On March 12, Beijing time, the Rockets lost to the Lone Rangers 100-113 at home. In this game, the Rockets' two main interior players, big forward Jeshaun Tate and center Wood, were unable to play due to injury, and Rockets coach Silas followed the starting lineup from the previous victory over the Lakers, sent Martin Jr. to the big forward position, and put Shen Jing in the main center position.
Unfortunately, Shin Kyung's performance in this game was very average, he suffered 5 fouls in 20 minutes, and went down early to rest. He only contributed 6 points, 6 boards, 1 assist and 2 turnovers, which was much worse than the Lone Rangers' center Powell (Powell exploded with 26 points and 12 rebounds). Is it that the Rockets are "inseparable" from Wood? After all, when Wood is not there, Shen Jing's performance is good and bad, is Shen Jing really not suitable to be the main force? This is not the case at all.
Shen Jing's 21 points and 14 rebounds in the previous game against the Lakers is already quite eye-catching. Wood did not play in this game, and although the Rockets' Shen Jing performance was not good, another center, 24-year-old Fernando, broke out! In 22 minutes of playing, Fernando scored a career-high 16 points on 8-of-8 shooting, while also picking up 11 rebounds and sending out two blocks.
Since the Rockets' Fernando is also so strong, isn't the combination of Shin Kyung + Fernando just to bring it into next season? Does Wood really still have to stay in the team? In fact, to be honest, Wood has become a chicken rib player in the Rockets, and although his statistics are good, he can average 17.9 points and 10 rebounds per game this season, but such data does not allow the Rockets to enter the winning mode. Most of the time, Wood brushes his own stats and has nothing to do with winning. This is somewhat similar to the Rockets' brush data big forward of that year, Terrence Jones.
The Rockets wanted to dispose of Wood, and it wasn't new. Before the closing date of this season's trade, the Rockets intend to package Wall + Wood to the Lakers in exchange for the first round of Westbrook + 2027, but the Lakers have not let up. But now, according to the news, the Heat are interested in making the center position more deep, and they want to find another replacement for star center Adebayor, so they have a crush on Wood and hornets' big forward PJ Washington.
The Rockets are worried that they can't find Wood's next home, and the Heat have stood up in time to "send assists", which is indeed a good thing. Wood's 3-year, $41 million contract expires next summer, and after the season, Wood's contract is only one year left. Now that he can contribute 17+10 per game, the Rockets should indeed "hit the high", even if they can only withdraw a first-round pick, they must clear Wood and make room for Shin Kyung and Fernando.
What's more, this summer is a big year for the center/big forward draft, and if the Rockets take down a new interior, Wood will definitely have to deal with it. Wood's final-year contract was only about $13 million, and the expiring contract was very popular. In addition, Wood's offensive ability is also good, and it is also popular in the trading market, and the Rockets are the most reliable to trade Wood this summer.