Mark Cuban’s thoughts, when asked about Christian Wood’s future, suggest that his time with the Dallas Mavericks might be coming to a close.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, while Cuban was keen to re-sign Kyrie Irving this summer as his top priority, his response when asked about Wood was rather startling. “I’m not going to go through individual players,” the Mavericks owner said.
Mark Cuban says re-signing Kyrie Irving is the Mavs’ top summer priority.
Christian Wood? “I’m not going to go through individual players,” Cuban said.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 5, 2023
Wood’s role and minutes with the Mavericks have seen a decline over the last few games. This year has him averaging 16.7 points and 7.3 rebounds, but his defense has been questionable. His fit alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving has been rather poor, and that would be one of the reasons why the front office might look at shipping him away in the offseason.
That said, Cuban could have maybe been a little less harsh with his reply, especially after the 27-year-old’s dagger three against the Sacramento Kings helped Dallas keep their playoff hopes alive. He ended his evening with 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks as the side pipped the Kings 123-119.
Jason Kidd Explains The Reason Behind Christian Wood’s Decreased Minutes
Wood’s decreased minutes last month were one of the talking points about the Dallas Mavericks, and head coach Jason Kidd had his logic behind the move.
Per Grant Asfeth, “You look at just the depth that we have with all the bigs, we’re trying to get them in the game and see who has the hot hand, and right now, with Maxi [Kleber] back, that’s going to cut some of his minutes down, especially when we’re healthy. That’s just the way it is right now, and it can change as we go forward,” Kidd said.
I asked Mavericks coach Jason Kidd about Christian Wood's playing time continuing to be reduced in addition to not closing games since the trade deadline:
"You look at just the depth that we have with all the bigs, we're trying to get them in the game and see who has the hot… pic.twitter.com/m4aJvSFevM
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) March 12, 2023
Wood will be a free agent this summer, and while he’s played his part in the team’s run this time, chances are that he may find a new home in the summer.
On the season front, the Mavericks will hope that they can. They need to win one more game than the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that will see them finish 10th in the Western Conference. But they would also need other results to go their way, making their postseason chances pretty bleak.
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