The Dallas Mavericks needed a center and added Christian Wood to their roster after the Houston Rockets worked out a trade with the Mavs in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft and four players with expiring contracts.
The Mavs had the #26 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, which now belongs to the Rockets after their trade. The Rockets are flush with three first-round picks, including #3 and #17, in addition to #26. The Rockets are projected to select Paolo Banchero from Duke with the #3 pick.
| NBA Trade |
| Rockets Get |
Mavericks Get |
| #26 Pick in 2022 NBA Draft | Christian Wood |
| Boban Marjanovic | |
| Trey Burke | |
| Sterling Brown | |
| Marquese Chriss |
To complete the trade, the Mavs will send Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, and Marquese Chriss to Houston. The Mavs were able to obtain a legit center for a late first-round pick while dumping a bunch of players who were warming the end of the bench.
The Mavs upset the #1 Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, but lost to the Golden State Warriors in the conference finals. According to DraftKings’ futures board, the Mavs are +1500 odds to win the 2023 NBA Championship.
Mavs huge upgrade
The Mavs didn’t waste any time in upgrading their starting five with a trade for Wood. Wood spent the last two seasons in Houston with the bottom-feeding Rockets. He was one of the best players on the worst team in the league, but now he gets a chance to contend for a title with the Mavs.
Dwight Powell didn’t miss a game last season, starting 71 times, but he only averaged 8.7 points and 4.9 rebounds in 22 minutes per night.
Wood essentially averaged a double-double with the Rockets over the last two seasons with 19.1 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. He knocked down 38.4% of his 3-pointers and shot 50.7% from the field. The only knock against him is that he’s injury-prone and missed time in the last two seasons due to an ankle injury.
The Mavs parted ways with four players to even out Wood’s contract. The 7-foot-3 Marjanovic is one of the most beloved players in the league, recently making a cameo in “Hustle” with Adam Sandler. He averaged just 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds, mostly in garbage time, in 23 games this season.
Burke is a former first-round pick out of Michigan who had a strong rookie campaign as a starter with the Utah Jazz in the 2013-14 season, but who’s struggled to find playing time since he left Utah. The backup point guard didn’t get much playing time after Spencer Dinwiddie arrived. He appeared in 42 games, averaging 5.1 points and 1.4 assists per game.
Chriss is a small forward who will now play for his seventh team since entering the league in 2017. He appeared in just 34 games averaging, 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Brown averaged 3.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 49 games this season. He actually started 14 games for the Rockets in 2020-21, but now he returns to exile in Houston.