1 Former player who will haunt the New Orleans Pelicans

Releasing big man Christian Wood will haunt the New Orleans Pelicans front office

It’s officially Halloween! And since there is no exciting opening night game for the New Orleans Pelicans due to this crazy year, we thought it’d be fun to bring fans some Pelicans related haunts.

For this year, the haunt we decided to go with is a recent player who we think might haunt the Pelicans front office and team when looking back on the 2019-2020 season, and potentially the outcome of the next few seasons. That player is Christian Wood.

For those of you that don’t know, Christian Wood who now plays for the Detriot Pistons was a young big-man forward tweener who the New Orleans Pelicans claimed off waivers in March of 2019. In his short stint with the team, he averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds a game, flashing greatness. Unfortunately, when David Griffin took over the Pelicans, he waived Wood signaling an end to the promising player’s time in New Orleans.

Why Christian Wood will haunt the New Orleans Pelicans and their front office

I bet if you decided to ask David Griffin about releasing Christian Wood right now, he’d say it’s a move he wishes he could have back. Why? Well, let’s look at how Wood performed upon signing with the Detriot Pistons.

Upon taking a starting role with the Pistons after the team traded Andre Drummond, the still young 24-year old broke out with his new team. As a starter, he averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, and a block per game while shooting 39 percent from three-point range. Not, only is that great production, it’s production that this Pelicans team was missing to be successful.

Yes, Wood was waived because the Pelicans brought in Derrick Favors via a trade with the Utah Jazz, but it’s safe to say now Wood would’ve been better than Favors. That’s because even though Favors was a solid rebounder, and reliable on the offensive end of the floor, he was an awkward fit with the Pelicans offensively, clogging up the lane and leaving Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson to play on the perimeter at times.

Wood, on the flip side, was exactly the type of big man that would’ve fit with Ingram and Williamson because of his ability to stretch the floor. Having a big with that ability who can hit 3s would’ve opened up the game for not just Ingram and Williamson but also for guards Lonzo Ball, and Jrue Holiday as well.

That’s why he haunts the Pelicans, because maybe if he was on the roster this past season, their offense wouldn’t have faltered in the playoffs. More than just that, he’ll continue to haunt the team because we’ve written that the Pelicans need a stretch-big to make new coach Stan Van Gundy’s offense work, and what if they don’t find one? Christian Wood could’ve been that guy, but now he’s gone.

It might not be as spooky as haunted houses, or ghosts and goblins, but letting go of Christian Wood too soon will haunt the New Orleans Pelicans and their front office in the short term.