Rockets to trade Christian Wood to Mavericks for No. 26 pick in 2022 NBA Draft, multiple players, per report

The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to trade the No. 26 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, Boban Marjanovic, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss and Sterling Brown to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Christian Wood, according to Shams Charania. 

This trade will not be completed until draft night due to the fact that the Mavericks owe the New York Knicks a top-10 protected pick in 2023. The “Stepien Rule” — which you can read more about here — prevents teams from being without first-round picks in consecutive seasons. That means the Mavericks will end up making the No. 26 pick for the Rockets, then trading that player as part of the trade. 

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Wood, who has been with the Rockets since 2020, averaged 17.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and one block per game, while shooting 51 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point land. He is in the final year of a three-year, $41 million deal, and will be extension eligible six months after the trade is complete, should the Mavericks want to go down that route. 

The Rockets signed Wood ahead of the 2020-21 season, hoping he would be a complementary piece to help James Harden and Russell Westbrook. That, of course, never came to pass, as both Harden and Westbrook forced their way out prior to the season, and the Rockets became a rebuilding team. Now, at least, they’ve been able to flip him for an extra first-round pick.