During this offseason, the Rockets took the initiative to reach an agreement with Wall that the latter would not play for the Rockets again. But the reason is simple to say, the relationship between the Rockets and Wall is not as irreconcilable as that of the 76ers and Ben Simmons, and the relationship between the Rockets and Wall is still very good, but the Rockets' future plans do not have the name of 31-year-old Wall. Wall wants to play on a strong team, and he doesn't want to waste time here.
So the two sides reached a no-game agreement, but unfortunately, until now, the Rockets have not found a home for Wall. On the other hand, the reason why the Rockets no longer use Wall is to give Little Potter enough playing time, if Wall plays, he will control a lot of ball rights and shooting rights and playing time, the Rockets' young players such as Porter Jr., Green, Christopher will naturally shrink their playing time significantly, in order not to let this happen, even if the record goes all the way down, the Rockets are willing to abandon Wall.
But after two games in the new season, we were surprised to find that the core of the Rockets was not Porter Jr. or Jaylen Green, but the main big forward Christian Wood! Wood took the Rockets' highest score in both games, especially the second game against the Thunder, Wood was 12 of 18 in 33 minutes, 4 of 6 from three-point range, 29 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, 1 assist and 1 steal, whether it was personal performance, on-court efficiency or contribution data, Wood was the rocket's best, and even his limelight has overshadowed Green and Porter's two main players in the backcourt.
Talking about the reasons for the Rockets' big win over the Thunder, coach Silas also felt something, saying that the players already know how to play together, Tate, Wood and Theis are on the court, it was difficult to figure out where they were at first, but now they figure it out, but they still need space. "It's important to pull out space and hit a three-pointer. You see our starting lineup, we don't have many shooters, Wood shot 37 percent from three-point range last season, and we need him to stand up and shoot three points to open up space for our breakthrough. Silas said.
Apparently, in Silas's eyes, Wood was not only the Rockets' first choice, but he even asked Wood to shoot more three-pointers to create offensive opportunities for his teammates, especially the space to break through. To know that Porter Jr. and Jaylen Green are not particularly stable shooter-type guards in the three-point range, they need to hold the ball in their hands to attack the basket, and Wood's stable three-point shooting rate is the most needed containment point for Porter Jr. and Green when they break through.
Without Wood, the Rockets wouldn't necessarily have beaten the Thunder so crisply and neatly. With Wood, under his attraction, even Tate scored 16 points, and Gordon and Porter Jr. both cut 20+. This is the role of Wood, he can not only brush out the high score data himself, but also create opportunities for teammates, so that teammates get more space to break through, but also get more empty three-point shots on the outside line, which is the role of Wood. Although not a superstar center, for the Rockets, Wood has become the preferred core of the team's offense this season, and the Rockets' offense depends on him.