Boston Celtics: Cs seen as betting favorites to sign Christian Wood

The Boston Celtics have been recently linked to one of this year’s most intriguing young free agents in Christian Wood.

Despite their salary cap situation, the Boston Celtics are still seen as an attractive landing spot for many of the non-top-billed free agents in the 2020 class.

This talent pool of realistic targets includes the likes of savvy veterans such as Paul Millsap & Serge Ibaka and young ballers looking to establish themselves in this league like Kris Dunn & Harry Giles.

However, like in every free agency period, there always seems to be some sort of “diamond in the rough” or, in other words, a player who seems destined to outshine the pay-range in which they are likely to sign for.

One player that falls into this category seems to be Detroit Pistons’ big man, Christian Wood who, apparently, has 3 to 1 odds of signing with the shamrocks.

After rotating between the G-League and active NBA rosters during the first four years of his career, 2019-20 finally saw sustained success from the UNLV product throughout the duration of a (semi) full season.

In 62 games played Wood posted impressive averages of13.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and just under a block per game on 57 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep. Shoved into a crowded frontcourt for the majority of the season, cracking the starting lineup was hard to come by, especially whilst Andre Drummond was still in town.

However, after the trade that sent the former All-Star to Cleveland in early February, Wood finally got his starting role, and, with it, he simply thrived.

Through 12 starts, the 25-year-old big was an absolute menace, posting stellar averages of 21.9 points and 9.4 boards on 56 percent shooting from the floor and 41 percent shooting from deep.

While some would imagine that Woods may find himself out of the price range that the Boston Celtics can afford, FanSided’s own Duncan Smith explains that this may not turn out to actually be the case:

"[Bobby] Marks expects Woods’ market to be around the $9.3 million mid-level exception, which means that even teams without cap space will be able to vie for his services. Of course, that likely means that his price will be driven up (it’s a market, after all), but this number is a starting point at the very least."

We’ve discussed the idea of a union between the young power forward/ center and the Cs in the past and even pleaded that Danny Ainge and co. should have pursued him at last year’s trade deadline.

In the end, they opted to stand pat, staying quiet and compact as the year came and went. This free agency period, however, gives them a chance to nab Christian Wood outright and, if he stays within the price range listed above, I see no reason why Boston shouldn’t pursue his services.