be Victor Oladipo but the Houston Rockets would be wise to not break the bank for him seeing how much money they have invested into John Wall and Eric Gordon already.
I certainly think Kevin Porter Jr could be that 3rd scorer but will he get meaningful playing time this season and even be part of Stephen Silas’s rotation? The moment the Houston Rockets hired Stephen Silas I had a sense it was a good move specially seeing how he managed the James Harden situation by just giving the disgruntled superstar his space and allowing him to decide what he felt was best for his career going forward. The Houston Rockets did acquire a plethora of draft picks in the James Harden trade so they will have leverage going into the future not to mention they could draft in the top 5 in the 2021NBA Draft depending on where they finish in the standings this season so hope is not lost in Houston. Credit to the Houston Rockets front office because usually teams dig themselves into 4-5 years of rebuilding after losing a superstar the caliber of a James Harden who carried the franchise for over 7-8 seasons but was never able to win a championship for the franchise.
When Christian Wood signed a 3 year $41 million dollar deal with the Houston Rockets I was shocked until I did some research and found out he was working out with James Harden over the off-season and thought to myself the Rockets signed Christian Wood to appease James Harden in hopes of keeping him from wanting out. It was odd because John Wall was acquired as well another player James Harden supposedly wanted to team up with yet James Harden got on the podium and told the basketball world they were just not good enough and that was the last straw for him in Houston but boy has Christian Wood a blessing in disguise to the Rockets so far this season.
Christian Wood has been so good this season he has even received consideration for the NBA MVP award because after James Harden was traded he started posting scoring 25+ points and over 12+ rebounds consistently. Christian Wood’s situation in Houston reminds me of Collin Sexton when he was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Collin felt he could be LeBron’s running mate but we saw LeBron bolt the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Los Angeles Lakers. Christian Wood felt he could be James Harden’s running mate in Houston but we also saw James Harden bolt for the Brooklyn Nets, in a sense it should give Christian Wood additional motivation going forward to make it work with John Wall who could end up being just as good a running mate for Christian Wood than James Harden could’ve been. John Wall doesn’t seem like he has lost a step and barring injury looks like he could play at a all-star level for at least another 2-3 seasons before suffering a significant decline.
To conclude I believe John Wall and Christian Wood will anchor the Houston Rockets for the next 2-3 seasons and plugging the holes around those 2 should not be hard. John Wall is arguably the best all-around point guard in the league if you leave Chris Paul out of the equation and Christian Wood has all the tools to be a top 5 power-forward in Houston through the duration of his contract and beyond assuming the Houston Rockets decide to re-sign him years from now, a position that must be filled is the small-forward position and some options the Houston Rockets should look into are Otto Porter Jr and Jabari Parker who will both be available in 2021 NBA Free Agency. Both Otto Porter Jr and Jabari Parker can play both the small-forward and power-forward position and although both have been underachievers as former top 5 selections in previous drafts, they both are 25-27 year olds and in the midst of the peak of their respective careers at the moment. They are both worth taking a look at as either one could be a reliable go to scorer who would help alleviate pressure off John Wall and Christian Wood on the offensive end and maybe Stephen Silas finds out a way to unlock their potential, till next time.
D-NBA 